Shocks for 73 Charger

[scott313]

I would like to put KYB Gas-A-Just shocks on my 73 charger (Big Block). KYB does not offer a front shock in the Gas-A-Just. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If not KYB then what other brand/model would you suggest? Mostly street driving with improved handling is my goal. I have completely rebuilt both front and rear suspensions and upgraded to Poly bushings.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

[Loadrunner]

I have KYB's on my small block Aspen wagon and they are OK. I will be replacing them with something else when I go through my suspension the next time. If your driving is not that aggressive and your roads are smooth they will be fine I suspect. If not I would look for something else, Koni's and bilsteins are good but expensive. There are alternatives though.

[dwc43]

Carrera would be the way to go. Mopars like soft springs with large front and rear sway bars with agressive shock packages. This is what you need to make it handle.

[MoparMarcIdaho]

I dont know if they even make them any longer but I have had excellent results in the past with Gabriel strider adjustable Es on extra firm setting,this was before gas shocks were even around.

[scott313]

Thank you for the suggestions. I will look into these options.

[Dart 65]

As of a few years ago, KYB offered front and rear shocks for the'71-'73 Chargers, and only the rears for the '74. I would imagine that has changed by this point, but the reason I was given was that the '74, especially with its luxury type front suspension, wasn't considered a performance car and was therefore not a candidate for having performance shocks available. I had a number of '74 Chargers and had to use stock type shocks.

[dwc43]

If mem serves me right, both '73 and '74 use the same shocks.

[Dart 65]

Definately not. There is a distinct difference between the two, rubber isolators, I think. I looked long and hard and at the time anyway, KYB and Koni didn't make performance shocks for the '74. I don't know if the same goes for the Plymouth "B" body, however.

[webslinger60]

Originally Posted by Loadrunner

I have KYB's on my small block Aspen wagon and they are OK. I will be replacing them with something else when I go through my suspension the next time. If your driving is not that aggressive and your roads are smooth they will be fine I suspect. If not I would look for something else, Koni's and bilsteins are good but expensive. There are alternatives though.

Hi, hey do Koni & Bilstien have an application for F body Mopars? (that would also fit M & Js?)
I checked thier websites but could not find any? Maybe I missed something,
do you have part numbers?

[dwc43]

I'll have to look and see what kind of part numbers I can come up with. AS for why they are better, well over the counter shocks will have a certain number that will fit many cars. This is o.k. for a just a street car, I supose. But these higher end shocks can be tailored to your actual needs. In other words you can pick the exact valving for rebound and compression that you want for the set up you have in you car. You can even oder them with split valving too. Most are rebuildable and most can be run upside down and that reduces your unsprung weight for better handling.

[rumblefish360]

POP quiz DW,
Shocks for the ISO mounts on a Cordoba. Better than ave. pep boys junk, KYB qualtiy at a min. budget priced to med. price. They are studed on the bottom. (I knew you knew that)

ANS.- ______________

Thanks bud.

[viper11]

73 and 74 chargers have identical front suspension and rubber isolator mounts
71-72 charger shocks are about 1 1/2 inches to long
i am also trying to find a hipo shock to fit my 74

[Clair]

On that other Mopar board, there is a thread about C-body and late B-body shocks that were adapted from another application. That's something that you need to wrap your mind around when you're dealing with funky or unsupported platforms, or have deviated from stock by a bunch. I've got GM A-body shocks on my substantially lowered Valiant... I figured out how long my shocks were at rest, and how much suspension travel I had, and then hit the shock charts to see what applications fit the criteria. The GM stuff was a great fit on length, but had a different mount on the front shocks. A quick call to the QA-1 tech line confirmed that all I needed to do was press out the lower bar on the front shocks and use a sleeve package to reduce the bushing size to the correct Mopar size. Piece of cake.

This process can be used on ANY shock that fits your length needs, but needs to be tweaked on the mounts. Cut down the rubber biscuits, press out the bushing sleeves, that's all simple stuff. The critical thing is to know the working dimensions of the stock shocks, whether or not you're at stock ride height, and what style of mounts you have. Then compare to one of the big shock maker's catalogs with dimensions to find what you need. The shocks don't know or care what they're mounted to, and as long as you're close to the same weight, there shouldn't be a problem.

Clair

[pv]

I'm rather lazy and mechanically challenged so I wanted an out-of-the-box bolt-on solution for my '73 Road Runner. KYB only makes Gas-A-Just for the rears for my application. Would it be okay to put their GR-2 shocks on the front and Gas-A-Just on the back, or should I just stick with GR-2 all the way around?

