I've been doing some searching and find that my first choice Koni or Bilstein have no listings for my 62 Valiant. Summit has some "Doetsch" units for the rear but they appear to be designed for drag racing, an activity in which I have little interest other than as a spectator. Other than that I find some unnamed shocks at JC Whitney and Gabriel at Auto Groan. NAPA has their own store brand which I suspect is a Gabriel clothed in NAPA blue. The NAPA units are nitrogen charged with "velocity sensitive" valving but other than that I know nothing about them. What is available for early A-bodies and where can I find them? Oh, I should mention that I anticipate lowering the stance about 2 inches, tire clearance permitting, so I really need shocks with fairly aggressive damping.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

My understanding is that 62 has essentially the same suspension as 63-up A-bodies, so the listings for 63-76 will work on your car. KYB shocks are economical and work quite well for handling. Edelbrock has better shocks (IAS) for about $75 ea via Summit or wherever. QA-1 has adjustables for more ($140 and up).

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I know that the suspension is of the same design and many of the components are interchangeable but I was not sure that the shocks would be the same given different sheetmetal and chassis geometries. I checked the KYB website and didn't find any definitive information. I just now went to the NAPA site and see that they list the same part numbers front and rear for both a 62 and a 76 so that confirms what you're saying. Thanks for the help!

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

David, I just put a set on my Lancer, and they work pretty well. I have the P/Ns for you for KYBs and Edelbrock. I wish I had spent a little more for the adjustables now, but at the time $300/set was just more money than I had.

KYB: KG4509 Front, KG5511 Rear
Edelbrock IAS: 33840-Front, 34840 Rear

MJ

Menko, which did you use? The KYB or the Edelbrock?

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

All A-body front shocks are the same, '60-'76.
All A-body rear shocks are the same, '60-'76.

I use KYBs on mine, have for fifteen years, and am generally much more satisfied with them than I was with Monroe/Gabriel stuff. Never tried the Edelbrocks.

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

I finally found the KYBs on the Summit site... I had to work backwards through their listings but when I did it was listed for a 63 Dart.... close enough! Those are in a decent price range and given what I hear about their quality I will give them a go.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

I went with KYBs, which are fine for most normal uses. The only complaint is high speed damping could be better. They'd be great for you and your car I'm sure.. I think I saw 4 for $130 or so at several places. I just took an ad to my local Advance auto, had them match the price and order them.

IAS shocks are pretty much double the price or more.

MJ

They're 29.99 each at Summit racing which is less than half the cost of Edelbrocks. At that price I can try them and if I don't like them I can upgrade later and not be out a lot. If they will keep the wheels planted in a tight corner at moderate speed and not allow the suspension to bottom out I will be happy.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

If your suspension is bottoming out, shocks will not help much if at all. You'll need to either 1) raise ride height, 2) stiffer torsion bars, or 3) remove material from your bump stops on the lower control arms.

Bottoming out the suspension can be very dangerous and cause erratic handling or suspension damage.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I intend to replace the T-bars, just not sure which ones I want to use yet. The ones I have in the car now are badly rust pitted which is a recipe for broken suspension. I want to lower the height an inch or two and I want a firm, controlled ride but I don't want to be driving a buckboard. More research in that area is needed on my part.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

It may already be lowered from stock if the Tbars have not been adjusted.

A good rule of thumb is that there should be 3/4-1" between the LCA bump stop and frame point with the car on the ground. Any less and you'll get bottoming in bumps/cornering/braking. I had 1/2" and it was not enough.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988