KYB vs Monroe vs Bilstein?

[Kern Dog]

I had KYBs in this car:

Yeah...that was the late 80s. Stock leaf springs and station wagon front coils cut down. It rode okay but not great.
When I got this car together....

I went with 1.0 torsion bars and KYBs. The ride was stiff but I thought it was the thicker torsion bars that caused that.
In 2014, I went with 1.15" torsion bars and Bilstein shocks. The car actually rides better with the bigger torsion bars and better shocks. All along, the shocks were the biggest factor in ride quality.

 

[OzCharger69]

I really like my Bilsteins, comfortable and corner well. That's with thicker bars and front sway bar

 

[dfrazz]

Bilstein's hands down are the best shock I've had on my b and e bodies. As soon as I have the funds, my KYB's are in the trash and Bilstein's are going on. Every once in a while PST has a sale, get their catalog and join their email list.

 

[beanhead]

I've probably run every shock made for these cars, and I'd say it all depends on how picky a person is about the ride quality, what type of use they typically see (drag, corner-carving etc) and how much dough they have to spend. As far as the ones mentioned by the OP,
KYB = cheap with a harsher ride. We've all been there....and you really learn to hate them when you've moved to a better shock.
Monroe = also pretty cheap, and fine IMO for a lower-powered driver (like my wife)
Bilstein = obviously more pricy but a very nice road feel and fairly good all-around performance

 

[beanhead]

Yeeah baby!

 

[Sinitro]

If U want a good, handling ride run either Bilstein or Koni.. More $$ but there are no free rides..

Just my $0.02..

 

[GASSR]

For those of you who take your cars to the track, Strange do an adjustable worth considering. Single Adjustable Front Shock Multiple Mopar Applications - Strange Engineering

 

[70chall440]

KYB are garbage, had them on my 70 challenger RT stock T bars and it rode like a lumber wagon, went to Bilstiens which are awesome. Running QA1 single adjustable on my 71 Charger but the car isn’t drivable yet so I cannot report on them but I have a buddy with a 73 cuda running double adjustable QA1s and loves them, says you can dial about any ride you want.

 

[1KoolBee]

Go price out a set of MCS or Moton shocks for a Viper. You’ll feel much better about Bilsteins!

 

[EmitRDetsaw]

Kayaba (KYB) is the largest OEM supplier of auto dampers in the world. They're built to a low price-point, which is why they feel harsh to some. They have the same issue in the motorcycle world - under sprung and over damped.

I still have OEM Bilstein's on my 07 Toyota Tundra TRD and they are great, much better than the KYB's on non-TRD trucks that are similarly equipped.

Monroe and Gabriel IMO are worse than Bilstein, KYB, Showa, and Sachs, as they have no low speed/high speed damping circuits and the body roll you get is akin to a capsizing ship.

Want a flagship suspension no-holds-barred? Go Ohlins. That company doesn't screw around with crap quality, but you'll pay for it.

 

[Sinitro]

Kayaba (KYB) is the largest OEM supplier of auto dampers in the world. They're built to a low price-point, which is why they feel harsh to some. They have the same issue in the motorcycle world - under sprung and over damped.

I still have OEM Bilstein's on my 07 Toyota Tundra TRD and they are great, much better than the KYB's on non-TRD trucks that are similarly equipped.

Monroe and Gabriel IMO are worse than Bilstein, KYB, Showa, and Sachs, as they have no low speed/high speed damping circuits and the body roll you get is akin to a capsizing ship.

Want a flagship suspension no-holds-barred? Go Ohlins. That company doesn't screw around with crap quality, but you'll pay for it.

Hmm..
Website of Ohlins.USA has no listings for Mopar or Chrysler or Dodge....

Just my $0.02...

 

[EmitRDetsaw]

Hmm..
Website of Ohlins.USA has no listings for Mopar or Chrysler or Dodge....

Just my $0.02...

Whaaaaaaaaa?!? They're missing out on a market. I noticed they said "automotive applications" on the website, didn't look any further. They likely cater to european/japanese/late model american stuff.

 

[6872n73]

Has anyone tried Viking shocks?

 

[Stumper]

Working on that 71 satellite Roadrunner clone. Bilstein's were out of my budget and I wanted it to handle as nicely as possible so I ordered 4 gas-a-just shocks from kyb. I ran Monroe shocks on some of my other cars which made them ride nice but float a bit. I hear good things about the handling but it seems they really ruin the ride quality. What is your guys's experience with these on some of the b bodies?

Put KYBs all around on my 62 Fury last year. Huge improvement over what was on it and not at all harsh. Only a couple bucks a piece more than Monroe’s..

 

[Bob Sawyer]

Working on that 71 satellite Roadrunner clone. Bilstein's were out of my budget and I wanted it to handle as nicely as possible so I ordered 4 gas-a-just shocks from kyb. I ran Monroe shocks on some of my other cars which made them ride nice but float a bit. I hear good things about the handling but it seems they really ruin the ride quality. What is your guys's experience with these on some of the b bodies?

I ran gas-adjust KYB's on my '68 Charger when I first restored it. The ride and handling was terrible. I switched over to Bilsteins and the ride and handling improved greatly.

 

[AR67GTX]

Strange - when I go to Bilsteins website, they say they don’t make a model to fit my 67 GTX. I know they make at least a couple lines for most cars - I have them on my 66 Corvette. But there is a HD or Sport model that’s best to avoid on the street as they are really stiff. So which model are most of you using?

 

[AR67GTX]

Summit lists nothing under Bilstein for a 67 GTX too. But PST does list a model.

So who is right?

 

[Kern Dog]

Firm Feel sells a version of Bilstein that are called RCD for Race Car Dynamics.
I suspect that they farm out the shocks to this smaller company that modifies them for proper fitment to our cars.

 

[andyf]

Finding good shocks for Mopar muscle cars requires a little bit of work. If the car is all stock you can use most any replacement shock and it will work. Might not last a long time, or it might not work great, but any replacement shock should be safe to use for a street car.
If you modify the suspension then you need to be more careful about the shock that you put on there. The combination of bigger tires, bigger torsion bars and bigger anti-sway bars requires a better shock. I only use Koni shocks on my project cars but there are a couple of other choices out there. You don't need Koni shocks on a stock build, but you would feel the difference. I think a Koni, or something like it, is required on anything that is going to be driven hard.

 

[Rennkafer]

Bilstein does not make a shock for our car themselves. What you see on various websites for sale is a shock of the correct lengths, that has been spec'd or revalved by a company called "Race Car Dynamics". Everyone that sells a Bilstein for our cars appears to be selling these same shocks. Everyone who's used them seems to love them, so I'd guess that RCD has done a good job on the spec/revalve. Revalving a shock is a pretty common thing, Bilstein themselves will do it. On the set I have here, I carefully peeled off a label from the boxes of the front/rear shocks to get an idea what shocks RCD was starting with, but had no luck finding the numbers in the Bilstein catalog, so it's possible they're made specifically for RCD by Bilstein.