I have an 85 with WCF frront springs and Fiero Guru rear coilovers. Car sits about 1.5" lower than stock. Looking for some stiffer front shock suggestions or the ride difference between the Koni and KYB? Has anyone installed WCF Viking double shocks?



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1985 SE 2M6

[This message has been edited by redromo (edited 01-19-2022).]

bump

Really difficult, cause one brand of shock that works on an 85 fox body Mustang might ride terrible on 85 Fiero, and throwing different spring rates into the mix, its all trial and error. Your best hope is somebody who has similar springs on their Fiero and been down that road already, might take them a while to see your posting. Suggest searching archives with one keyword at a time.

[This message has been edited by Skybax (edited 01-19-2022).]

The KYB Gas-a-just shocks are a copy of the Bilstein (DeCarbon) monotube shocks. They have variable valve that tightens during large movements; The valve is open (Basically soft) so you get a good ride over small bumps and such....but when you have large body movements, the valve tightens and controls that body movement.

I was trying to improve the ride and handling of my '73 mach 1 back in the late 90s. I read an Addco brochure that discussed the benefits of different shock designs...They were at the time selling the KYBs as their own brand of shock. I had the Gabriel Strider three-click adjustable shocks...It rode like a truck over small bumps...and then floated after going over a big dip or hump.

I installed the KYB Gas-A-just shocks and then took it for a test drive- over the (Broken) RR crossing...It rode so much better I actually stopped and walked back to make sure they had not re-done the crossing. I then thought "Huge improvement- but it's gotta float over the hump around the corner" and then drove around to said hump; One cycle and then movement stopped! (before it would go thru a few cycles of up-down)

To give you an idea how good my suspension tuning was (Using MUSTANG parts), when I was done I had a friend who used to race a wild Mustang (His car was finally outlawed) and Autocrossed a BMW 3 series test drive it- He stated it out-handled AND had a better ride than his 3 series.

I recommend the KYB Gas-A-just shocks....wish they made them for the rear.

[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 01-19-2022).]

quote Originally posted by cvxjet: The KYB Gas-a-just shocks are a copy of the Bilstein (DeCarbon) monotube shocks. They have variable valve that tightens during large movements; The valve is open (Basically soft) so you get a good ride over small bumps and such....but when you have large body movements, the valve tightens and controls that body movement. I was trying to improve the ride and handling of my '73 mach 1 back in the late 90s. I read an Addco brochure that discussed the benefits of different shock designs...They were at the time selling the KYBs as their own brand of shock. I had the Gabriel Strider three-click adjustable shocks...It rode like a truck over small bumps...and then floated after going over a big dip or hump. I installed the KYB Gas-A-just shocks and then took it for a test drive- over the (Broken) RR crossing...It rode so much better I actually stopped and walked back to make sure they had not re-done the crossing. I then thought "Huge improvement- but it's gotta float over the hump around the corner" and then drove around to said hump; One cycle and then movement stopped! (before it would go thru a few cycles of up-down) To give you an idea how good my suspension tuning was (Using MUSTANG parts), when I was done I had a friend who used to race a wild Mustang (His car was finally outlawed) and Autocrossed a BMW 3 series test drive it- He stated it out-handled AND had a better ride than his 3 series. I recommend the KYB Gas-A-just shocks....wish they made them for the rear.

Thank you for this detailed post! Very much appreciated.

Just to throw a monkey into the works….
I have used (and still use KYB) struts and shocks because:
A) They are far cheaper than Koni’s
B) They work great….,,, for a while. I’ve been using KYB’s forever on both my Fiero’s and I am convinced they don’t last very long. I’ve replaced some at 20K miles and I swear they get weak early in their lifespan.
Kit

I put the KYBs in front of an 86GT a few years ago. They lift the car. They exert a constant pressure to expand, they don't just resist movement. They're made to supplement the springs, apparently.
The nose sits higher than it did with the stock shocks.
I'm okay with it, but if you want your car to sit really low then it might bother you.
I didn't know Konis were still available, thought those were last made in the 90s or something.

[This message has been edited by armos (edited 01-28-2022).]

quote Originally posted by armos: I put the KYBs in front of an 86GT a few years ago. They lift the car. They exert a constant pressure to expand, they don't just resist movement. They're made to supplement the springs, apparently.

My experience with aftermarket (KYB and Monroe) struts/shocks is that yes, they resist movement in both directions, as opposed to the factory Fiero struts/shocks which only resist the rebound. With the aftermarket units however, I personally have not witnessed any "constant pressure to expand" that was anything more than negligible.

My original heavily worn Fiero shocks and struts were replaced with Monroe Sensi-Trak (gas-charged), and my Golf-based Volkswagen's 2 year old stock front and rear struts/shocks were upgraded to Bilstein gas units. Both times the new parts raised the ride height of the cars, even weeks later. No other suspension work was performed at that time. The lift with the Monroe's was about 1/2 inch, and the Bilstein's about twice that. Maybe that was not typical however?

The shocks that you are talking about are "High-pressure gas-charged".....The gas is at a very high pressure (360 PSI) to eliminate foaming of the oil in the shock. But this pressure does create LIFT. I adjusted the ride height of both my '73 Mustang and my '85 Fiero to counteract this lift.

If you drive a long windy road then the high-pressure shocks will continue to perform well....Low-pressure and no-gas-pressure shocks will fade away due to foaming.