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#1
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Good street shocks., 67 A body?
What are some good shock absorbers for a street driven LeMans? Street driving, no race.
I'm doing the first shakedown drives in my 67 LeMans. It rides like a sailing ship, it's all over the place pitching and rolling. The front suspension has some sort of lowered aftermarket coil spring and a set of comp engineering drag shocks. The rear has stock type springs and a set of worn-out shocks. Shocks so old they say "radial tuned shock" on them. Car has 205/75/15 on front and 275 drag radials on back. Weld Prostar skinny/fatty rims. So it does have the nose down look. What shocks can I throw on, so it calms down on the street?
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I could explain all this to the girl at the parts store, but she'd probably call the asylum. White '67 LeMans 407/TH350/Ford 3.89... RIP Red '67 LeMans. 407/TH400/Ford 3.25 |
#2
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if its just a street cruiser and you want stock OEM type shocks, i have used monroe sensatrack, gabriel or KYB shocks with good results, they are a budget priced shock and wont handle as well as some of the better brands. if price is not a concern koni gets good reviews. for OEM type shocks rock auto will usually have the best prices.
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#3
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I've gone with the Bilsteins and they seem to be the best. Also some of the most expensive. But to me, the car just feels more planted. Very happy with the results.
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#4
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Carburetor building & modification services Servicing the Pontiac community over 25 years |
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#5
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Quote:
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. 1970 GTO Judge Tribute Pro-Tour Project 535 IA2 http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=760624 1971 Trans Am 463, 315cfm E-head Sniper XFlow EFI, TKO600 extreme, 9", GW suspension, Baer brakes, pro tour car https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...ght=procharger Theme Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zKAS...ature=youtu.be |
#6
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Adjustable shocks might be something to consider. If you don’t like one setting, try another. Several of them on the market to investigate.
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#7
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The Gabriel VST's are a decent shock without spending a lot. If you have a bit more budget, I'd go with the Koni Classic (red) which will allow you to fine tune the suspension a bit, especially with having a mix-matched spring setup.
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-Jason 1969 Pontiac Firebird |
#8
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I really like the way my car feels with bilsteins but I also have matching hotchkis lowering springs and anti-sway bars..
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1968 - Pontiac GTO |
#9
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Hard to go wrong with ACDelco OEM gas-charged shocks.
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#10
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I used AC Delco
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468/TKO600 Ford thru bolt equipped 64 Tempest Custom. Custom Nocturne Blue with black interior. |
#11
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I went with Bilstein, have them on my 71 vette and really like them
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#12
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Bilsteins here too. Great shocks.
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"No replacement for displacement!" GTOAA--https://www.gtoaa.org/ |
#13
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Do you have stock sway bars? If not I would suggest adding one to the rear.
__________________
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ― Calvin Coolidge |
#14
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Quote:
A given ride-height can be had with short, stiff springs, or tall, soft springs. The car will look the same when parked. There will be a night-and-day difference when driving. The domestic OEMs used to use tall, soft springs. Even in the "sporty" cars, they were too tall, and too soft. They've gotten away from that in modern times. For street use, you'd do well to get PROPER aftermarket springs in a shorter, stiffer configuration. My next set of shocks will likely be KYB; but I've heard REALLY good things about Bilstein also. My "A-body" also has bigass sway bars front and rear, and Polyurethane bushings front and rear. Someday, it's getting a Jeep Grand Cherokee steering box...but I've been promising that for years. Skinny front tires sacrifice braking power as well as cornering power. DON'T get into a collision with someone who'll pay attention to your vehicle afterward. Last edited by Schurkey; 02-22-2023 at 03:34 PM. |
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#15
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Quote:
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1968 - Pontiac GTO |
#16
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Increasing sway bar diameter will still give you a good ride without body sway, the sway bars on a 67 A body are woefully inadequate to keep the car from wallowing through turns.
1 1/8"-1 1/4" inch on the front, and a 1 inch rear bar will make a night and day difference. Of course good shocks will also complement the sway bar increase in size. Herb Adams (Engineer of the Trans Am suspension) always tried to keep the spring rates down, and then control body roll with oversized sway bars. He felt that the lesser rate springs allowed the tire to follow the unevenness of the racing surface better than a stiff spring does. As already mentioned quickening the steering box also helps to keep the car under control, and headed in the correct direction. My 67 GTO dirt car (middle picture in my signature pictures) was lowered and stiffer springs along with a 1 1/8 inch front bar, and a 1 inch rear bar, the car handled impeccably with that combination. I also stiffened the shocks to compliment all the other changes. After those modifications the car completely changed it's handling characteristics. |
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#17
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In the GM world, there's the "Guldstrand Modification" that accomplishes the same thing as the taller steering knuckle of the H-O disc brake upgrade, but also adds positive caster. It was a "cheat" on the '60s Trans Am Camaros; Ford was doing the same thing on the Mustang and no doubt Shelby "invented" it in the Ford world. This "Guldstrand Mod" can be applied to A-bodies or--really--most any vehicle with an upper control arm. http://pozziracing.com/first_gen_suspension_geome.htm We're in a position where GM and the other domestic manufacturers DELIBERATELY sabotaged the cornering power of the "stock" vehicles they built by intentionally screwing-up the suspension geometry. Then we're trying to undo that damage by playing with spring rates and sway bars. The better/more sophisticated/more inclusive fix is to sharpen the suspension geometry in addition to tuning the spring rate and bar diameter. A proper "alignment" can help, but it's not nearly enough. The "alignment" is not the only geometry that's been sabotaged. Quote:
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https://www.amazon.com/Chassis-Engin...=3NWQDW0KE1VPO I was fairly certain he advocated really-stiff springs and bushings, and no or minimal sway bars. The logic was the sway bar interferes with "independent" front suspension by tying the two sides together. Maybe I misunderstood. My thinking is that too-stiff springs make for "no" suspension; I'd rather have the sway bars and more-moderate springs--but still stiffer/shorter than stock. Colin Chapman (Lotus) was a big fan of long suspension travel, soft-ish springs, and big sway bars. But again, "soft" springs is a relative term--the spring rate was softer than "competition" springs other folks were using. Last edited by Schurkey; 02-22-2023 at 06:08 PM. |
#18
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My dirt track car was sponsored by an auto wrecking yard, so all my parts came right out of the wrecking yard, zero cost to me. Front bar from a 73 GTO, 1 1/8", 1" rear bar, and lower control arms from a 70 GTO. I shortened, and rewelded the spindle arms 1", and got the lock to lock turns down to 2 1/2 turns. That was the old school way of quickening the steering when we didn't have access to quick ratio boxes. I didn't have much money, but I had more time to make modifications in lieu of spending money. After a whole winter of hard work, I had a car that even a novice could drive well. Case in point, one week I let a friend of mine, that was a drag racer (zero dirt track experience) drive it. He came from the last row, to third in 10 laps. Passed about 17 cars, in 10 laps .....:thumbup |
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#19
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Quote:
HO Racing Front and Rear bars. Also have the Tom Lee Power Steering Box. 1964 A-Body vehicle. Most likely there are other parts out there that might be slightly better but the parts I have (above) have done the job for many years. Tom V.
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"Engineers do stuff for reasons" Tom Vaught Despite small distractions, there are those who will go Forward, Learning, Sharing Knowledge, Doing what they can to help others move forward. |
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#20
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Guess I was wrong about Adams and spring rates. I wonder where I got that impression.
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