qws

Been doing some searching but haven't really found the answer.

Regarding front shocks
When ordering is there a differance between the height of the shock..
stock vs Z51?

Pete K

5.213 mm

Or, I dont really know.

qws

I put those KYB's on and I swear it lifted the front end up. The distance between the top of the tire and fender well is almost 4 inches. I've got to measure to be sure though.

Pete K

Did you take it for a ride to settle out the front suspension?
I have z51 bilsteins on my junk and it is an inch or less between the top of the tire and wheel well edge. I can measure it if you like. I am home for the weekend.

qws

Could you measure the actual shock?
With mine sitting next to the wife's car you can see a big differance between the top of wheel and fender.

Pete K

From what part to what part. They are installed, so not sure how accurate I can measure. I will try though.

qws

maybe from the top of the two bottom mounting bolts to the bottom of the nut that holds them into the mount?
Installed is fine...mine are.
And to answer your other question from before...yes I've been driving it around and it hasn't settled.

c4cruiser

The shock will have an effective range of travel for the level of stiffness. There will be no difference in the distance between the upper and lower mounting points on the car so either a base shock or a Z51-specific shock will work. The difference will be the overall stiffness of the shock.

Some years ago, I installed a set of KYB Gas-A-Just shocks on my old '78 with the FE7 suspension. Those shocks did rais the car about an inch. From what I had found out later, was that the KYB shocks had higher gas pressure and that resulted in the change in heights. I had always heard that a shock by itself should not change the ride height, but these particular KYB's did. As Pete K mentioned, the car needs to be driven to allow the shocks to settle. Just drive around the block and look at the ride height again.

I have a set of Bilstein Z51-specific shocks on my '87 (Z52 suspension) and they didn't impact the ride height of the car at all.

qws

It just so happens that these are the KYb Gas-a-Just. I have driven it almost 30 miles and it hasn't settled at all

BADDUCK

Shocks can have different ride heights primarily due to internal pressure. This is one of several reasons why when you change shocks you really should make sure all four the same brand and version for street applications.

Back to the original question, Bilstein Z51 and HD's should be very close to each other regarding ride height. Of course you would have to install a new set of 4 of each back to back on the same car and do measurements under indentical conditions. Which means it is unlikely any forum has actually done that.

383vett

You didn't loosen the control arm bushing bolts did you. If for some reason you did, the suspension needs to be in a loaded position before tightening. If you are concerned about the shock, remove them, it should only take a few minutes and see what the ride height is without shocks. Compare the travel of the shock off the car compared to the one's you took off. It should be easy to isolate the cause of the problem.

qws

Ok, so the reason I started looking into this is because I had noticed the distance between the top of the wheel and the inner fender



I removed the shocks and this is the measurement between the concrete floor and the inner fender well weatherstrip. 25 1/4 inches


Turned around to my wifes 84 and measured the same area on her car.
24.5 inches


there's more than an inch differance.
My latest project was
New Rack and pinion,tie rod ends. I had lifted the car, placed in on jack stands. Removed the tires,sway bar. Rack and shocks. Once everything was installed I got the tires as straight as I could by adjusting the tie rod ends. I have no touched the camber adjustment at all.

since I put it back on the ground I noticed that it rides on the outside of each front tire. I do have to get it in for an alignment.
Could it potential rise up because the camber adjustment is off?

383vett

If the car is sitting higher than normal, it will increase the negative camber, thus the inner tire contact. Back to my original question, did you have to remove the control arm do the work?

qws

No that was not removed at all.

JrRifleCoach

KYB's are known to raise the ride height due to their gas charge. Its crazy since not all cause this to happen.
After time the ride height will drop. Don't ask how much time. No clue.

The difference in regular and z51's...none.

Just for a test put the old shocks back in. You may end up answering your own question.

C409

My car was lowered by the PO and I purposely run KYB's to get an extra 1/2" of lift to keep the air dam from scraping on driveway aprons ... they have more gas pressure than Bilsteins ...

cgantner5150

Alright - just to see what the difference is.
Vette currently has/had KYB gas adjust shocks. I put in the lowering wedges and removed the spring end pads trying to get it lowered and there is still a large gap between the tire and wheel well.
The KYB's have several hundred miles on them. Picked up slightly used Bilstein Sport shocks from a member on the forum. measured before and after.

Pic of shocks together:


Measurements from bottom mount:




Ride hight before (weatherstip lifted):


Ride after:


Strange - the shock hights are a bit different (5/8" to 1/2")but overall - very little change in ride hight. Maybe the Bilsteins will settle a little more over time (did drive it around to settle it).

Damn - the quest to lower my vette continues. Maybe the front spring is too stiff to let her come down (can't afford coilovers and I have to mod the shock mounts - ts an 86).