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Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:18 pm

I got under the car and measured from the top of the shock body, which is the bottom of the top mounting stud to the center line of the mounting hole on the bottom of the shock! It came to exactly 16" with the car on the ground.

Guys it would be great if one of you guys with a stock front shock not gas can measure from the same points. I believe the KYB GAS Shock is longer, which is why my car is raised at least an 1".

Remember the shock must be fully compressed. I raised the car then put wood blocks under the wheels and lowered it on to the blocks. This way it a was easier to take the measurement without laying on the ground to get the measurement.
THanks.

Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:46 pm

Are you talking Ball Joint or Link Pin? I put Bilstein class 11 shocks on the front of my 74 bug with a BJ front and they were 18 1/4" long if I remember right. I set up my hook stops so there would be 1/2" of travel before the shocks top out so it wont trash $200.00 worth of shocks

Casey

Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:09 am

I hate to say it my friend, but what you are measuring won't prove anything.

the simplest thing to do is take off the shocks and see if the car sits lower

Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:17 am

nextgen wrote:

Guys it would be great if one of you guys with a stock front shock not gas can measure from the same points. I believe the KYB GAS Shock is longer, which is why my car is raised at least an 1".

What would the front shock being longer make you car higher than a oil shocked car, unless its bottomed out?
Gas pressure in kybs, made my bus sit 1/2" higher than it did with oil koni's

Wed Aug 01, 2012 5:36 am

modok wrote: I hate to say it my friend, but what you are measuring won't prove anything.

the simplest thing to do is take off the shocks and see if the car sits lower
You're right modok. Jack a car up by the 'frame'. Let it down. There will be an increase in height. Without doing anything else but that. Ever jack up the ass end of a swing axle bug and let it back down? :lol: We need a sticky on gas filled oil shocks. I'm not talking about air shocks like Hi-jackers or air bags, but a gas filled shock has the gas in it to prevent foaming of the OIL in the shock. A shock dampens spring oscillations, thats all. That bouncing you feel when shocks are bad is uncontrolled oscillations of the spring. A shock will not 'push' a spring down, or up, in a static state. They slow the spring when the spring gets compress, or extended, and when the spring tries to return to its static state with valves in the shock's plunger. When a poster says 'I want oil filled shocks and not pressurized gas ones' all it's really saying is 'I don't know nothing about shock ABSORBERS because I think there is only a gas in a gas shock'. :roll:

Wed Aug 01, 2012 6:02 am

Modok and Runam0c you are both right . What I did will not tell me anything I have to remove the shock.
Runamoc you are right to, I thought I know something about shocks but I now conclude I know Jack Sh*t.

One Thing I do know is the GYB gas adust shock raises the car. What I am trying to find is a set of front shocks that will drop it back to normal and most guys are saying go for stock oil filled shocks because the front end is very light and does need anything special.

So what brands do you suggest?

Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:32 am

there are 2 basic versions of shocks.

Oil, and Gas.

The oil version only offers resistance to movement as long as it's not topped or bottomed out.

The Gas Versions also behave as a spring. We have the details on this characteristic in our product descriptions, and have for over 15 years.

KYBs will raise the rear of the car 1 1/2". I don't ever recommend using them on the front, their "Springiness" coupled with the torsion leaves will result in far too much spring, and no suspension travel. In MY OPINION this also carries over to the "Low Pressure GR-2 KYB". I only recommend oil shocks in the front. Just a basic Cofap Brazilian shock works great, as does Boge, etc.

On my cars I run soft shocks and stiff sway bars, FWIW.

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Front-Shock-Absorber-1965-77-Beetle-and-Ghia-p/113-413-031eus.htm is a good Ball Joint front shock,

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Front-Shock-Absorber-1949-65-Type-1-55-67-T2-p/113-413-031bbr.htm is a good link pin front shock.

The only exceptions I have to these "rules" are on heavier Super Beetles, Busses, and Type 3s, which do "OK" with Low Pressure Gas Shocks (GR-2s).

Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:52 am

WHAT was I thinking?? I should have called the man who knows right from the start. Seriously, On my way home from work yesterday I stopped at Autozone, PEP Boys and NAPA just to see if I could get some measurements.
None had one of the many versions of Bug shocks they offer all had to be special ordered. Forget about asking them a question trying to compare one from another.

I should have asked John. John expect an order shortly.

So Guys I was not nuts, the Gas adust does ask like a spring as me and Krusher have found out.

Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:31 am

if the shock has a band around it to prevent it's extension in the box, you know it's acting as a spring when you take that band off.

a non sprung shock can be fully compressed, and when you take your hands off it will stay there. The gas shocks you will be hard pressed (pun intended) to fully compress it by hand.

Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:30 pm

I remember when I put the KYB GAS in, I could not push the piston to get it into the top hole if it was bolted in place at the bottom.

On the plus side the car handles like a train on rails.

Negative side is driving it is like I welded a steel bar in place that was the same size as the KYB.

I have photos of my bug with stock shocks and the Gas shocks both with the dropped spindles and it is an obvious height difference. Appearance is a major issue with me. Buying and doing all the work on the dropped spindles would be a waste to only get an inch out of the 2 1/2" they gave me.

Photo below is with the KYB GAS