Good/Bad Shocks?

[ChallengerHK]

I'm getting ready to replace my rear shocks.  I put Edelbrock IAS Performers on the front, before I had this board to ask; are these OK? Any other brand/model anybody cares to recommend? This is for "spirited" street driving.

[chevyconvert]

I've put the edelbrocks on a suburban and a silverado pick-up truck. They are kind of soft and bouncy.
Almost made my vehicles seem like they needed new shocks

Anyways I've run Koni's on my musclecars for 25 years. GREAT shocks.
Alot of the racers used 'em back in the 60's and 70's (maybe later?) for trans-am etc. so for handling they're great.

I believe they have a life-time guarantee also.

My big block Challenger has them now and no bouncy bounce or wallowing

[HP2]

Koni's are still excellent shocks and still used by a lot of racers. At $120 each for their entry level shock, they are not the cheapest way to get there, but they will make any suspension combo feel great.

Bilstein is another very good shock, similar to Koni in warranty (lifetime) and a little bit cheaper at $80 each.

Of course if you really want to get tricky, then there are Afco, QA1, Pro, Carrera in steel body or alumnim body,fixed rates, adjustable rates, and double adjustable, with rubber ends or rod ends.

Really though, whats the budget, suspension specs, and intended usage?

If you just have all stock stuff and just cruise it to shows, then high pressure nitrogen gas shocks from Monroe or Gabriel will make a big difference in the feel compared to regular oil shocks and can do it for around $25 each. Both of these companies have the same technology with velocity sensitive valving that Edelbrock is pushing for more than twice the cost. If you are stepping up to torsion and sway bars over 1", stiff springs, really wide tires, or not slowing down for corners, then it is worth looking into street stock performance shocks from Carrera, QA1, or Pro. These can be picked up for around $50-80 each.

Once you go off the deep end and are looking for the ultimate then rebuildable, aluminum body, rod end, dyno tuned with a remote reservior, serialized Penske racing shocks are THE ultimate. At $750 each, no one else on the block will have anything else like it.

[Carlwalski]

I have the IAS shocks and love 'em. Mine are super stiff. Push on the back of the car for the bounce test and it moves like 1/4 of an inch. But for some reason the ride is really nice lol No bumps or anything that rattle the teeth. I have no track experience and don't have the tech HP2 does but for a street driving seat of the pants honest opinion they're bloody marvelous. 

[ChallengerHK]

I've put the edelbrocks on a suburban and a silverado pick-up truck. They are kind of soft and bouncy.
Almost made my vehicles seem like they needed new shocks

I have them on the front now, and this is what I'm feeling ... but, the front suspension is all original, and way out of adjustment.

Really though, whats the budget, suspension specs, and intended usage?

If you just have all stock stuff and just cruise it to shows

Agreed.  The budget is whatever it needs to be, with the caveat that I think with my approach that I'm getting 75% of the benefit of a modern tuned suspension design for 25% of the cost, so I'm not going to spend big bucks in the law of diminishing returns starts to diminish that ratio too awfully much.

I've been buying suspension pieces for a while (problems at work made me a little skittish about spending loads of money at once, but I think that's over).  So, between what I have now or will be purchasing soon:

1" torsion bars
Boxed LCAs
Tubular UCAs
11/16 tie rod ends and sleeves (not sure which ones yet)
Upgraded strut rods
Moog ball joints (BTW, what is it about hemi ball joints that makes them desirable?)
Stock sway bar (I figure this is easy enough to upgrade if I deside I need to.)
Not sure what I'll so about bushings.  I have poly in the back, and they're LOUD.  I couldn't stand that much more from the front.
Eventually a Firm Feel steering box.  I'm thinking stage 2, but I'll make that decision later.

For the record, the rear has new ESPO springs.  I never remember what name equals what ride for these.

Usage = street, including cruising, stop light racing and throwing it through turns out in the country where I live.  As far as I can foresee, I doubt it would ever be put on a track, although autocross looks interesting to me.

