Has anyone had any experience installing the KYB Gas-Adjust shocks on their older A body?

Just bought 4 new ones and was wondering how they worked out.

Are they a harsher ride?

They are going on a 65 Valiant.

Thanks in advance,

I ran these for years on a few A-bodies. They work fine as long as you do not go too big on the torsion bar diameter or rear spring pack stiffness. Quite a step up in handling from stock shocks with stock or near-stock springs/tbars. Ride is a bit harsher than stock, but it did not bother me.

This all assumes they are making them the same way and with the same quality they did 10-30 years ago!

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines

They can be difficult to compress or install when new. At least that was the experience I had on an f body.

I had good luck with these on an F body.

_________________
http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

I have run KYB gas-a-just for years on different vehicles and they generally work well. However, I recently removed them and replaced them on the rear shocks on my 95 Ford van because the KYBs were not strong enough to stop the bouncing. I used Bilsteins that control the bouncing much better.

I think that KYBs will be fine for you unless you start getting really aggressive with your rear leaf springs or front torsion bars.

I had them on a 93 dakota club cab and took them off because they were too soft

KYB Gas-A-Justs were my go-to shock for every one of my A-bodies I replaced shocks on over about 30 years' time. They worked great for me with any torsion bar up to the 892-893 items—those are the ones factory installed on V8/factory-air or trailer-tow package cars, two steps up from the base Slant-6 bars. I don't doubt they'd work well with the 894-895 bars (an additional step up, factory on the 383 and 440 A-bodies), or with any reasonably streetable aftermarket bar.

I always found they improved the ride over the flaccid factory (or Gabriel, Monroe, etc) shocks; they made it much less jittery-jiggly-busy-floaty and made the car feel more sure-footed and stable. I most often used them with 205/70R14 tires, though I used at least one set with stock kiddy-car 13" wheels.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I have KYBs on a 2 A-bodies and and M body.

The difference between KYB and Monroe is night and day.

KYB gives the car a whole different feel. Much more control.

The Monroe load carrying shocks and the Gas Magnums are okay.
You can put HD Gas Magnums (truck shocks) on the back of an A Body.

As Greg mentioned, the KYBs can be very difficult to compress and install.

I remember having to rig some type of zip tie tether to get them installed on the rear of the M body and front of the A Body.

Any tricks to installing on a 65 A body?

For the rears, I got the car high up on jackstands, attached the top shock point (nut and washers on stud) and "bench pressed" them onto the lower studs. Put a little silicone grease on the bushings and/or studs before installing.

For the front, I install the top bushings, washers, nut into the hole on the body with the shock extended and hanging next to the mount point on the lower control arm. Then, bench press them to get 'em into the LCA. If they overextend once they are in there (likely), then put a screwdriver through the LCA shock bolt hole and pry them up while inserting the bolt from the other side. All of this takes some muscling, but is always how I did it. I'm sure there are clever ways to do it, but I usually enjoy wrestling with things.

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines

I prefer the ones that come wire tied in the "short"position, I take those and put the easy end on, then cut the wire and shove em on as they extend out.

The last set of KYB's I bought were like that. They still csn be fussy.

Greg

_________________
http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Thank you all for your valuable responses. The rears have a tie wire in them from the factory which I assume you cut once the top parts is bolted in as Volaredon mentioned. The front ones I can't move at all by hand, they seem to be really stiff with heavy dampening built in them.

What new shocks did you get? My uncle is interested in this Dakota club project and it seems the shocks are very soft. The current owner said they are KYB gas. We'll take a look at it this weekend after we finished installing the rotors and truck tires on the Silverado.

I don't remember which kyb's they were, l went back to my old stand by's, which are Gabriel ultra's and much better. I don't remember if that was on my 92 or my 93 318 club cab Dakota. Both were 2wd, and were identical except for color and the 93 I converted to a stick.