Shocks To Suit Kings? Plz Help

[bwendaman]

hey guys

I have an 84 ke70 with lowered king springs underneath but I want to get new short stroke shocks all round?

 

anyone got any input on what brands ect.

want to improve my handling.. alot ;)

all comment appreciated

 

cheers ben 

[rian]

If you have money:

Rear: Bilstein, Koni, KYB AGX, TRD. I think people usually go for the rear shocks from a VL Commodore or the rear shocks from a Camaro, I don't know part numbers though.

 

Front: Nothing worthwhile fits, unless you get some different struts(AE86, XT130) then you have options of Koni, TRD etc. And if you convert to coilovers, which is pretty much the only way to get a shorter shock, you can use ST185, ST184, SW20, AE92 etc from Bilstein, Koni, KYB AGX, TRD etc.

If you don't have money:

Rear: Any budget shock from Repco, Supercheap etc for the rear of a VL Commodore. Or wait for second hand shocks to pop up.

 

Front: You need money.

If you're a goose:

Rear: Front shocks from a Suzuki Sierra.

 

Front: You still need money.

Edited November 10, 2011 by rianwest

[bwendaman]

okay thanks for your help 

[rian]

I just did a bit of googling, it's not a VS commodore it's a VL commodore that people use the rear shock from. So I'll edit that in my other post.

[Oh-KE]

don't the early aw11 rear shocks fit the front and are shorter stroke?

 

My link

[ke70dave]

i think you will struggle to find a decent short stroke shock for the front of a ke70, need to look into a strut conversion.

 

rear, the KYB part number that i used was 343113, some sort of mid 90's commondore wagon shock (i belive it was the lowered version as well, not standard). worked very well with lowered springs at a reasonable height (jsut legal).

 

there is a thread on ae86dc that compares alot of shocks, few yrs old so might have to google search it. or it might have dissappeard.....

[rian]

Okay so I did some research into this rear Commodore shock situation, here's what I discovered:

-VB to VS SEDANS can all use the rear same shock.

-VB-VS WAGON rear shocks are longer than VB-VS SEDAN rear shocks.

-VB-VS models that have a "Rear Beam Axle" have shocks that are way longer than models without the beam axle(I have no idea what a beam axle is)

-The bottom mounting hole varies in diameter between wagon, sedan and beam axle models. The standard VB-VS commodore sedan rear shock had the same diameter mounting hole as the KE70 rear shock, where there was just a rubber bush for the mount. All other VB-VS shocks had a metal bush thingy inside the rubber bush, and were thus too smaller diameter.

Here are the dimensions:

-KE70 rear shock:

extended: ~560mm

compressed: ~360mm

 

-VB-VS (NON BEAM AXLE):

extended: ~500mm

compressed: ~300mm

 

-VB-VS wagon:

extended: ~530mm

compressed: ~325mm

 

-All other VB-VS varients: Longer than standard KE70 rear shocks.

 

-I didn't get a chance to measure the Commodore FE or FE2 (or whatever the Commodore lowered suspension is called) shocks, but these will definitely be shorter.

 

Here is a pic of the VB-VS SEDAN (NON BEAM AXLE) rear shock against a standard KE70 rear shock(red is VB-VS, black is KE70:

 

And here is probably half the VB-VS rear shock options, these are all different part numbers, different lengths etc

 

So in conclusion, if you want VB-VS commodore rear shocks, make sure you get the right ones as there are so many different part numbers and they can be quite different in dimensions. VB-VS sedan in standard or FE/FE2/whatever it's called would be best for a lowered KE70/AE86. But definitely take a tape measure if you got suspension shopping haha.

 

EDIT: I couldn't find any 'lowered' shocks to suit VB-VS sedans in stock, but it would probably be the best budget shock to get, the dimensions would be very suitable I'd say.

Edited February 14, 2013 by rian

[bwendaman]

thanks for all your help

 

really appreciated

[psyco_steering]

FYI

Beam Axle is solid rear, Like a E7 rear end. Non Beam Axle is independent rear, like a Diff with a cv shaft off each side.

Edited April 5, 2013 by psyco_steering