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Late B-Body Shock Question #1976029
12/25/15 10:19 AM
12/25/15 10:19 AM
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OrangeProwler Offline OP
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Okay so not long ago I purchased a 79 Chrysler Cordoba with a 360/A999 transmission and 8.25 rear. The car has a rebuilt front suspension minus shocks. It also has the poly bushings in the front and the rear has new leaf springs/bushings as well. Now, the question I have is the car has older looks like Monroes on the front and the older KYB GR2 shocks on the back. This car is mainly a driver/cruiser but, when I take corner it seems to have more lean than I like.

My options for replacing the shocks are Bilsteins which cost almost a quarter for what I paid for the car or should I just get some KYB GR2s for the front and the KYB performance shocks for the rear or should just suck it up and buy the Bilsteins?
This car will be mainly a cruiser but, I figure I would ask since I think the prior owner mentioned something about shocks and our roads can be rough around here. Thank you in advance.

Last edited by Confused Mopar; 12/25/15 10:19 AM.
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976032
12/25/15 10:21 AM
12/25/15 10:21 AM
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OrangeProwler Offline OP
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Just wanted to make mentioned the car has new tires and wheels as well. I have 15x7 aluminum wheels with brand new Cooper Cobra 235/60/15s on the front. My apologies for forgetting to mention that.

Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976135
12/25/15 02:51 PM
12/25/15 02:51 PM
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MuuMuu101 Offline
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If it's a car you plan on enjoying for a long while, I'd say get the Bilstein's. Does it have sway bars as well? If not, maybe get a pair of those.

Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976138
12/25/15 02:55 PM
12/25/15 02:55 PM
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ahy Offline
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You may well be happy with a set of premium gas shocks from the parts store. Otherwise I kinda like the KYB's but not everybody's cup of tea. If you could shop around for a beefy front sway bar I bet that would help a bunch also.

Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976148
12/25/15 03:09 PM
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BigBlockMopar Offline
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KYB's don't do much against body lean in corners.
Not sure what the difference is with KYB 'GR2's?

The following items helped keeping my ride more level during spirited cornering, in somewhat descending order of effectiveness;
- Anti-swaybar
- More springrate
- Better shocks
- Lower stance

Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976264
12/25/15 06:20 PM
12/25/15 06:20 PM
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Supercuda Offline
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Shocks don't really do much for body lean, not their job.

With the tires you're running, you will be limited in performance anyway so I wouldn't suggest Bilsteins.

Firmfeel sells bigger torsion bars and front/rear sway bars. But nothing is cheap, you could easily exceed the purchase price of the Doba with just new T bars, sway bars and Bilsteins. But with those the handling is done (except for better tires).


They say there are no such thing as a stupid question.
They say there is always the exception that proves the rule.
Don't be the exception.
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: Supercuda] #1976272
12/25/15 06:34 PM
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MuuMuu101 Offline
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Originally Posted By Supercuda
Shocks don't really do much for body lean, not their job.

With the tires you're running, you will be limited in performance anyway so I wouldn't suggest Bilsteins.

Firmfeel sells bigger torsion bars and front/rear sway bars. But nothing is cheap, you could easily exceed the purchase price of the Doba with just new T bars, sway bars and Bilsteins. But with those the handling is done (except for better tires).


I'll disagree with the tire statement. I put Bilstein's on my Dart with 205/75/14 tires and I noticed a night and day difference. On the freeway, the car wasn't pitching as if I was sailing the seven seas. Although, I will agree that sway-bars and/or stiffer springs would better suite reducing sway.

Again, if it's a car he plans on cruising around with for a long while, I say go for some mild upgrades. Who cares if you've got more money into it? Some minor upgrades will make the car so much more enjoyable.

Last edited by MuuMuu101; 12/25/15 06:35 PM.
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976275
12/25/15 06:42 PM
12/25/15 06:42 PM
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Supercuda Offline
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Cooper Cobras

I can guarantee the smaller tires on my DD will out grip the larger Cooper Cobras he's got.


They say there are no such thing as a stupid question.
They say there is always the exception that proves the rule.
Don't be the exception.
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: Supercuda] #1976285
12/25/15 07:19 PM
12/25/15 07:19 PM
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MuuMuu101 Offline
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Originally Posted By Supercuda
Cooper Cobras

I can guarantee the smaller tires on my DD will out grip the larger Cooper Cobras he's got.


I overlooked the Cooper Crayolas. Yeah, those have no grip, but how does tire grip effect sway? Body lean is mostly attributed to low spring rates and lack of an anti-sway bar.

Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976309
12/25/15 08:28 PM
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I was referring to the handling via suspension upgrades would be limited by the tires at that point, not so much body lean. Granted even the Coopers would handle better than not having the upgrades, but next set of tires need to be better.


They say there are no such thing as a stupid question.
They say there is always the exception that proves the rule.
Don't be the exception.
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976341
12/25/15 10:16 PM
12/25/15 10:16 PM
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cudazappa Offline
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I highly doubt that there are performance shocks designed for the 73+ b/r body available. Last I recall you'll need shocks for a late 60s GM A body (Tom Quad did this on his St. Regis). Easiest way to upgrade the handling is to look for someone parting a 79 Chrysler 300 or Magnum GT and grabbing the torsion bars and sway bars from them. The rear away bar was available also on toe package cars. The other thing is to eliminate the iso-clamp system on the rear axle and replace the k frame and torsion bar crossmember bushings with Firm Feel's aluminum ones. That's a one and done upgrade, the poly bushings available are better than nothing and I would only recommend them if you don't plan on keeping the car.

