noblesramair

iTrader: (17)

im considering getting a ground control set with KYB AGX shocks. Does anyone have any experience with these shocks? If so are they any good? Im looking for a shock/strut that is decent for drag and street racing. I know QA1 is the best for drag and koni is the best for street racing but im definitly not going to be doing only drag and i may buy koni's but i really dont like the price. If the KYB AGX really arent that good then i plan on getting the koni's but do any of you have opinions on the these shocks? Thanks!!

noblesramair

iTrader: (17)

come on guys, nobody has used these or even have an opinion on them?

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Remember our conversation??? You get what you pay for. Do yourself a favor and don't cheap out on the shocks, which are the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PART of the suspension.

Does the fact folks say KYB stand for "Keep Ya Boucning" tell you anything? Does the fact you get adjustable shocks for less than 1/2 of known commodity Koni's tell you anthying? Maybe despite my carrying KYB's, I pretty much will not sell them for this car.. and it's not being anti-KYB, we use a lot of them for OEM replacement work here on other cars, and my Celica has a set of KYB's on it (regular GR2's, and they work well). But those are different cars, in different situations, on different types of KYB's, used for different purposes.

GotV-8

iTrader: (15)

I have the KYB agx shocks with Ground Control springs and coilovers. They handle great on my T/A. I love them and would recommend them.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

That's great... and I'm serious, not being a smart-***.

BUT.

I have many customer's who have changed and are much happier. Not just from KYB, but SLP Bilstein's, HD's, of course about 3 zillion DeCarbon's, Tokico's, Monroe's, Gabriel's, Edelbrock's... well about anything else you can think of.

Matter of perspective. No doubt you have better shocks than you did and see an improvement. But without experiencing the others, you can't compare. And good enough is for some reason only acceptable to people when it's something they don't get. I'm looking at your sig an see gears, headers, a TB, mufflers, and soon heads, cam, intake and converter.

If you put in 3.73's and left the stock converter, that'd be better.... but not good enough because you also want the converter and understand what it does to help you. Sadly, suspension is the last great unknown to most gear heads. And what's odd is it's the most often used performance part because it's always at work when the car is in motion. Big HP isn't in use rolling down the interstate @ 70. Deep gears don't help you, the head and cam don't help...

KYB's have a cheap adjuster. It's coarse, and it drags the compression along with the rebound (which you do NOT want and will never find on any real performance damper). The quality is not near as good and more than a few have broken. One guy on here or one of the other boards broke the eyes right off the bottom of his AGX's.

GotV-8

iTrader: (15)

I dont drive it on the interstate. My car is not an everyday driver. "Good enough"? Perspective, no I said it drives great. Handles well. I have no bounce. Its nice and tight. Anyways Im not saying KYB is the best shocks, I said im happy with them, they handle well. Im not someone who can keep spending till I find the shock that out puts the others by a hair.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Well I won't argue with you then... Clearly you have the answers. Believe what you want, and I'm glad you are happy.

I've only had Koni SA's, DA's, DeCarbon's on my car. But I have a few customers and a little opprotunity to drive a good 75 4th gens by way of my two jobs. One being this business, the other being the driving school I work for and we drive student's cars. I have detailed experience with Bilstein HD's, SLP's and of course our own Revalved sets. KYB AGX's, GR2's and Gas-A-Just. Tokico Premium Performance and Illumina. Monroe Sensa-trac's, DeCarbon's (LS1, LT1, SS/WS6 and early 1LE versions... did you know there was more than one DeCarbon???). Let's see. Edelbrock's, Penske's, I think that might be all.

So pardon my tendency to be skeptical.... Happy, I'm sure you are. But IMHO, "drives great" needs to be compared with something more than what you had prior. I'm not saying you need to try them all and spend all that money. But the simple fact you seem to think Koni's for example are only a "hair" better is very telling. And let's just say you aren't the first person to claim something like that based on limited experience. And that's fine, it is after all the best part of you experience. But you should quantify that instead of saying "it's great, or perfect", you can't know what's better (or for that matter worse).

So can we call this good? You have your opinion, I have mine. Anyone wanting to hear why my opinion is what it is... feel free to call me, because it cannot be explained clearly on the web.

