Why won't it go down???

[kp.touring]

Dennis,
I don't know what you suspension expertise is, but I have been building cars for over 30 years and I have seem more than one car set higher when a set of high pressure gas shocks have been install. You can see this more when they are installed in a car that had hyd. shocks. Also in older Bilstien catalogs they stated that their shocks could raise the car about 1/2".
I am saying that a gas can have the same effect as an air shock, because of the high pressure gas chamber the fluid/gas inside the shock tube is pushing the piston up the tube thus raising the car. The effect is that shock does not have to lift 1000 lbs the spring is supporting that weight, the only has to lift 100-200 lbs. This would be like you lifting a corner of your car by the wheel openning.
Oh by the way some gas shocks use a gas bag built inside the shock body, you know a separte chamber ( like an air shock )


Kevin

[sinned]

My experience is 15+ years (6 days a week/10-12 hours a day) specializing in suspension and brakes. After serving my apprenticeship in a Firestone store where I was designated to spend 10 hours a day in the alignment pit doing nothing but alignments, bushings and ball joints for 5 years I went to Goodyear for a little while than to Dodge to fix the more 3 dozen trucks waiting for buy back due to brake pull and chassis dynamics issues. I stayed another decade or so before moving on. Now I’m ort of on my own managing a fleet for a heavy construction firm working on my own suspension "consulting" business.

No gas charged shock absorber has the ability to raise chassis ride height. It may be that after installing them than lowering the car down it sat higher as the suspension was still unloaded but I think if you measured after a road test you would find no change. Gas charged shock absorbers all work under the same principle; although many have "gimmicks" like precision drilled holes in the upper piston or differently sized slots in the bore depending on how far up the bore the piston travels to change the dampening affect. There are no "bags" inside the shock body, some run twin pistons or different viscosities of oil, some have the ability to adjust to different road conditions via built in limiters or external adjustments but they are all the same fundamentally.

KYB gas-a-just are some of the stiffest shocks on the market (certainly not the best, but stiff) and I can compress them in my hands easily. How are they going to "lift" a chassis (even a light one)?

[kp.touring]

Dennis,
So my Pontiac Grand Am that is .4" higher in the front and 1.0" higher rear after installing KYB's with no other changes and have driven for over a year isn't really any higher?

Well one suspension "expert" to another I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

Kevin

[MarkM66]

I obviously agree with Dennis. I've use junk KYB's, and many other types of shocks, and I've never had them raise the car at all.

If I can compress them manually, all of which I could, (they're stiff, but not with an opposite force, just resistance) they're not going to raise the car.

But a disagreement is fine with me.

[G-Body]

make sure these springs are seated well into the lower a-arms sometimes something as simple as this is overlooked!!!