I built the 300 in the beginning of this video:
http://youtu.be/LHj8QGpxCL4


1971 Challenger
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976451
12/26/15 03:16 AM
12/26/15 03:16 AM
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67autocross Offline
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Originally Posted By Confused Mopar
Okay so not long ago I purchased a 79 Chrysler Cordoba with a 360/A999 transmission and 8.25 rear. The car has a rebuilt front suspension minus shocks. It also has the poly bushings in the front and the rear has new leaf springs/bushings as well. Now, the question I have is the car has older looks like Monroes on the front and the older KYB GR2 shocks on the back. This car is mainly a driver/cruiser but, when I take corner it seems to have more lean than I like.

My options for replacing the shocks are Bilsteins which cost almost a quarter for what I paid for the car or should I just get some KYB GR2s for the front and the KYB performance shocks for the rear or should just suck it up and buy the Bilsteins?
This car will be mainly a cruiser but, I figure I would ask since I think the prior owner mentioned something about shocks and our roads can be rough around here. Thank you in advance.


How much money do you have to spend? Do you have enough for torsion bars and good shocks? If you need front shocks any way you may as well get some bilsteins from Firm Feel or PST and see if that helps enough.


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Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976735
12/26/15 08:45 PM
12/26/15 08:45 PM
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OrangeProwler Offline OP
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For this car. The reason why I have the Coopers is because they are wider than the stock tires. Plus, I got a really good deal on these tires. Right the budget isn't much. The car doesn't a rear away bar. The car already poly bushings. The current front shocks are old Monroes and the back are old KYB GR2s. Looks like stock front sway bar. I could purchase one or two things at a time. The question is what do I buy 1st?

Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1976801
12/26/15 11:04 PM
12/26/15 11:04 PM
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cudazappa Offline
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Budget minded upgrades:
Start with the HD front sway bar and rear sway bar
Step 2 grab the cop/300/big block torsion bars
Step 3 good parts store shocks or better
Step 4: 5 leaf rear springs

This will make a nice cruiser. My old 300 that now gets autocrossed has a very basic build. Biggest upgrade on that car is the 16x8 wheels and the tubular UCAs and boxed LCAs


1971 Challenger
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: cudazappa] #1976993
12/27/15 10:08 AM
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OrangeProwler Offline OP
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Thank you everyone. The leaf springs I think are already 5 spring units from what I remember. Not sure if the front torsion bars and the sway bar has been upgraded. Anyways, I'll just do the little stuff. I think the rear sway bar would help for sure since there isn't one there.

Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1978911
12/29/15 10:07 PM
12/29/15 10:07 PM
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Definitely get a set of anti-roll bars (bigger front, add a rear).

Love that video Cudazappa. Reminds me of auto-crossing my '78 back in college.


DynoDave
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1977 Chrysler Cordoba
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1979231
12/30/15 11:52 AM
12/30/15 11:52 AM
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When we were running Cordobas and Magnums as hobby stockers, we ran Afco front shocks for a GM A-body like was mentioned before.

If you go the route of used T and sway bars, look at the first 4 digits of the VIN. Any Doba or Charger / Magnum with the 3rd and 4th digits of 22 came with the larger front sway bar and a rear sway bar. The "440/ Police T-bars can be found under '79 300's but also Magnum GTs. My advice on T-bars is to bite the bullet and buy a set from Firm Feel.

The other thing you will need to do is replace the K-frame bushings with urethane or if you can score a set of the long discontinued 4419942 solid cast iron bushings. This is VERY important if you are going to get froggy in the twisties with one of these cars. With the stock bushings the k-frame moves enough under the car in hard cornering that is will bind the steering, especially if the bushings are worn at all. The 4419942 bushings were created initially for late B police cars as the steering binding was becoming a real issue.

On the rear, use a set of MP XHD B-body leafs and shock plates from a 71- 72 B body with a rear sway bar. The iso clamp system for the rear springs and the huge front eye bushing allow the rear end to move around quite a bit also.


Dave Dusterberg
1979 Aspen R/T (soon to be #19 CAM/T)
2002 Ram 1500 SLT
2005 Magnum R/T
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Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1979464
12/30/15 05:50 PM
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Originally Posted By Confused Mopar
Thank you everyone. The leaf springs I think are already 5 spring units from what I remember. ...


I can't consider 5 leafs good for handling performance. I would definitly add another leaf per side to start with.
A regular '60s C-body car already had 6 to 7 blades usually.
I'running 7 blades per side on my '73 A-body, but I'm hauling 2 propane tanks in the trunk too.

Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: OrangeProwler] #1981759
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I figure those leaf springs are still better than probably what was originally on the car. I'm looking for a little more ability but, as I said I won't be doing any road courses with the car. I'll probably just do just the bigger torsion bars, and bigger sway bars (add one on the rear) along with some decent shocks and call it day. All the bushings have been upgraded. I don't want to get it too firm. But, I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask here anyways. I'm thinking of saving the handling mods for our Charger.

Last edited by Confused Mopar; 01/02/16 02:37 AM.
Re: Late B-Body Shock Question [Re: MuuMuu101] #1997667
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Originally Posted By MuuMuu101
If it's a car you plan on enjoying for a long while, I'd say get the Bilstein's. Does it have sway bars as well? If not, maybe get a pair of those.


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