Replacement shocks for 67 GTS?

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buck351

buck351

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My 40+ year old Koni's on the rear are starting to leak. They are standard adjustable ones and I like the way they ride but they don't make them anymore and for Koni to rebuild them is ~$200 each for the rears. So what else can I get that will ride like them and not cost so much.

They aren't gas charged and I think these Koni's only dampen one way. I had some SS springs on once with them. I tried the Mopar gas shocks that were suppose to be make to work with the SS springs and I didn't like them at all. They were gas shocks. I went back to stock springs with the Koni's. Street car only.
 
Lots of guys like KYB. For me they are a bit harsh. Monroe gasmatics are my favorite for a stock daily driver. Just a thought.
 
buck351 said:
My 40+ year old Koni's on the rear are starting to leak. They are standard adjustable ones and I like the way they ride but they don't make them anymore and for Koni to rebuild them is ~$200 each for the rears. So what else can I get that will ride like them and not cost so much.

They aren't gas charged and I think these Koni's only dampen one way. I had some SS springs on once with them. I tried the Mopar gas shocks that were suppose to be make to work with the SS springs and I didn't like them at all. They were gas shocks. I went back to stock springs with the Koni's. Street car only.
Click to expand...

Nuthin'...there ain't nuthin' available for that car...it's too old! Send the whole car to me and I'll take the problem off right your hands. You got better things to do with your time , anyway, right????

Hehehe

:burnout::blob::glasses7::tongue9::blob::blob:
 
Darter6 said:
Lots of guys like KYB. For me they are a bit harsh. Monroe gasmatics are my favorite for a stock daily driver. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

I noticed the one pair of gas shocks I had wanted to expand from the gas charge. So they will have more resistance to compression making a rougher ride in my mind. The konis never did that. Maybe I'm wrong but my truck replacement truck shocks are gas shocks and on small bumps are rougher than the stock one were. I forgot who made them have to look. So no good alternative to the Konis? I thought I saw some reproduction shocks. I assume they are like originals.
 
It sounds like you want some Monroe Shocks. That's about as close as you will get to how the factory ones preformed.

That's what I put on my wife's Dart.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
It sounds like you want some Monroe Shocks. That's about as close as you will get to how the factory ones preformed.

That's what I put on my wife's Dart.
Click to expand...

I assume they are gas shocks. Trying not to spend the $200 a piece to rebuild the konis. If I go to another shock I should do all four. Thing is if I don't like them then I'm in the hole for the ones I don't like plus replacements. Since I went from stock shocks to the konis and didn't complain about the ride I'm assuming there wasn't a big difference except the konis were adjustable.
 
I have Monroes on my Challenger. Less than $20 per shock. The car is stock restored and doesn't get pushed hard though.
 
Monroe,$15.95 at Summit. One other if they are still around are Gabriel Red Rider(Though they are black when I opened the box) that were sitting on my shelf.I think that they were bought at CarQuest. I was having red light problems at the track so I removed the 90/10's and went with stock shocks. Cured the problem.It may be just mental ...
 
Any shock with gas in it will extend back out if you collapse it. Some gas shocks have more gas than others. The higher the pressure is it's more likely the ride quality will be harsher. I had bought a set of KYB shocks to put on my 67 Cuda. Before installing them I pushed on one of them and it felt awfully stiff, so I put it on a bathroom scale and pushed on it, I got a reading of 100 lb. before it started to compress. Some people on here have said that KYBs ride harsh and now I understand why. I bought a set of Bilsteins and did the same thing with the bathroom scale and got a reading of 50 lb. I suspect that Monroe shocks probably would give a lower yet reading.
 
IMHO it's necessary to look at the shock as well as the spring and the sidewall of the tire to determine the cause of rough riding. Typically, the lower the sidewall (tire aspect ratio) the rougher the tire will ride. The number of plies in the sidewall affects stiffness as well. The material used in the tire will also affect roughness. Most tires use steel belts under the tread, though some use an aramid/kevlar belt. My experience, in order of stiffness, is that rayon, polyester, and nylon are used in the carcass. A nylon tire, especially with a steel belt, will develop a flat spot that is referred to as a "nylon thump". This usually clears up in 1-3 miles of driving depending on temperature.

X 2 on gas shocks. The high pressure shocks are typically stiffer than the low pressure units. I use Monroe Gasmatics on the Demon and Delco Pleasurizers on the Dart 4-door. IIRC I got the Delcos from Rock Auto, they are the softer of the two.

The Koni's damp in both directions. The jounce (upstroke) rate is different from the rebound (down stroke). This is fairly typical practice and varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. From what I've seen a typical drag shock will run a 50/50 rear shock and a 90/10 front. This lets the front rise fast and keep the nose in the air longer.

Bolus and Snopes replaced the oil in Koni shocks with pureed hominy creating the notorious Korni shock in an effort to stiffen them up. OK, I know looking at nudies of Lucy Pinder can accomplish similar results.

Bilsteins and de Carbons are both high end units that ride and handle well. I haven't seen either in an adjustable model which ranks them a bit lower than the Konis IMO. New, they ride about the same as a Koni set at 70%. Sadly, I have no track experience with either.
 
So I picked up four Monroes and installed them this weekend. Rides ok not harsh even though they are gas charged. Must me a low pressure gas charge since they are not as hard to compress as some others I have. It does feel different than the Koni's but after a short cruise I can't put my finger on it yet. I think they ride a little softer on bumps so maybe that's part of it.

The Koni's were not real difficult to compress but were noticeably more difficult to expand. With the Koni's if you pushed down on a corner of the car the it went down then slowly came up. Seems like the same rate up and down on the Monroe's. The Koni's I got 40+ years ago weren't gas charged. I say that since they never expanded on their own out of the car.

Gas charged shocks generate some colorfully language when you are trying to install them. Especially in the front. ;)
 
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