What shock?
 

Is an inch of lowering enough to warrant a non stock shock or can I go with off the shelf replacements? The ac Delco I bought aren’t getting it done.

What does not getting it done mean?

Way too much front end bounce

Well for having much lighter aluminum heads on the nose of the car they must really be shot!
I would just get a Koni shock listed as a replacement for your car.

A 1” lower ride height will not be a issue unless you drive on crazy bad wash board roads at high speed.

I have Koni adjustable shocks that are not easy to adjust but ride nicely.

I see that they don’t sell the adjustable anymore and there are not many options to choose from. If I was to buy what’s available today I would probably go with the Hotchkis shocks which are made by Fox…they are expensive though.

Second choice would be the Koni shocks as there is not much else available. I have not had much luck with KYB’s as the ride always seemed pretty harsh.

I put bilstein on my 70 a few years ago,,, rides nice

Yes, that’s what I have found with any gas filled shock, that being they ride too harsh if your suspension was not designed for them in the first placed and non rubber control bushing seem to amplify that .

Also a big ass front sway bar that’s larger then stock will add a bit to harshness too.

There are several choices for 64-67 front shocks. Bilstein, KYB single and twin, Gabriel, Monroe and a few others. I don’t think Koni makes a front shock for these cars any longer

A single tube gas shock will be a bit stiffer/harsher than a twin tube.

I can’t help you much. I have the mono tube KYBs on the front pf my ‘65 right now, and also have a pair of Bilsteins and KYBs to try out. I also have a huge front bar that’s not helping much with stiffness, but it really keeps the car level in the turns.

I’ve been very happy with the adjustable Ride Tech socks I have on my ‘68. Game changer from the Bilsteins.

try viking shocks

I've used Bellteh on many of my cars now, bounce will no longer be an issue and will not break the bank.

https://www.belltech.com/categories/...BodyType/Coupe

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/bel-2209ih

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/bel-10103i

What Steve said in post 7 has pretty much been my experience. I've never been happy with off the shelf shocks no matter what brand, and I've tried a bunch. All are just too stiff for my liking and give a horrible ride. Didn't matter if it was my a-body, f-body, x-body, g-body, I've just grown to hate a harsh ride

So what I leaned towards the last few years are viking double adjustables. I can set the compression and rebound to my liking for a much more comfortable ride, and even dragstrip settings when the need arises.

How hard is it to adjust the front settings? Especially being double adjustable. Trying to picture it ,, doesn’t sound like any fun.

Nothing will impress a chick more than crawling under ur car to adjust all 4 shocks at a gas station - especially if it’s because her fat sister got in .

You mean put more air in your rear air shocks to keep your mufflers off the ground? :-)

It depends, if you have coil overs it's easy, if you have regular coil springs it's more of a challenge on the front but doable.

Have to keep in mind it's not something you have to do weekly, monthly, or even yearly. Once you find what you like it's set it and forget it. What it does give you is a ride quality you want that is infinitely adjustable, the kind of quality you just don't get with all these regular off the shelf shocks.

Lol you've got a ride height issue to start with if you're having those kinds of problems

Just my preference but a rough riding car is a miserable car to drive. It'll wear you down on a long drive to a point I can't wait to get out of it

I just did a 388 mile round trip in the elcamino. It is one of the best riding cars I've had. What's it have for shocks? Old wore out chit that were in it when I bought it. No idea how old they are but I can say this, the car isn't over sprung, it's soft, and the shocks are old. Probably a set of old oil filled shocks on the front ( same as what is on the front of my firebird). The back of the elky are the original air shocks that no longer hold air. 43 years old.
Should I put shocks on it? Probably. Will I put shocks on it? Not high on the priority list and I'll tell you why. My entire family has been in this thing and the comment I hear repeated is how nice it rides and how comfortable it is.

I will tell you if I ever decide to do shocks it won't be anything off the shelf that makes the ride harsh. Make the ride hard and it'll just be another car that sucks to go more than 20 miles.

The thing I've noticed about regular store bought shocks, and I've had a bunch of them. Doesn't matter if it's cheap Monroe, bilstein, kyb, some of this stuff getting over $100 a piece, they ride as hard as the $30 Monroe's. I got tired of trying them.

If you ever notice or care to look, you get a pair of shocks for a 69 firebird for example and it'll actually list that part number for different cars in the 70's and even the 80's that this shock fits spanning all kinds of different models. Anyone find that peculiar?
Seems the only thing that changes is the length but they all have the same valving and not all these cars weigh the same, they don't have the same suspension geometry either. I'm sure they do this to save money and keep inventory slim. But what you end up with is a generic shock that fits a variety of different cars that isn't tailored to your specific need and you end up with crap ride quality.


That's my rant and my experience.

I had the same issue with the front end and also seemed to hit harder in the small cracks in the highway. I installed a set of QA1 shocks and it has been light night and day. That's my experience. It allows way more control with double adjustable shocks. There are expensive though.

The QA double adjustable on my 79 Camaro IA I can access the knobs from the bottom hole in the A Arm

Yes QA1 makes a nice double adjustable too

These are the ones I put on my '67 when I did the full global west tube suspension and coil spring upgrade. They've gone up in price since I got them. I'm really impressed with how they ride and handle, work really well with the GW parts and quick ratio steering. The ride is firm but not harsh, even with the short sidewall of the 18" tires. The difference from the drag shock/drag spring and skinny/fatty tires the car had, is mind blowing. Its a totally different car. I was literally afraid to push the car in a corner, now it just eats it and comes out of the corners ready to go.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...-shocks-by-fox

Front end bounce can also be the spring. A low rate drag spring is going to want to bottom out or hike up on weight transfer. They suck on the street, and are more difficult to control with a shock. Do you know what springs are in it?

The Bilsteins are a baseline, and are a 'good' shock.

The 'better' shocks jump in price considerably, and there's not much in between.

I used to run Fox and Tokicos, but there was a time where they were difficult to find, both are 'good-better' shocks, depending on which. I can't speak to them since it's been a long time since I've used them.

All the other shocks are basically crap, I've seen handfuls right out of box be dead. And if they weren't, the died pretty fast, like 5k miles max.

QA1, Viking, and Ridetech I've tried and like, even tho the Ridetech ones I tried the adjustment was reversed from what instructions said. All are $200+ each.

The Ridetech RQ shocks are the lease expensive (price-fixed at $185), and are single adjustable, which in this case would be fine. For the $50 more ea over Bilsteins, it's worth the extra money.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/a.../gto/year/1964

There's probably others that are in the 'good-better' categories, but with the ones listed above, it's not really worth taking a chance IMO.

As a note, not all front tubular lower control arms accept a double adjustable shock with the 2 dials on the lower part of body. In my experience, they physically don't fit thru the hole in the control arm, and/or can make contact with the inner spring cushion.


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