Tmichaelson

Rebuilding trailing arms and half shafts so I might as well replace my rear shocks. Everything I am doing is with original equipment and the leaf springs are steel. I would like to replace the original shocks with a like item replacement allowing same type ride and handling as my car had when new in 1966 ( not sport etc feel). Would you suggest AC Delco or the KYB gas units? Thanks for sharing your expertise since I have no knowledge of their attributes.

tuxnharley

I went with the KYBs. Good control, not too harsh, great value and price point.

Nowhere Man

Any OEM style replacement shocks will work just fine. But if you truly have the original dated shocks to the car DO NOT throw them in the trash. They can be rebuilt and restored and they go for a lot of coin.

GUSTO14

KYB's would certainly not replicate the shocks that your car came with in 1966. At least not until they lost their nitrogen. Nitrogen filled shocks were not utilized on regular vehicles back then, if they were even available. As for value, in the past I purchased and installed KYB's on a Corvette and a '69 Mustang, primarily for their "perceived" value. Within less than a year, both sets had lost their nitrogen on at least one shock. The irony is that until I removed them to upgrade the shocks I did not have a clue.

Monroe Matics would be more like a shock that would have come on your '66 than a KYB. I have considered them an excellent "value" for many years and typically seen more than 50,000 miles from them without failure.

As for me, I'll take Bilsteins. 80,000 miles on a Tacoma and they are still better than the original shocks it came with. The dealer replaced the originals with less than 10k on them and I threw those away and replaced them shortly after that with a set of Monroe's. Replaced the Monroe's more than 50k later with the Bilsteins.

Good luck... GUSTO

tuxnharley

@ Gusto14 -

Sorry to hear about your problems with KYBs. I've had mine on my '67 for about 10 years now with no problems; still rides and handles great!

65 vette dude

I installed KYB GR2's on my 65, and hated them. Very stiff ride. I took them off after a week and installed Delco shocks. Much better ride , but still a little on the stiff side. If you want a ride close to stock, get the base Monroe, or Gabriel passenger shocks.

Frankie the Fink

Monroe Gas-Adjust for both my C1 and C2....feels like factory...

GUSTO14

Glenn, not really a problem, just disappointed. When KYB's first entered the US market in the mid 70's, they were pushed as a good alternative to expensive Koni's and other performance oriented shocks of the day. Like a lot of other folks of the time building my first street-performance car, I decided to give them a try. A few years later I decided to take the leap and purchase a set of Koni's for my BOSS-302. I removed the perfectly good (?) KYB's with plans to give them to a friend for his Mustang. While the shocks were not leaking and still were providing dampening, it was apparent that the nitrogen was gone as they were no longer pressurized.

As I mentioned earlier, had I not removed them, I would probably not have noticed that one of their major marketing points, that they were gas-pressurized, was no longer applicable.

Glad that you are pleased with yours, I'm sure that they have continued to improve them over time.

GUSTO

sub006

Try old-school red Konis on the softest of six settings. For better cornering but a worse ride, rmove and tighten one or two clicks. Standard equipment AIR on some Ferraris, Porsche 911S, the original Shelby Cobras and GT-350s.

Bill Thomas cranked 'em to 3 when he installed mine. Rode like a coal cart but cornered like Velcro, settled in after a couple of years. Not cheap, but online you might find new ones as low as $100 each. Probably the last shocks you and maybe the next owner or two will ever need, excellent Euro precision and quality!

vetsvette2002

I put adjustable Koni's on my 67 vert when I bought it in 1985 and set the level to number 2. They are still on the car and still adjusted to level 2. Best shocks I've ever had.


DonO

sub006

Thanks for the confirmation!

I got over 300,000 miles (with one adjustment) on my HEAVY Suburban. It was totalled and the wrecking yard kept 'em! How many miles have you put on your C2 set?

tuxnharley

No question that Koni shocks are high quality - if you want to spend that kind of money and need them to last for up to 300,000 miles....

Personally, with 5 cars and one of them other than my '67 for a daily driver, I'm not gonna live that long!

sub006

I paid full list of $26 each for my C2 back about 1970. And a couple of years ago I saw the same part numbers for $100 each online. Not bad for over 40 years of inflation.

Back when our cars were new, Konis were standard equipment on Porsche 911S, some Ferraris, etc.

I recall a Koni ad where they were put on a totally stock pro-driven '65 Mustang, shaving three seconds off the best OEM shock Lime Rock lap time, more controllable and no less comfortable.

Koni is an aftermarket supplier that exhaustively tests each individual car model and gets it right the first time, for a lifetime

sub006

...And some people spray their Konis black, blue or whatever the OEM shock color is, for concours events.

SI67

But wouldn't you want one of your descendants to take your ashes out on a really smooth but sporty ride?

Steve

ghostrider20

QA-1 adjustable shocks.

uvettcha

SI67

If Monroe, I think you're thinking of "Gasmatic." The "Gas-A-Just" line is from KYB.




Steve

tuxnharley

So what was Frank thinking - hmmm, "split window coupe", no doubt !
Maybe he had Gasmatic pains?

SI67

Probably no Gasmatic pains--apparently they ride quite nicely.

More on topic, though: It looks like the Gasmatic name is no longer used. Some auto parts places list Monroe Sensa-Track shocks for the C2, but that name is also obsolete. The only shocks Monroe lists for the C2 are gas-charged and go by the name "OESpectrum" nowadays. Don't know if the product has changed any over these interations. It may be that the same shock has had three different names over the years.

Steve