Struts: Bilstien, KYB, Or Koni Sport?

[BigAls87Z28]

Already starting to plot out suspension parts for the 87 for next year probably.

KYB AGX's are the lowest priced ones out of the group, and they are the easiest adjustable units out there. I have good things about them, anyone have them? So so?

Koni Sport (yellow) are about another 100 bucks more, and are adjustable. To adjust you have to remove them from what I understand. I have heard really good stuff about them, but if I need to adjust them...I dont feel like taking it in and out all the time.

Bilstein's are always good, always the shock/strut to go to when you want something that is gunna handle really well. They do a good job in the 72, as well as the rep of Bilstein's. Problem is, they are super expensive!! They are also non-adjustable, but I dont think I really need an adjustable shock. I do want something to up the handling for the car.

The Bil's are the only monotube design while the rest are twin tube units as well as adjustable. Again, I dont think that I NEED adjustable shocks/struts.

What are your thoughts on the subject, oh great minds of NJFBOA...

[wretched73]

KYB AGX's are the lowest priced ones out of the group, and they are the easiest adjustable units out there. I have good things about them, anyone have them? So so?

I have them on the front of my car. I have no problems with them and they seem like a great shock. My car handles very well for stock swaybars and just springs and shocks.

[BigAls87Z28]

How did you like the Eibach's? I have always heard good things till I put a set on my 72, and that thing dropped into the weeds...

[Fast92RS]

I have the KYB on my Camaro and they are pretty good. I got them because as you stated they were the cheapest in the bunch. I dont know what they will be like after I rack up the miles on them but for now they are holding up well.
I have Bilstein's on my Avalanche and on the trucks I ve had before and are by far the best, They hold up really well even with 70k plus miles on them.

[IROCdan330]

How did you like the Eibach's? I have always heard good things till I put a set on my 72, and that thing dropped into the weeds...


Al, I run Koni Yellows on all 4 corners. The fronts, you just need to pop the cone off the strut tower and they give you a knob that fits right on there...and voila, adjustable in the car. The rears however, the tops need to be unbolted from the car. You could always run yellows in the front and reds in the rear (reds are the non-adjustable koni)... Keep in mind when looking at price...Koni's come with a lifetime warranty. However, Bilstein HDs are awesome as well.

I also run the eibach pro kit on my car. Yes it handles well, but I have next to no ground clearance. Probably 3-4 inches at its lowest spot. It makes for a real pain in the ass putting the lift arm under the passenger floor, I have to jack up the front end. If your springs are sagging, eibachs might not make any difference besides making it handle better, as they only really drop the front an inch over a factory iroc spring (rears maybe half inch). If you want a set of iroc springs, I have one with about 60k on it. They are slightly lower and have a heavier rating than your Z28 spring.

All in all, the car has very nice road manners with koni yellows/eibachs.

[wretched73]

How did you like the Eibach's? I have always heard good things till I put a set on my 72, and that thing dropped into the weeds...

I love them. With about 500lbs of people weight in the care i still bottom out the rear end on a good sized bump doing like 35+, i have no problems with clearance, i also dont have the body kit like an iroc but still, you know nothing of mechanical importance will be damaged.

Only downside is the ride is real rough, but whatever i wanted to lower my car haha

[qwikz28]

al why not take my car for a ride. i have koni yellows. they are second to none man

[426 Wedge]

I replaced my kyb's with koni reds. Nice ride and cornering has improved! The yellows are more stiff. I am looking for a nice ride and don't need to carve corners.

[//<86TA>\\]

If you can swing the koni yellows i would recommend them. They are quite a bit more, but worth the money. The adjust-ability is nice too.

the fronts just require a turn of a knob under the strut tower car, though i think the rears need to be unbolted and spun to adjust? im not sure i dont have them in the rear

[Kat]

Dan the red's are adjustable. I have them on the vert. :)


But for what I assume you'll use the car for, get the bilstiens.

[BigAls87Z28]

I would like my 87 to be a very well handling car. I dont think I will see any track time, but id like for something to handle very well, something to have fun with on curvy roads, but Id like for it to be some what comfortable when driving on your average road.

[//<86TA>\\]

if thats the case , i would have to change my previous answer to bilsteins

[426 Wedge]

You're welcome to drive my car. See how you like the Koni's. I don't have the best tires but I'm workin on it.

[BigAls87Z28]

I was looking at Bilstein's and I see there is a Heavy Duty shock and a Sport Series Shock for the rear.
Anyone know the difference? Im gunna stop by thier website and see whats up with that.

426, if you make it out to TR one night, Id like to take it for a ride, thanks!

[Kat]

The sport series is same as the HD but it is 1" shorter than stock for lowed cars if I remember right.

[Slow96LT1]

bilstine all the way my car ride like it on rails and i have no front sway bar

[Frosty]

I had Koni reds on my GTA, loved them.

I had re-valved Bilsteins to go with my Eibach springs on the Z. I liked it.

I have Bilstein sports on the 'vette and love them.

[KirkEvil]

I have the KYB AGX in a 4th gen. I DD it with the stiffness setting on max, and the front is a little stiffer than stock but the rears dont feel any different. All together not really noticeable. Im not really impressed for the $$$ spent. Take it for what you will...

[NJSPEEDER]

For one thing, keep it simple. Adjustables in the hands of a street driver or occasional autocrosser are not a great idea. You can do twice as much to screw up the handling of your can playing with adjustables that you will ever do to improve it. It takes a very good driver to feel out the balance of shock settings quickly enough to help, and then they would have to be adjusted for each individual condition.

