Sully1882

VBP : they offer a KYB GR2 shock that they designed and KYB built that goes with the fiberglass rear spring. I want to upgrade to their rear 330lb fiberglass spring and at the same time I think I should change the shocks. Anyone have a opinion in this ? Are the Bilstein's worth the price? Or are these KYB's that VB&P designed just as good. By the way, I am asking b/c the KYB's are half the price. This will be for my 72 Coupe 350 4spd with C5 2002 thinspoke wheels 17" front 18 " rear. Stock C5 sized tires.

here's the link to the shocks:

http://www.vbandp.com/C2-C3-Corvette...-set-of-4.html

thanks for your input!

Sully

pauldana

There is no comparison.... Bilstein Sport ...hands down...... KYB's are half the price, and 1/20 the performance... unless you want your rear to bounce like a buggy.... then the KYB's would be great!!!

back to back test here...


http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...yb-sports.html

Solid LT1

I used KYB shocks in the 70's when customer's couldn't afford Konis, now most builds have Bilstein. Edelbrock shocks might also work well for you.

SteveG75

I have a 340# TRW rear spring and 460# front coils cut 1/2 coil. I ran the KYB shocks for 4 months then sold them to another member and bought the Bilsteins. Even with the special valving, the rear was very bouncy. Much better now.

Just my $0.02.

MrJlr

My KYB's are awesome...."Gas Adjust".
My '74 doesn't bounce AT ALL...my $.02

Rebelrob

I have the VBP KYB's. I also have the stock spring as well. As said above it is softer and or bouncy depending on your spring type. A new stiffer spring will probably prevent this. The bilsteins are high performance stiffer/better handling shock. Depends on what your looking for.
I will probably upgrade to Bilsteins one day.

Shark Racer

If you have the monospring, you really need to go up to the Bilstein Sports. There's a whole lot less damping with that spring than with the stock steel leaf set-up.

My car nearly threw me off the road after the spring swap.

pauldana

Do you have a stock spring? if so, that is why.... put in a composite spring and those KYB's will have little control over that spring.

A carbon composite spring is much more reactive and much faster reacting than the old steel springs.... and this is when you will notice the difference between a cheep shock like the KYB and a performance shock like the B's or Konies...

gkull

I vote for QA-1 single adjust or even dual adjust if you have the money and Koni adjustable for only a little over $100 each.

Sully1882

well for what I am planning on using the car for is driving, not racing of any sort. I will drive it to work which is about 22 miles each way. Occasional 1- 2 hour drives. That's how I want to enjoy the ride. I want smooth and easy... well smooth and easy for a corvette...lol. should I even mess with the fiberglass spring?

many thoughts here, thanks for the responses so far.

Sully

7T1vette

Aren't Bilstein "Sports" best for the 'performance' driving enthusiast and Bilstein "Heavy-Duty" shocks for the average street driver?

Shark Racer

I had HDs prior to installing the monospring. SCARY.

These springs need lots of extra damping.

(In all fairness, the HDs were at least 10 years old, but the stock spring did not have issues)

mrvette

VBP 360 rear 460 front springs, '72 vert SBC.....I used to have the KYB shocks sold with the springs 15 years ago....

about5 years ago I put on the Bilsteins from VBP....HUGE improvement.....

Carlos840

I just put Bilstein Sports on my stock 76 and the improvement is amazing!
It went from being a bouncy mess to a cornering "monster" its a bit hard and you can feel every little hole in the road but it feels a lot safer than it did before and i dont mind being shaken a bit!