GotV-8

iTrader: (15)

First off how did this become an argument? All I said was Im happy with my kyb's. Clearly you know more about other products than I do. lol like I said I think my kyb shocks are nice. I dont have all the answers and never said anything to make it seem that way. Your "great" and my "great" are two different things. So when I say great it means they are good enough for me.
I also believe that he asked if kybs are any good. Yes they are, but no they are not the "best". They will do the job he is looking for is all im saying. Like I said you know more about it than I do because of your type of work. My point is kyb's will do the job.

noblesramair

iTrader: (17)

GotV-8 - Hey thanks for your response. I still dont know what shocks i want to go with thats why i posted this thread. I would like to go with the koni's, the price is a lot higher than id like to go but i know they are the best. The kyb i can get at a lot cheaper almost 3 times cheaper!! But i still have to decide. Also i wanted to tell you that i think your car is one of the best looking trans ams that i have seen!! I LOVE those rims on the trans am, where did you get them and how much did they cost?

Sam - I remember what we talked about and i REALLY appreciate the time you spent talking to me about my car!!! I am curious to see what some other people think about the kyb's thats all. I still want to go with the koni's but i just want to make sure i have the money to get them.

chupr0kabra

iTrader: (10)

I have KYB GasAJusts on my car, which is not the same thing as the AGX, but I'm going to chime in anyway. As a daily driver, it was ok, but nothing great. I really wanted to get the Hotchkis springs and figured I might as well replace the decarbons with something else. I did some research and asked a few other gearheads for their input and came to the decision that the KYB's would be "good enough", and they are. If you want "good enough", the GasAJust shocks will work. However, I did not feel a noticeable improvement in handling when I put them on with the new springs. I chalked it up to not being used to the higher spring rates, but the more I drive on them, the more I realize the shocks just aren't up to the task. The guys I asked when making my purchase are old-school gearheads (Olds 442, Buick Grand National, Chevelle, etc.) and for their needs, KYB is a great brand. For these 4th gen cars, I just think you can do better.

There have got to be other f-bodies in the Joliet area. Ask around and maybe someone will let you do some ride-alongs, to give you and idea of some of the different setups out there.


-Mike

No Juice

iTrader: (11)

I would have to say I like my AGX's a lot better than the QA1's that I had. I'm not a huge drag racer and the QA1's were horsesh$t on the street and my 60' stayed the same between the two. I too wanted to go with the Koni's but the funds were not there so for the $300 I spent on the AGX's how could I not give them a try. Sam is right, I'm comparing them to shocks that were horrible to begin with. However, for me and my situation I had to look at it this way, I spent a lot on those "suppose to be great QA1's" and I hated them, the ride was terrible. I wasn't going to spend even more money on another set that I had no experience with and not like them. I didn't have the luxury of riding in someone else's car with the Koni's.
Currently my set up is the KYB AGX's on all four with stock springs. I took the rear isolators out to drop the back and cut 3/4 of a coil off the front springs. Yeah it may be the cheap man's way to do things but it looks good, rides good, and has the adjustability at the track.
One thing that may not have been mentioned here is that if you plan to run a higher rate spring the AGX's may not be able to handle them but they work great with stock springs, but all this is just one man's opinion.

OneMeanZ

iTrader: (2)

I absoluetly love my Koni's. I didn't like the price at all, but after using this shock. I'll never think twice about buying Koni's again.

Uno99

iTrader: (2)

I have KYB Agx as well And think they work good as well. They are a little bouncy but I could not beat the price.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

See, that's my point... If they are a little bouncy, they don't work "good". And price is cheap, but if you end up spending X money on something that doesn't work as it should I don't think you got a bargain.

The bitterness of poor quality lasts long after the sweetness of a cheap price is forgotten.....

When you say "bouncy" how do mean harsh? Or do you mean the car just bobs around as you drive, underdamped? Then I'd ask what settings are you running and what have you tried. My guess is you've settled at the best compromise. And that's the issue with the AGX's. It's a huge compromise. To get the rebound control you want (to kill the floaty disconnected, wandering feeling) the ride gets harsh because the compression adjustment is also changed. To get a nicer ride/better bump compliance, you have to drop settings which also lowers you rebound and you lose the stability we want.