Shock absorbers for stock based suspensions

[Kern Dog]

This isn't a question so much as a reflection.
Like many car guys, I started out with only a little money and didn't have the cash to aim straight for the best shocks that were available.
My '70 was never intended to be a drag racer, I am a greater fan or road course and cornering. I love a car that can stick to the road in the curves.
I embraced the torsion bar/leaf spring design and fortified mine with reinforcements, bigger torsion bars and sway bars, HD leaf springs, urethane bushings, etc.
20+ years ago, I went with 1.0 torsion bars and KYB shocks. The car handles well on smooth roads but did ride rough and rattled a bit. Years later I went with bigger torsion bars but also Bilstein shocks from Firm Feel.
It was a surprise to find that the 1.15 torsion bars didn't result in a harsher ride due to the superior Bilstein RCD shocks. For about $500, those shocks were probably the greatest improvement in the feel of the car. (aside from the 5 speed manual)
I've read others go for Fox, Viking, years ago even Edelbrock made a great shock but they dropped them just before I bought my Bilsteins.
The KYBs are bullshit. They were too stiff for anything but perfectly smooth roads.
Seriously, going from 1.0 to 1.15" torsion bars should have resulted in a much harsher ride but the Bilsteins just work right.

[b5blue]

  Having "grown up" with these cars in general and watched performance tank in the 70's, they were never meant to be what many try to make them into. My only extra is a rear sway bar and the new steering box.     

[Kern Dog]

You're missing out.
You may have read some Mopar Action magazines, right? Rick Ehrenberg is also a huge proponent of handling. He built the 69 Valiant that competed in "One Lap of America" series and trounced Porsches, Camaro/Firebirds and other cars we are told are superior. He did it with stock based suspension. We can too.
Kevin Westley raced a '70 Belvedere in autocross events and beta lap times of cars also thought to be superior.
These cars can handle far better than you're aware of, you just have to spend time in the right areas.
A road race car can turn decent 1/4 miles times while being a great street car.
A drag race car sucks on a road course and isn't fun on curvy roads or daily driving.
We have cars with a better foundation than the GM and Ford cars of the same era.
People have it stuck in their heads that classics aren't capable of handling like newer cars. Mopar guys are the worst for embracing anything modern. Chevy guys were putting TPI 350s in Camaros and Chevelles in the mid 60s, 40 years ago.

[b5blue]

 Well at one point I had a SCCA TR4 that could run rings around just about everything. Who are you competing with?

[Kern Dog]

Look at every new car that is fast. They all handle well.
That was my goal, to have a well rounded car. Power, braking, handling and reasonable comfort.
It may seem foreign to some that grew up with drag racing so prevalent with these cars but they can be excellent road course cars too.

[hugh1968charger]

I have been thinking about upgrading my shocks on my 68 Charger and on my Ram truck I went with the Bilsteins. I am happy. But @ $500 I am researching and didn't I see something about them not fitting exactly right and some type of modifications are required?

[Kern Dog]

Firm Feel sells a version that fit, they label  them RCD which I think is "Race Car Dynamics".
Mine fit like stock. Many other Mopar guys have them too.
I have Bilsteins on my 2007 Dodge truck and the 2015 Challenger.

[Nacho-RT74]

I've read others go for Fox, Viking, years ago even Edelbrock made a great shock but they dropped them just before I bought my Bilsteins.

EAS shocks. Many 73/74 owners got them based on their application list to find their fronts didn't fit!

Still wondering why stopped their production.

[Kern Dog]

Like many people, I first went cheap and used the KYBs.
For a car with stock leafs and torsion bars, they may be okay but for any car with some spring rate to it, the KYBs are a terrible choice.
Andy Finkbeiner is a fan of Koni shocks. I've never tried them but they do have street cred.
The Edelbrock shocks had some great reviews too.
I read more and more about the Bilsteins from a variety of enthusiasts from regular guys that had stock suspensions to guys like me that like a good handling car.

[Mike DC]

   
That's the short answer in a few sentences.  Bilsteins & Konis handle well.  KYBs are too stiff.  Drag shock combos are only good for dragging. 


Adjustable shocks . . . it's useful, but it's not really better than having fixed shocks that are tuned right the first time.  At least for a street cruiser. 

It's kind of like driver seats that have 100 adjustments.  If you are the car's only driver then you will probably set it once and hardly touch it after that.   

[Nacho-RT74]

When money is enough and after my car is reassembled and brought to Spain, the RCD shocks will be my next upgrade along with TuffStuff 100 amps alt

[HeavyFuel]

I also have the Bilsteins.  Went with them the same time I ditched the factory UCAs and went tubular.  With the boxed LCAs and the subframe connectors/torque boxes, it handles pretty well.