Shock suggestions for '92 Roadmaster

Hey guys, I think I have read all of the shock posts, but I'm still a little confused. I'm tired of the floaty, sea-sickness I get driving this. It is equipped with the factory air shocks, fully functioning.

I typically like a firm ride so I've been leaning toward ditching the air shocks and getting standard police shocks. I have found 3 economical brands of the police shocks - Monroe Gas-Magnum Severe Service, Gabriel Ultra, and KYB-GR2 shocks. Any feedback on these?

Oh, and do the police shocks bolt in OK?

Thanks, Paul.

I put the Gabriel Ultra's in about two years ago. They've already both started leaking. I'd go with the KYB's.

Yes, the police shocks are a direct bolt in.

I love and adore my Severe Service shocks.

Personal preference, really. The KYBs will serve you just as well, but the SS shocks will be firmer (some say too firm, but Florida has pretty smooth roads, so... non-issue here).

Go with the KYBs,the severe service monroes will rattle the car apart on anything but perfectly
smooth roads!I have a new set of KYBs ordered!

Thanks guys! Most of the roads around here aren't too bad...
Now, just to be clear, the KYB's I'm looking at are the GR2's. Not the Gas-Adjust. Can't quite afford those at this time.
Are the GR2's good? They offer them in the police/taxi version and also the actual wagon spec versions. I figured on ordering the police versions to get a firmer shock? Sound reasonable?

Thanks, Paul.

I love my BILSTIENS

Yea, I would too... can't afford those unfortunately.

Go with the police/cabby version for ride and handling as the wagon spec shocks are for maintaining height with a full load onboard.Sounds like you have plans for your new toy!

I've never understood why why some say the Severe Service shocks are too stiff? Perhaps mixing them with old springs? I have them and love 'em. I do have "newish" springs too.

Chris

I'm with Chris... I've got them on with what I can only assume are 125k mile-old original springs. Everyone and their mother always comments on how smooth the car is to ride in.

Mothers only knock points off for its loudness, but that's not going anywhere.

Im with Chris too - I have Severe Service and they ride great and I have 109k on the originak springs. Price is right too!

JimR wrote:

Im with Chris too - I have Severe Service and they ride great and I have 109k on the originak springs. Price is right too!

Initially I was going to say perhaps the people who didn't like the SS shocks had them up north on crappy roads. But you seemed to have bucked that trend.

Go for KYB Gas-A-Just from RockAuto. They're around $30 each there, about half the price of the local chain stores. The GR-2's are basic stock replacements, and are not highly rated. You want the Gas-A-Justs.

Texas has smooth roads, so on my '96 Roady wagon I went with the Monroe Severe Service shocks after reading the positive reviews on here and on the Impala forum. At first I loved them, going from the stock and worn out shocks to the Monroes, it felt like a totally different car. From very soft to VERY FIRM. I was thrilled.

BUT I swapped the Monroe's for KYB Gas-A-Justs about a year later. With the Monroes, you feel every expansion joint on the highway, and every pothole or crack in the road rattled the change in the ashtray. My Buick no longer rode like a Buick...and I swear rattles started in the dash and interior due to those rock-hard shocks.

Switching to the Gas-A-Justs the car still had a nice firm controlled ride, with no float, but now all the roads seemed smoothed out, no more rattles! Road trips were a lot more enjoyable and I stopped swearving to avoid manhole covers and such, which with the Monroe's felt like they were hurting my car.

I did also swap the rear springs for Moog variable-rate units, also cheap from Rock Auto. You need to do that, or add air bags to the stock springs, if your remove the factory air shocks. I wanted to get away from air altogether so did the springs back there and called it done.

I just did away with the air on my '92 Custom Cruiser this past week. Same deal, Moog springs and KYB gas-a-justs in the rear. It rides SO MUCH better! I still have to order KYB's for the front to match the rear...but will have to do that after the holiday. Kids are expensive.

-Mike

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php

KYB Part # KG5504 Gas-A-Just
Rear; Estate Wagon $31.79

KYB Part # KG4515 Gas-A-Just
Front; Wagon; $33.79

MOOG Part # CC623 Sold In Pairs
Variable Rate Springs; Rear; Wagon $53.79

Wow, thanks for all the feedback guys!

The Rock Auto prices look good. I'll take a look there.

So I'm going to have to change my rear springs if I ditch the air shocks?

This might throw a wrench in my plans as I have very limited funds right now(don't we all)... I really was not wanting to buy any stock type springs now as I was wanting to put lowering springs in there later as finances permit. Hmmm...

-Paul

Not 100% necessary, but helpful. I had air before and never changed springs...

I had the air shocks in the back, just replaced them with regular shocks and a set of low mile rear springs from another wagon. My front springs are a low mile pair of 9C1's with a full coil cut off the bottom (so they should be firmer than factory in theory)

I can say my ashtray does not rattle (but I keep coins in the felted coin tray anyhow) and I have a factory CD player that does not skip on bumps/expansion joints. Your experience sounds horrible Mike (and I remember reading that before in another post and it gave me pause before buying this set I have now). I wish we were closer so you could drive my wagon and compare. My wagon is not rattling itself apart...

Honestly, for the price of the KYB's....you can't go wrong. I used a set of those on a Roadmaster Sedan I used to have. They were fine and the car handled nice.

Oh and FYI, the best price I found on Severe Service shocks was @ Amazon. Free shipping too.

Fronts $31.92ea

http://www.amazon.com/Monroe-550012-Severe-Service-Absorber/dp/B000C59M3O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355088608&sr=8-1&keywords=550012

Rears $36.58ea

http://www.amazon.com/Monroe-550013-Severe-Service-Absorber/dp/B000C53RGC/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1355088667&sr=1-1&keywords=550013

That's where I got mine! Amazon ALL the things!



OOH! This thread reminds me! I'm ordering my moog cargo coils right now!

Do I need to order the rubber isolators too?

I have the SS Monroe's in 3 of my four wagons (but have a set in the garage for that one too).
They do firm up the ride, but the car handles nice, and I have no complaints.

I'm running 15s on two of the cars and SS 17" Impala rims on the other one.

My cousin works for Monroe, and he was even surprised how well the shocks work on the wagon.

Screw it, rubber bits were cheap. CC623s en route to my house!

LOL - they look good! I love Amazon!

That is a good point. I had those 17-inch Impala SS wheels with lower-profile tires on my 96 Roady. Those wheels/tires in conjunction with the Monroe SS's could be why my Roady felt so rough over bumps and expansion joints. With the 15-inch wheels and taller tires to take up some of the shock, the Monroe's may have be fine.

I can only remember the stock CD player skipping a few times when I went over bumps. Mosty it was just the stuff rattling in the ash tray and change holder, and general rattles in the car over bumps, that soured me on the Monroe's. Once I switched to the KYB's, the car no longer rattled at all. Rich, my friend that owns the Roady now, loves the ride.

To answer another question, no I did not swap out the rubber rear spring isolators on either the Roady or my Custom Cruiser. Never crossed my mind, but sure can't hurt!

-Mike