Rear shock alternatives?

[thaywood]

More of just a personel opinion. There are certain things I wouldn't spend a bunch of money on, that includes $hocks.

I'm with ya on that one. Before I got my first Mark VIII over 10 years ago, I don't think I ever spent more than $20 bucks on a single shock absorber. I'm not going to spend a hundred bucks on one shock absorber. I just don't think a frakkin' shock absorber should cost that much. I mean really, how much does it cost to make a shock (regular shock, that is, not adjustable or magnetorheological)? It's bad enough the front shocks cost me $186 each just because they're integrated with the air springs. I'm just not willing to drop several hundred dollars on the rear shocks. There has to be a cheaper alternative somewhere. Just because it's a "Lincoln" doesn't mean every single thing has to cost 3 arms, 4 legs, 9 fingers, and your first born...

 

[98lincmk7lsc]

I'm with ya on that one. Before I got my first Mark VIII over 10 years ago, I don't think I ever spent more than $20 bucks on a single shock absorber. I'm not going to spend a hundred bucks on one shock absorber. I just don't think a frakkin' shock absorber should cost that much. I mean really, how much does it cost to make a shock (regular shock, that is, not adjustable or magnetorheological)? It's bad enough the front shocks cost me $186 each just because they're integrated with the air springs. I'm just not willing to drop several hundred dollars on the rear shocks. There has to be a cheaper alternative somewhere. Just because it's a "Lincoln" doesn't mean every single thing has to cost 3 arms, 4 legs, 9 fingers, and your first born...

There is a cheaper alternative, Monroe Sensatracs for a T-bird are about $30 each and will probably do just fine for 90% of current Mark VIII owners. I've got them on my 97 daily driver...

Koni's and the like are for the more performance-minded people. With better performance and handling comes more $$...

 

[Lownslowlsc]

x2 on the sensatracs. Been running those for about 3 months and i'm pretty satisfied with them considering i'm lowered. I ran the $20 gas matics and they were garbage, pure garbage.

 

[thaywood]

There is a cheaper alternative, Monroe Sensatracs for a T-bird are about $30 each and will probably do just fine for 90% of current Mark VIII owners. I've got them on my 97 daily driver...

That was what I was thinking. My rear shocks on the '97 are shot. So that's probably what I'll get.

Koni's and the like are for the more performance-minded people.

Like me, but with more money

With better performance and handling comes more $$...

True. But still, what's the difference between a standard shock and a stiffer performance shock? Basically the size of the orifices that the fluid passes through. The smaller the orifice, the stiffer the shock. Housings, fluid (ecept magnetorheological), pistons, washers, gaskets, etc are pretty much the same. So what are you paying all that extra money for? The sticker on the side of the shock. And that's sad.

 

[slowmkviii]

You are paying for the development of better shocks
Higher quality all around from the bushings to the steel everything
I have a set of bilsteins on my 97 and a set of konis waiting to go in but
If you haven't driven (not commute) on nice shocks you probably wouldn't know
The difference anyway.

 

[thaywood]

You are paying for the development of better shocks Higher quality all around from the bushings to the steel everything
I have a set of bilsteins on my 97 and a set of konis waiting to go in but
If you haven't driven (not commute) on nice shocks you probably wouldn't know The difference anyway.

Yes. I've driven on good, high quality shocks. I enjoy a good handling car. Our Cobra is absolutely fantastic in the twisties. The Mark, not so much. I had Bilsteins on my '69 Cougar and it handled great. I also had factory electronic shocks on both my T-Bird TC's and they handled great. I have owned and driven many, many vehicles. Several of which were high performance cars. So yes, I do in fact know the difference. I understand development costs. However, after a while, that cost will be recouperated through sales and prices should go down. After a certain point, sales have paid for the development and the companies are making pure profit off overpriced shocks. However, there's nothing I can do about this. But I'm gonna complain anyway It I were wealthy, I wouldn't worry about it. Unfortunately, I'm not. Long ago...when I had money to play with, I could put high priced shocks on my cars. But back then, $30 bucks for a good shock was high priced. Oh how times have changed...