KYB Gas-A-Just - 2003 vs 2004 REARS

[DJCV]

I understand KYB had an original offering for the MM REAR shock, and then they offered a different part number which, I presume, means a different set up. Does anyone know the exact the difference?


I know some members on this board like the MM-spec FRONT KYBs but dislike the REARS. Anyone running KYB at the rear that can tell me how they compare with your OEM rear shocks? Firmer? Softer?

[Green96]

I have KYB rears, and they are softer than my OEMs. With that said, my OEMs were so stiff that I thought they were damaged. No real give at all.
With the softer KYBs the rear end did not track very well and became very lazy in lane change manuvers. I have decided that there may not have been anything wrong with the OEMs except that they were designed too stiff. The shock should dampen only, not compensate for soft spring or small sway bars.
I kept the KYBs, but added addco stay bars to compensate for the loss of handling. It feels great now, the larger sway bars returned the handling to where it should be only better and the ride quality is nice thanks to the softer shocks.

Hope this helps, ride quality is subjective so to each there own.

[cougar9150]

With the softer KYBs the rear end did not track very well and became very lazy in lane change manuvers.

This was also my experience with the KYB rears. While the fronts were definitely superior to the OE shocks the rears definitely made the rear end feel much softer and bouncier than stock. Even w/the rear sway bar and Metco Control arms I still felt more body roll and bouncing than I did with the factory rears.

I am waiting at the moment to finish my current project(s) but will be attempting to work with a local shop on a coilover kit similar to the Naakes up front and am not sure about the rears yet.

If I wanted to do it w/existing available parts I would do the KYB's up front (your choice of stock or Eibach springs) and the OE or Naake rears. I myself do not like the adjustable coil-over setups (like Naake) where the compression of the spring is used to adjust your ride height. This will change the spring rate also and I feel it should be an independent variable.

The shop I will be working with offers a setup for other vehicles where the spring is adjustable for the spring rate but the height adjustment is independent. This way you can adjust the spring rate and height separately.

[03blackmerc]

damn i just bought KYB's all around hoping to get rid of the bounce. i have 120,000 with orginals shocks so hopefully it will ride better

[DJCV]

Thanks for the info, all!

[DJCV]

Well, for some crazy reason I went with MM-spec KYBs in rear. Handling is great on smoother roads; launches and braking are great; cornering feel is terrific----very flat.

However, the ride has definitely suffered over small bumps---ride feels very busy. I'm wondering if the combination of Heinous control arms and these shocks is just too out of whack. (I have standard LX air bags.) Now I'm thinking about either taking out the CAs or switching out the shocks to OEM. Too many combinations and not enough money to try them all!:(

[Green96]

The control arms will not have any impact on ride.

[Black_Out]

If you remove the CA's, sell them to me!

[DJCV]

I dumped the KYBs at the rear location and replaced them with MM-spec Motorcraft shocks. Definitely kept the Heinous CAs!

Motrocraft shocks at the rear location clearly have better modulation overall, and bounce is no longer an annoyance---should have done this to begin with. Oh well, experience is often the best teacher.....and I sold the KYBs off and didn't lose too much $$.