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JimNolan · 2015-12-10 16:32

Rich,
Oh, I'm going to use them. I just need to find thick washers to secure them better. I just took a air grinder with a small cutoff blade and cut the end so the mounting width would be wider. I think they'll be OK. KYB lists this shock as fitting a 57, so it sure isn't your fault. It's going to work.
My biggest disappointment came when I went to put my air shocks on the rear and the tailpipe was so close to the shock it'd end up rubbing. Now that's a big problem. Needless to say I'm not going to be taking my exhaust system apart and rebending it right now. Most of the stuff I do to my car I don't really have too, I just enjoy making it better and it gives me something to do. Time spent working on my 57 is time well spent and enjoyed.

JimNolan · 2015-12-10 16:40

Guys, there were no bands to cut, no strings to pull, no buttons to push. It was just extended to it's longest length, which was fine with me for installation purposes and I used a little hydraulic jack to compress them when I put them in. And, if you let the jack slip off, the shock extended again real quick. They're a different breed from the shocks I'm used to.

JimNolan · 2015-12-10 16:45

And I hate Wheaties. lol

hiball3985 · 2015-12-10 16:51

Quote from: JimNolan on 2015-12-10 16:40
Guys, there were no bands to cut, no strings to pull, no buttons to push. It was just extended to it's longest length, which was fine with me for installation purposes and I used a little hydraulic jack to compress them when I put them in. And, if you let the jack slip off, the shock extended again real quick. They're a different breed from the shocks I'm used to.

That really unusual that they weren't strapped, were did you get them?
I don't like Wheaties either, and most other cereal

JimNolan · 2015-12-10 17:07

Rock Auto

RICH MUISE · 2015-12-10 17:11

My Monroes were strapped, like Jim, my KYB's were not. Have you driven the car yet, Jim (Nolan)?

JimNolan · 2015-12-10 18:14

Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2015-12-10 17:11
My Monroes were strapped, like Jim, my KYB's were not. Have you driven the car yet, Jim (Nolan)?

I'll drive it tomorrow, if nothing goes wrong. I need to find some real thick washers first and make sure the mounting is good. All I had were regular washers today.

Zapato · 2015-12-11 11:02

Years ago got introduced to KYBs, at the time we were doing some club road racing. Lots of fun.gas assist shocks were just starting to become popular so we tried them and were really pleased with the improved ride. They were no match to the CARRERA 3 way adjustable shocks and struts we used on our production car but for street use they couldn't be beat for the price. Sold and installed a lot of them at the time. Never saw one that wasn't strapped then if they've done away that it's going to be hell for a lot of installs.

My understanding of gas versus oil only shocks is as follows. Stock oil filled shocks are doing just what their name states absorb or take away all the little jolts that different road surfaces produce. Giving us a comfortable ride. The difference with a gas assist is that by design meets that goal and also does its best to keep the tires firmly in contact with the road.

To me there was always a noticeable difference in performance in every car I owned that had them. It was most noticeable in my 1970 Ford Bronco.

It often pays to do just one upgrade at a time to really evaluate difference good ,marginal or bad. Since your doing just shocks hopefully your evaluation will be positive.

Zap-

JimNolan · 2015-12-11 16:37

Guys,
I drove the car about ten miles today, going over railroad tracks and turning corners at higher speeds than normal. I thought they were better than the regular shocks. But, I do have a large 1 1/8" sway bar up front to begin with. That makes it harder to recognize better performance over one shock than another. As far as I can tell it had somewhat less bounce when both wheels hit the railroad track at the same time. And, I don't think my wheels ever left the ground either. Seemed solid. I'll keep them.

Zapato · 2015-12-11 17:25

Good to hear.

Zap-

RICH MUISE · 2015-12-11 18:16

Sounds like they worked out, Jim, and that's doubly good to hear since I've got them in my garage waiting to be put on!!

hiball3985 · 2015-12-11 18:27

Glad you like them, I'm happy with mine and with the large sway bar I'm pleased with the cornering.

I still can't imagine why they weren't strapped, every gas shock I have ever used was. I would think having them strapped would save on packaging size and warehouse storage space.

JimNolan · 2015-12-11 18:37

Quote from: hiball3985 on 2015-12-11 18:27
Glad you like them, I'm happy with mine and with the large sway bar I'm pleased with the cornering.

I still can't imagine why they weren't strapped, every gas shock I have ever used was. I would think having them strapped would save on packaging size and warehouse storage space.

HiBall,
I'm glad they weren't straped. I had to jack the front end up with the wheels off the ground to begin with because I'm so big and fat that reaching the bottom bolts would have been hard for me. With them unstraped I had about 1 1/2" that I had to put a little bottle jack under and compress the shock with to get a bolt started. I was very pleased they were unstraped.

hiball3985 · 2015-12-11 18:56

Quote from: JimNolan on 2015-12-11 18:37
HiBall,
I'm glad they weren't straped. I had to jack the front end up with the wheels off the ground to begin with because I'm so big and fat that reaching the bottom bolts would have been hard for me. With them unstraped I had about 1 1/2" that I had to put a little bottle jack under and compress the shock with to get a bolt started. I was very pleased they were unstraped.

I always cut the straps before installing, I don't think you can get them in far enough to reach the top when strapped. I was just surprised they shipped them that way..

KYBlueOval · 2015-12-14 06:11

Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2015-12-05 07:44
John...fronts (not installed yet)..KYB KG4515 2 @ 33.79 ea =67.58
rears Monroe 31125 (just a std. '55 shock)2 @ 15.33 ea = 30.66
shipping 8.09
total 106.33
Ordered from Rockauto.com at 3 pm Friday, received Monday!! The front shocks were what some members were using and recommended..can't remember who...Jim/Hiball??
The rear Monroe shocks were just as Jim Nolan posted. I was surprised to see they are made in USA.

Rich, Jim Nolan and hiball3985 and anyone else on the Forum.........a couple of questions for you on shocks, as y'all have done the research to date. From what I've researched, Bilstein does not have front shocks for '57 Fords. Is that correct? Or is there another application for which Bilstein has a listing ? I looked at QA-1 as well and they have no listings either.
Rear Shocks. I looked up the Monroe #31125 '55/'56 Ford Fairlane Shocks and the Monroe listing makes no mention of Sedan ,Wagon etc.. One size fits all, I guess. So do I assume ( dangerous word, I know ) that since Monroe does not differentiate between models within those years, that this 31125 shock will "work" ,on my Ranchero, as Jim Nolan has described.
As usual, any input would be greatly appreciated, as I'm ready to buy shocks.
Thanks
John

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