The problem is, I'm running 195/50R15s on a 15x7 Weld Rodlite on the front (295/50R15s on 15x10 rear). I really regret this tire because it has such a small profile, and it's only 50% of 195mm! I am thinking I should have went with at least a 215/60. I lowered the front to hide wheel gap and now when there are slight "drops" in the freeway (or even through intersectinos), the car starts bouncing up and down like an old Cadillac, and either the radiator support or oil pan will hit at will. I have since raised the car as much as I can back to a more stock height, but it didn't seem to help. I know the shocks are gone because I can bounce the car easily by hand in the driveway and it will bounce a few times back.

Do you think I should just measure my shock and suspension travel and go with quality shocks? This is just going to be a weekend cruise car. How do you measure suspension travel exactly?

Thanks!

[Clair]

Originally Posted by pv

I'm rather lazy and mechanically challenged so I wanted an out-of-the-box bolt-on solution for my '73 Road Runner.

Ahhhh... If that's a serious piece of the puzzle, then yeah, you probably ought to stick with the KYB's, whatever you can find for your application. Or, you can check Monroe's site to see what they have available for you. Looks like there's only the Monroe Matic Plus for the front, but they show the MM+ and Sensa-Trac for the rears. I *THINK* the Sensa-Trac has similar technology to the Edelbrock IAS shocks, so that might be a decent option. The key is the PN's, which you can use to look up the specs in their PDF section, and then cross-reference those with others that might do the job, too. My GM shocks came in boxes, but I had to find the PN's...

The problem is, I'm running 195/50R15s on a 15x7 Weld Rodlite on the front (295/50R15s on 15x10 rear).

Ugh! Ditch those front tires! Even a 215/60 will be pretty short. A 225/60 isn't much taller at 25.6", but it's a lot closer to the 26.6" that the rear tires are. Adjust your rake with your t-bars, and if your rear springs are healthy, you should have the look you want with some suspension travel.

Do you think I should just measure my shock and suspension travel and go with quality shocks? This is just going to be a weekend cruise car. How do you measure suspension travel exactly?

If your ride height is close to stock, I wouldn't jack around with finding what your suspension travel is. To do that properly, you've got to remove your t-bars, get the front end up on jack stands, and move the suspension through it's range of motion. To do the "easy" way, you can subtract the compressed length from the extended length of an OE shock, and use that as your "range". Then compare that range to other shocks that have the same or similar dimensions and mounts... FWIW, here is that thread I mentioned earlier. You can decide if this is more work than you want to do.

Clair

[pv]

Okay, so it is better to rake the car with the torsion bars than wheel/tire height. Makes sense. The only bad thing is the tires are brand new, but then again, they were a steal. I will use one of the online tire/wheel ratio calculators and see what the best fit is. I don't think I want to go 70 series due to the performance, so I will find something in 60 series.

After reading the link to that thread, it doesn't sound like that much work. Sounds like someone else has already figured out the dirty work. I have decided to order them! I'll keep everyone posted. :-)

Originally Posted by Clair

Ahhhh... If that's a serious piece of the puzzle, then yeah, you probably ought to stick with the KYB's, whatever you can find for your application. Or, you can check Monroe's site to see what they have available for you. Looks like there's only the Monroe Matic Plus for the front, but they show the MM+ and Sensa-Trac for the rears. I *THINK* the Sensa-Trac has similar technology to the Edelbrock IAS shocks, so that might be a decent option. The key is the PN's, which you can use to look up the specs in their PDF section, and then cross-reference those with others that might do the job, too. My GM shocks came in boxes, but I had to find the PN's...




Ugh! Ditch those front tires! Even a 215/60 will be pretty short. A 225/60 isn't much taller at 25.6", but it's a lot closer to the 26.6" that the rear tires are. Adjust your rake with your t-bars, and if your rear springs are healthy, you should have the look you want with some suspension travel.



If your ride height is close to stock, I wouldn't jack around with finding what your suspension travel is. To do that properly, you've got to remove your t-bars, get the front end up on jack stands, and move the suspension through it's range of motion. To do the "easy" way, you can subtract the compressed length from the extended length of an OE shock, and use that as your "range". Then compare that range to other shocks that have the same or similar dimensions and mounts... FWIW, here is that thread I mentioned earlier. You can decide if this is more work than you want to do.

Clair