[HP2]

for a street driving seat of the pants honest opinion they're bloody marvelous. 

That's what it is all about. Driver feel is a big part of the equation.

I have them on the front now,

If you already have IASs for the front, then stick with them until you get the front end rebuilt, get the new t-bars in it, and re-evaluate them. Like most personal tastes, some guys love em and some don't. I've never tried them, so I can't comment on how they actually feel compared to other "over the counter" offerings. I have used nitrogen charged Monroes with good results using stock .92 bars, .96 bars, and 1" t-bars and they behaved pretty well. However, that is about their limit and they are only good for cruising. Start getting too aggressive with them and their limitations start to show.

In simplest terms, it is the torsion bars and springs that determine the load capability of your car. So if you take sway bars out of the equation, the springs would determine how far over the body rolls when you're cornering. It is the shocks that determine how quickly that roll occurs. A very stiff shock would be very slow to compress, a very light shock would compress too quickly and allow the suspension to bottom out. So the whole idea is to have a shock stiff enough that allows the suspension to slowly go through its range of motion that allows you to complete the turn before bottoming out, yet be light enough to allow rapid response to road irregularities. This multi stage,multi function capability is why the best shocks tend to be somewhat pricey.

With your intended usage, I'd say stick with a non-adjustable unit. You doing mostly street driving so you probably won't want to mess with adjustments. However, if you like to push the envelope occasionally or like to tinker, you might consider a single adjustable.  For non-adjustables, Konis are always great, so are Bilsteins and Carrera. Any of these can be found for $80-125, and would have the ability to still feel good if you decide to upgrade sway bars in the future without rattling your teeth now. You can get them from summit or speedway motors.

The next step up would be single adjustable units. Strange, QA1, and Pro make these and they are going to run around $130-175 each.  The best thing about adjustable shocks is the ability to find a setting that provides nice all around cruising, but if you ever take it to the dragstrip or autocross, you can rapidly change the personality of your car with a quick turn of the dial. They also are nice if you semi regularly drive you car because you can experiment with the feel over a period of time and see how different settings change the feel you get from the seat.

[ChallengerHK]

In simplest terms, it is the torsion bars and springs that determine the load capability of your car. So if you take sway bars out of the equation, the springs would determine how far over the body rolls when you're cornering. It is the shocks that determine how quickly that roll occurs.

This brings up a related question that you guys might be able to help me with.  Not e-body or even Mopar, but it bugs me.  My Hyundai, an otherwise OK car, handles poorly under most conditions.  I've tried experimenting and what I seem to be finding is that it's steady in a straight line, and actually OK if I'm cornering hard, but when I enter a corner at a moderate speed it seems to behave ... unevenly? What I'm wondering is, if it has weak shocks, is the suspension reaching its steady state load quickly when I corner fast, and when I corner moderately is it not controlling suspensions oscillation adequately?

Back to teh Challenger: I assume that since front a rear handling characteristics are so radically different that there's no problem with having different shocks front and rear?

[HP2]

Weak shocks could defintly be a cause of the unevenness at moderate speeds. Other potential issues could be excessive toe, or rear axle thrust- if the wheel base is off slightly from one side to the other. FWDs also suffer from unequal half shafts causing issues similar to this under accelleration. 

Different shocks front to rear isn't ideal, but not a dangerous situation. The shocks have to be capable of controlling the applied combination of sway bar and spring rates (this is called wheel rate). Since the front handles such a large percentage of the applied rate, you defiently want something good up front. Your Edelbrocks should be pretty decent since they say they valve them for specific applications and positions.

[ChallengerHK]

Thanks for the answers and the help, guys.

[HP2]

FYI, Scummit stills lists Mopar Performance oval track racing shocks for E bodies as being available; DCC-4876496 rear, and DCC-4876492 front. $67.99 each. These were designed for the high loads generated by the larger wheel rates of large t-bar and s-bars, and will stand up to a pretty fair amount of on the road abuse without fading.

[ChallengerHK]

Thanks, HP. I will definitely look into those.