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Shock absorber tips for you


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I've never been happy with the ride quality of my 72 Monte Carlo. The previous owner had installed KYB gas charged shocks and I began to think they were the problem even though they were relatively new (low miles). The car jumped around on the road when hitting sharp bumps and the ride in general was too firm despite having big cushy sidewalls on the BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires. So I installed OE style hydraulic shocks from Monroe (sold by NAPA) and the difference was like night and day. With the OE style shocks, the ride is smooth and compliant - as it should be.

The OE style shocks were about $25 each compared to about $40 each for the "better" gas shocks.

Moral of the story: "better" is not always better.

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Agreed! Kyb and Gabriel, in my opinion give a very, truck like ride. And I mean a truck of old not these poser things they call trucks. Lolol. I like Monroe gasmatic shocks in my region of the country. 

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perfect timing!  thinking of ditching my lifetime warranty "Midas" shocks i initially got installed in the 1990s  I am on my third set but was thinking on trying something different. Although it is always fun to show up with the lifetime certificate and see the calls to head office to figure out what to do as they have never seen a lifetime certificate before.....

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13 hours ago, MC1of80 said:

 in my opinion give a very, truck like ride. And I mean a truck of old not these poser things they call trucks.

Thanks for the laugh this morning. Good thing I didn't read that last nite, I'd have beer coming out my nose 🤣

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I installed some NAPA shocks on the rear of my and they both broke where the lower mounts bolted to the axle. Ordered some from Rock Auto but I forget which brand but I have not had real good luck with NAPA stuff overall but they do stand behind the stuff they sell.

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2 hours ago, Leghome said:

I installed some NAPA shocks on the rear of my and they both broke where the lower mounts bolted to the axle. Ordered some from Rock Auto but I forget which brand but I have not had real good luck with NAPA stuff overall but they do stand behind the stuff they sell.

@Leghome Hey Larry, yeah, I don't expect these to last forever but it's not a daily driver so I'm not terribly worried about it. And yes, NAPA stands behind their stuff.👍

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8 minutes ago, Scott S. said:

Guess I should have been more inquisitive before I got my KYB's.....

Nothing wrong with KYB shocks. You just need to get the correct grade of shocks. They make all different ride variations. 

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Just a little parts brand information for people who don’t know. NAPA ( North American parts association) makes absolutely nothing. It’s the product of their choosing put in a box with their name on it. No different than Parts Plus, Federated, Mastercraft, Duralast. You get the point 

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13 hours ago, Dtret said:

Nothing wrong with KYB shocks. You just need to get the correct grade of shocks. They make all different ride variations. 

Hey Dennis. Yeah, I agree, I'm not knocking KYB shocks, just saying that the ones that were on my car were far too stiff. If KYB made an OEM replacement, I would have been just as inclined to use them as I was to use the NAPA (Monroe) shocks.

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After driving my Monte around the Bristol Motor Speedway I promptly removed my Monroe shocks and installed Bilstein shocks. They really did wonders to reduce body roll without being too terribly stiff in my opinion. 

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