KYB's, very good shocks. Operate very smoothly, even after repeated heat cycling like long road drives or back to back laps cause. The one weak point I learned about the hard way with KYB's is that they do not always have the most consistant valving. If you know of a reputable dealer that is willing to dyno your front and rear pairs to ensure they are matched, you will be in good shape. The inconsistances are at the limit though, not something you wil notice cruising down the street or on the occasional spirited trip down a country road.

Bilstein, great shocks. Bily's actually provide shock bodies to most of the industry, very very consistant valvings, very strong bodies and shafts. Their one weakness is that they are a "full range" design, which means you can bottom out the shocks and wreck them if your suspensions range of motion allows it(this is another 'ask me how I know' thing. lol)

[BigAls87Z28]

Alright, thought it out and I think im gunna do Koni Yellows up front, Bilstien HD's in the rear.
For springs, Im debating on going Eibach, Hotchkis or going for IROC's.

[Batman]

a little late but, I had one set of AGX's in my old Subaru and hated them. I could never get the balance of the right and had to do things like left front a 6 right front at 3 to make the car handle correctly so i was not impressed with their quality, maybe I got a bad set but who knows. I have the Bilstein HD's on my 84 and they are PHENOMENAL shocks/struts. I love them. But I also like the simplicity of bolt on and go, not a big fan of adjusting all the time. I'm not sure if they make them for 3rd Gens but Edelbrock IAS are great shocks too, that's whats going on my 02 next and I have them on my Tahoe, beefy as hell.

[LTb1ow]

QA1s!

[MonmouthCtyAntz]

Sounds good to me, Im currently going through the vendors trying to put a good setup together myself...Took the car out for a spin today and i think Ill need some new shocks/springs before cruise weather. Also want it a little lower.

[NJSPEEDER]

Get the Bilsteins and be done with it. They have very good feel and last a long time. That's all you need unless you are planning to do any serious racing.

[BigAls87Z28]

Yeah, well I figured for the price, the Koni's come out to be a better deal.

[Blacdout96]

Dont go with the KYB's. when I was searching around for shocks, I was looking into them, and came across a few places where they were having problems keeping their setting that they adjusted them to. like they would keep it at 3, and the car would get sloppy, so they clicked ti to 4, and then later on it became sloppy, until the point where they were maxed out, and they sucked. I havent tried them out, but like NJ is saying, unless you know how to adjust the settings right, get teh Bilsteins, they are out of the box ready to go, adn your car will ride beautifully. Im dying to get my package on before June for Millville.

[BigAls87Z28]

Bringing this back. My problem is now that some on the interwebs are saying that I must go with the sport model if I lower my car, or I will destroy the rear Bils.

[NJSPEEDER]

The rear bilsteins are fine on a lowered car. I ran them for a long time. If you remove the bump stops and stuff a tire on a hard enough transition at racing speeds you can break them(guess how I learned this little nugget......three times). For the pedestrian manner in which your car will be driven 99.9% of the time and the fact that you still have bumps stops, you are not likely to break them any time soon.

[BigAls87Z28]

Uhh...yeah, it wont have bump stops soon.

[KirkEvil]

Do not go KYB adjustable. Thats the route I went and Im not impressed with them

[BigAls87Z28]

No deffinatly not going KYB, not gunna take the chance.

Koni yellows and Bils in the rear. Only yellow that will make it onto the car. I just priced out the front Bils again...over 300 bucks on summit. Thats PER strut.

[BigAls87Z28]

Welp, went with Bils front and rear. Found a better deal on the front Billys, priced near what KYB AGXs are.

[Frosty]

Good deal, Bils are better than KYB's. :)

[BigAls87Z28]

I was gunna go with Koni Yellows, but for the price I got the Billys for...couldnt pass it up. Still over 120 bucks cheaper for both compared to the Koni's.

[quasar34]

whered you find that deal on the bilsteins? im ready to do my suspension soooon

[BigAls87Z28]

Friend of a friend.

[HeadlessNorseman]

I would like my 87 to be a very well handling car. I dont think I will see any track time, but id like for something to handle very well, something to have fun with on curvy roads, but Id like for it to be some what comfortable when driving on your average road.

its all about the tires, then sway bars. for handling thats what id go after first. that and bilsteins would have my vote for shocks, although adjustability would be nice and adds a little fun factor to owning shocks

[98tadriver]

ive had the KYB AGX's on my trans am for over 3 years and havent had a problem with them. when the time comes to get QA1's, im putting the AGX's on the camaro

[BigAls87Z28]

its all about the tires, then sway bars. for handling thats what id go after first. that and bilsteins would have my vote for shocks, although adjustability would be nice and adds a little fun factor to owning shocks

36mm hollow/24mm stock sways: check
TDS Wonderbar: check
275/315's: Check
Springs: Check
Shocks are here, struts on the way.
Should be a fun car in a month.

[J.Reed]

36mm hollow/24mm stock sways: check
TDS Wonderbar: check
275/315's: Check
Springs: Check
Shocks are here, struts on the way.
Should be a fun car in a month.

Well youve got your bases covered! you just need some 4 inch bore action and you will have a sweet ass car.

[Tru2Chevy]

Well youve got your bases covered! you just need some 4.125 inch bore action and you will have a sweet ass car.

Fixed ;)

- Justin

[J.Reed]

Fixed ;)

- Justin

say no to 400!