Back at the dawn of time (before gas shocks), there were aftermarket high-performance shocks on the market. Gabriel made Adjust-O-Matics and Silver E's; both were stiffer than stock, and were promoted as having 50/50 action. That meant that they provided as much damping on rebound as they did on compression. I used the A-O-Ms on two of my cars in the '50s, and liked them quite well. My '56 is lowered with lowering springs and dropped spindles. It has less than an inch of suspension travel before the rubber bumper comes in contact with the frame. The ride is actually quite tolerable -- the bumper is obviously acting as part of the suspension -- but a good dip will launch it upward on rebound, which I find annoying. I would like to find some front shocks for it that provide good rebound damping, but nobody speaks of 50/50 any more. For that matter, I haven't found anything that even speaks of rebound damping. Anybody here who has been around suspensions for a long time, who can suggest a manufacturer whose product does what I'm looking for?
Tony, I think they pretty well all are for road cars as far as damping ability in either direction. Only thing is that generally they work on 2/3 compression, 1/3 extension when installed at rest. The only odd ones I can think of are 90/10 drag shocks for the front as far as valving for damping ability goes. there may be special off road ones as well.
http://www.google.com/url?q=bilstei...my_bUE&usg=AFQjCNFxRWbAp8O-fnvIfiCljpYFy1QeuA sorry this copy came out so long but you need to contact bilstein shocks. they fixed that problem with my '34 pickup, just measure the distance between the shock mounts, they were at the goodguys. also i saw your car posted here with the other winners cars, looks great. rich
Hey Tony! I'm using KYB Gas Adjust shocks on my '64 El Camino daily driver. It's got cut coils and trimmed snubbers with about 1" of travel. The shocks are shorter than stock, obtained from Original Parts Group for this specific short-coil application. My point is that there may be a shorter-than-stock KYB Gas Adjust shock for your application as well. Even with the lack of suspension travel the ride is very acceptable with this setup. The shorter length puts the piston near the center of travel where it's most efficient, rather than at the end of the travel where it is less efficient. I also sourced some "extra heavy duty gas-filled" shocks for my lowered '55 Buick Special through Kanter which work exceptionally well. This car has more suspension travel than yours, even though it's lowered, but the extra shock control is much appreciated on such a heavy car. Both of these shocks have very good rebound control as well as much better compression control than a standard shock, much like the old 50-50 shocks which you mentioned, but without the harsh ride. With the old 50-50s you could feel every crack and painted line, but the gas-filled shocks seem to be less sensitive to minor deviations in the road surface while still providing excellent overall suspension control in both jounce and rebound modes. I have purchased some Bilstein gas-filled shocks from Jamco for my '52 Victoria with tubular control arms, dropped spindles and shortened coils in the hope that they will provide the same degree of control that you seek. But the car is not yet on the road so I can't report as to how well they work. Hopefully one of these three suggestions will help your situation. Good luck!
Hmmm. Here's my thinking: When I have installed gas shocks (KYB, as I recall), I've been very conscious that I had to compress them vigorously to bolt everything up -- that is, they want to expand to their fully extended position. It seems that the gas in the shock is doing the same thing that the spring is -- pushing the frame of the car away from the road. That seems exactly opposite to what I'm looking for; the car bounces upward when it's recovering from a dip. I want to damp OUT that tendency to push upward. Maybe the gas shocks can do that too; it just seems counter-intuitive to me. Do manufacturers still produce conventional hydraulic (non-gas) shocks? Who?
For your application, I would recommend a racing shock with digressive action. Shock technology has progressed so far past the old "50/50" terminology, that you won't see it much except for OEM replacement stuff. Digressive means that the shock is very stiff in slow motion action, but much softer in fast motion situations (potholes, etc). The shocks can also be set up to provide different action/stiffness in compression and rebound. These shocks are not terribly expensive (well, they are compared to the junk on the shelf at AutoZone...). I wouldn't buy adjustable shocks, just get the damping rate that is close for your application. The shock mfgs. speak in terms of lb of force per inch per second of shaft speed. Normally this figure will be at 3"/second, the standard crossover point between "slow" and "fast" motion. So a 280/280 is 280lb of force at 3"/second of shock speed. Remember the shock controls the motion of the spring, so the stiffer the spring, the stiffer the shock you need to control it. Knowing the corner weights and spring rates for your car (and how far the suspension normally travels) will help the shock guy to pick the correct damping for your car. Just remind them that it is a street car, and your biggest concern is ride quality. Pro Shocks, QA1, AFCO, and several other mfgs. all build non-gas shocks of this type. THey are available with ends that will bolt up to most stock mount types. Hope this helps.
The gas pressure in a gas shock isn't going to be strong enough to make the shock act as a spring or affect the rate of damping. Don't believe me? Push one all the way in and let go and watch how slowly it extends. The purpose of the gas pressure is to stop the oil in the shock from foaming-won't change anything else.
You need to weigh the car at all 4 points, then contact bilstein direct or do as I do and go through Max at Biokustomz or Fat Jack if you need any more info John Denich And I talk often. Roger
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