Shocks: looking for Blistein quality at KYB price.
I like this discussion.
You can also get them from
@BergmanAutoCraft, these are the rears but he has the fronts as well
Bilstein Shocks - Mopar - A Body Rear - Bergman Auto Craft
Thanks for that!
As for why Bilstein doesn’t list them, it’s because they’re not just Bilstein shocks. They are RCD Bilsteins, which is to say they are Bilstein shocks that are then tuned/revalved by RCD. And the RCD Bilsteins are then sold by RCD, not Bilstein.
Ah. Fascinating. I had no idea such things existed.
Your description makes them sound better than they would were they "just" stock Bilsteins.
I have run the RCD Bilsteins on my Challenger and on my Duster, both with 1.12” torsion bars. They are very good shocks. There are better shocks, like the Hotchkis Fox shocks, but the RCD Bilsteins are more than good enough for most folks. My Challenger was switched from KYB’s directly to RCD Bilstein shocks with no other changes, and the improvement in ride quality and handling was night and day, a MASSIVE improvement. My Duster went from Monroe’s to RCD Bilstein’s with 1” torsion bars at the time, which again was a big improvement. Although honestly, the Monroe’s were more tolerable than the KYB’s. I found the 1” bars on my Duster a bit soft still, so it later went to 1.12” bars. I then changed the RCD Bilsteins out for Hotchkis Fox shocks, which do handle the 1.12” bars a bit better than the RCD’s did. It was a much more subtle improvement but an improvement nonetheless. I believe that has mostly to do with the Fox’s just being slightly better at the very large torsion bars.
This is exactly the information I was looking for.
Thank you.
The only folks I have heard that think KYB’s are ok run them with the dramatically undersprung factory torsion bars, and haven’t run anything better than KYB’s. So they’re solving a problem they won’t admit they have (factory torsion bars are too soft for any street going car) and attributing it to the KYB’s being great because they’re ignorant of what’s actually happening
And... This could apply to me. Sort of.
Except that I've already run Bilsteins a number of very different vehicles, with excellent results every time.
(I've also run KYBs on several vehicles (going back 25 years ago and more), one of which was a GM A-body with large sway bars, that I drove cross-country, and while I didn't hate them, I wasn't impressed with them like I've been with the Bilsteins).
But, for this particular car, which is a 38,000 mile all-original survivor, I WILL be using undersprung factory torsion bars, and I WILL be keeping the suspension, and the entire car, as original as possible, with the exception of a dual master cylinder, radial tires and a set of shocks that will allow me to drive the car like a normal person, instead of the 100 year old lady who used to own it. (Okay, I'm kind of salivating over a Borgeson steering box, but I'm resisting...).
Thank you for all of this valuable information,
– Eric