Shocks

[turboedbug]

I was wondering if anyone can make a suggestion on front and rear shocks for my 69 beetle.

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[vwo60]

What are you using your car for and what modification's have you made to the suspension, wheel size, driving style, i have used koni's, bilstein 's and KYB gas adjust's, out of all of them the KYB's have proven to be a good all round shock and very reliable, over the years the Bilsteins have proven to be leaker's after a 60,000 KLM's, the KYB's can be firmer in the ride but that depends on your set up, same for the Bilsteins. If you want a soft ride go with a good oil shock but the Koni's are over priced and have removed them from my Ghia as they were average.

[turboedbug]

What are you using your car for and what modification's have you made to the suspension, wheel size, driving style, i have used koni's, bilstein 's and KYB gas adjust's, out of all of them the KYB's have proven to be a good all round shock and very reliable, over the years the Bilsteins have proven to be leaker's after a 60,000 KLM's, the KYB's can be firmer in the ride but that depends on your set up, same for the Bilsteins. If you want a soft ride go with a good oil shock but the Koni's are over priced and have removed them from my Ghia as they were average.

I havnt made any mods on the suspension other than a kafer bar. I do plan on adding in new front and rear sway bars.

Mainly a street car with the occasional stop at the drag strip and a possible autocross ever now and then.

The car is subaru turbo powered

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[Ol'fogasaurus]

I made the switch from KYBs and Monroe shocks/dampeners to Bilsteins quite a few years ago. The KYBs were OK on mild terrain, better than OEM but not as good as specialty shock. I used them up until I had an "event" where they failed to do what they were supposed to do and the suspension bottomed out.

Besides changing shocks I made some additional then had an almost the same situation happen as before but this time, instead of the suspension bottoming out, the Bilsteins (I forget the number now but it has been replaced with a shock that has a reservoir attached) dampened the suspension enough so as not to have the suspension go completely to the stops.

There are other good shocks besides Bilsteins but I suggest that you go up a few levels from OEM type of shocks/dampeners.

I hope this helps.

[vwo60]

What ever you do, do not narrow the beam, it will totally change how it handles, I took one out of my Ghia and put the correct offset wheels on it, changed out of sight, is it ball joint IRS, sway bars work on my cars but only on the IRS, what wheels and tires, are they under standard guards, currently building a new beetle with double arm front and back, subi box and a turbo, intercooled and 2.5 type one. I run 7 x 17 and 9 x 17 wheels.

[FJCamper]

Hi Vwo60,

Selecting the "best shock" is very subjective, sort of like what flavor ice cream is best.

What's the best shock for a street car vs a road racer (especially an all-out racer) is a big difference. Then there's the off-road guys and the drag guys and the Bus guys, etc.



At Retroracing, for road racing we favor Konis. Bilsteins are a close second. We have used KYB's, "heavy duty" street shocks (EMPI, Monroes, etc) so we have a baseline. Konis have to be adjusted to the softest setting to be comfortable on a street car.

We found KYB's too stiff and abrupt in recoil-rebound. We used them on the rear of our Carrera Panamericana Ghia. The EMPI heavy duty oil shocks we used in front were collapsed by the end of the 2000 mile race. A really good top-end shock, such as Koni or Bilstein (like Fog comments) will add vital control at the extreme.

This is not to say you personally should be using Konis. For street or even hot sreet use, most shocks work fine.

FJC

[Ol'fogasaurus]

We found KYB's too stiff and abrupt in recoil-rebound. We used them on the rear of our Carrera Panamericana Ghia.

FJC

This I find interesting! Again, I am sand and even though we ride in some very flat smooth areas just going over someone else's' tracks in those ideal ride areas the KYBs gave a very... ah... different ride when compared to other OEM style of shocks. I'm sure the valving is a bit different than the OEM specs, but the ride is in my opinion... different! It kind of depends on just what kind of a ride you want I guess as they have been around for a long time just like Koni, Bilstein and several other better shocks have been.

Listening to the hard riding coil over w/nitrogen (air) shocks guys talk about spring rates and the dampener valving settings as well as the amount of nitrogen (I still don't fully understand some of this) they add to them is quite interesting... and that is to say the least. I just don't recommend the cheaper style of "air shocks" that are more like helper springs that I still see used. Very dangerous in my opinion!

Lee

[vwo60]

As i said I have removed both Koni's and bilsteins from my cars and find the KYB's a good compromise and value.