KYB Shocks?

I think I need new shocks and am a little short on funds right now. Has anyone used KYB shocks? They seem to be about half the cost of Bilstein's or Koni's (which I would like to buy further down the road).

Thanks again,
Mark
'74 911S

I had KYB's on my other car( a BMW 2002) , and I could not tolerate the ride and overall feel of the car. I did the same as you, bought the KYB until I could afford the Bilsteins. My mechanic told me that KYB shocks have good build quality, but they don't do their homework when it comes to valving and stiffness for each car. The KYB's were not too stiff per se, but the car just felt "twitchy" and somehow wrong. The KYB's were, however, an improvement over the twenty+ year old shocks I was replacing.

Thanks Serge, that may be enough. I guess I just needed to know that they don't suck.

I have had the misfortune of having KYBs on 2 cars, a 914 and a VW Scirocco. Since the 914 was a keeper, I swapped the KYB's out for Bilsteins. Didn't bother with the VW, as I didn't have the car that long.

I think KYBs are terrible. They have a very harsh ride. They tend to raise the ride height of the car a lot (a friend had some put on his 318i, and it looked like an off road vehicle afterwards!). When I took them off the 914, one of them was blown out, and they were not that old.

When I replace shocks on a car these days, I just bite the bullet, buy Bilsteins, and get it over with!

Brian

I installed a set on a Datsun (yes Datsun) pick-up years ago and literally could not tell the difference between the worn out originals and the new KYBs.

Rich