Strange Adjustable Shocks

[vektro69]

I have a 73 Challenger and looking to get rid of the air shocks that came on it when I got it. I like the idea of adjustable shocks, but it gets a bit pricey. Just came across some from Strange that are $175 a shock.Qa1 are $215. Not too bad. My car is just a cruiser, no drag racing, 340 car. Just looking for a better ride than kyb that I have in the front. Seems a little harsh. Adjustables, I can make them whatever I want, softer, firmer, or somewhere in the middle.
I don’t see much about these shocks. Anyone here ever use them or know more about them

 

[pschlosser]

Based on my own experience, KYBs can be stiffer than OEM, and soft on the rebound. I've used them in a 280ZX I rebuilt with polyurethane bushings, and a 1971 GTX B-Body. I liked the stiffness at first, but grew to dislike it in time. Further, I too have grown to dislike air shocks, especially in the rear, for similar reasons to yours. The only Strange brand shocks I've known anyone to use was on cars with structs and coil-over springs. Bilstein is a common go-to for E-bodies with standard suspensions.

 

[vektro69]

Based on my own experience, KYBs can be stiffer than OEM, and soft on the rebound. I've used them in a 280ZX I rebuilt with polyurethane bushings, and a 1971 GTX B-Body. I liked the stiffness at first, but grew to dislike it in time. Further, I too have grown to dislike air shocks, especially in the rear, for similar reasons to yours. The only Strange brand shocks I've known anyone to use was on cars with structs and coil-over springs. Bilstein is a common go-to for E-bodies with standard suspensions.

Thanks for the reply. I ran Bilstein on my 69 Super Bee and did like them. But, for just a bit more, I thought adjustables could be a better option.
https://www.strangeengineering.net/product/strange-front-shock-mopar-single-adj-each.html/

 

[Chryco Psycho]

Not a fan of KYB , We used a lot of different adj shocks on drag set ups , not so much on cornering / street set ups
Bilstein & QA1 are great , even Rancho makes great shocks .

 

[HPP]

I have a 73 Challenger and looking to get rid of the air shocks that came on it when I got it. I like the idea of adjustable shocks, but it gets a bit pricey. Just came across some from Strange that are $175 a shock.Qa1 are $215. Not too bad. My car is just a cruiser, no drag racing, 340 car. Just looking for a better ride than kyb that I have in the front. Seems a little harsh. Adjustables, I can make them whatever I want, softer, firmer, or somewhere in the middle.
I don’t see much about these shocks. Anyone here ever use them or know more about them

There are a number of decent shocks out there that don't get a lot of press. In many cases, single adjustable shocks only control one aspect of the motion. In the case of Strange, the literature on their shocks says their adjusters on single adjustable shocks will only modify the jounce/extension aspect of shock motion and not rebound/compression.

I'm not sure which QA1s you were looking at, but chances are their single adjustable could be similar to the Strange shocks or not. Since they offer 5 different lines of shocks that contain fixed, single, and double adjustable within each product line, there could be a pretty significant change in pricing across the different versions. I did try to find details on their Stocker Star line since they do not offer this in a coil over version and could not find anything explaining what motion the adjustment impacts.

One single adjustable that does have valving changes on both jounce and rebound is the Alston Varishock. They claim that each adjustment point on their single adjustable will alter both sides of the stroke combination. Looking at some basic pricing, they are more inline with the QA1 than Strange, so that may indicate QA has a similar arrangement. Might require a call to the tech line of whomever you are considering to confirm.

Different companies can also set up the valving to be convergent, divergent, or linear in fixed valved shocks. Each graph of resistance will produce different results/feel as the shock goes through its motion. For instance, KYB uses a high-pressure gas with divergent valving, so it produces a very high initial resistance that levels out the longer force is applied. This is why they can feel like they may improve handling as they provide high resistance to the initial motion change, but then slowly allow the body to roll as the oil and valving in the shock catches up to the motion of the car.

 

[Xcudame]

IMO, buy the most expensive shocks you can afford! There's a reason why race car teams have a sub-team of shock experts!