Gabriel suspension for L series

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:00 pm

hey guys just thought id give my opinion on my experience with these shocks.

Installed the shocks with king springs all round exactly 2 years ago and they just havent lasted/performed as i thought they would. They've done about 40,000km i think with about 25% of this offroad.
i recently installed a spare wheel carrier which added a bit of extra weight on the back and ever since they have sagged alot- more than they should in my opinion or even with out the spare wheel carrier they would scrub the tyres with a full car load over bumps. i thought about getting 2WD shocks in the back but as a mate tried with the gabriels the spring base welds broke and left him dragging his ass home from a camping trip. see pic

Just yesterday i noticed that one of the front struts is pissing out oil and doesnt spring back as it should. so im guessing the other side is gonna go soon too.
Also ive found the handling to be very different to alex's car which is identical except that he has KYB struts which are still stiff and have have had about the same abuse as mine. So now im up for new suspension all round. This time im going to spend the extra to get KYB's for sure.

So there ya go.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:17 pm

Hey matt,

Could you please post the costs of this that's involved? I'm still running shocks and springs that probabily came from the factory... They go alright I guess.

New everything will hopefully be happening in the next year or two for Ruby Scoo.

Cheers

Bennie

brumbyrunner · Post by **brumbyrunner** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:59 pm

Thats a good review Matt. You'll be happy to know that you're not the first to be dissapointed with the Gabes. KYB is the only off-the-shelf brand worth buying for older Subes and is recommended by most board members.

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:12 pm

my mate just spent 1200 putting gabriel gear through his lib, without thinking it might be a good idea to ask me first.... eeeediot

could have got him KYB gear for less

CPOCSM · Post by **CPOCSM** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:01 pm

brumbyrunner wrote:Thats a good review Matt. You'll be happy to know that you're not the first to be dissapointed with the Gabes. KYB is the only off-the-shelf brand worth buying for older Subes and is recommended by most board members.

Yepp ditto - the original struts on the L series are KYB off the factory floor - but they are the base models. I have the adjusta ride KYB's as I run them on the mini and they are the ducks guts. The 4 corners cost $295 fitted - getting the same on the Soob shortly as the factory ones are getting a wee bit skittish(well they have done 283k so time to rest them:p)

Bang for buck KYB definitely the way to go - if your pockets are deeper the pommie SPAX 40 point adjustable are pretty fabby too(pretty sure they do them in the Soob sizes...)

Hooroo

Post by **Alex** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:06 pm

i can vouch for this as well.

After 3 years of very brutal punishment my KYB's are still going strong. Still very stiff coupled with the kings.

two big thumbs up!

alex

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:46 am

I will also chime in here and say was an unhappy user of gabriel front struts some years ago in a Lseries, too soft, might be ok for strictly bitumen. The kyb's don't cost much more...

mattw · Post by **mattw** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:02 pm

ditto.
I spent a grand on bushes, shocks, ball joints etc, only for it to still ride like a bag of plop.
although the kyb's are a fair bit more, I am regretting the super special price I got my Gabs for. Even at half the price of kyb's, its too much. My old rears were shot, but the new gabs were only marginally better (2 rebounds vs 3 on the old ones). the fronts aren't too bad, but the rears are soft and underdamped. they also need a couple of cycles to "pump up" if you bounce the car!
Its interesting that the fronts were made in the US, and the rears in Mexico.

I had an old set of stockers in the shed somewhere, I'm tempted to put them in for now.

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:09 pm

yeh i went for them when i got my lift kit and was trying to limit my spending a bit- even tho i knew they were inferior. only reason my front one aint sagging is coz of the kings- made the right choice there. kudos to supercheap tho i will be able to get a replacement gabriel for it once it comes out of the car.
anyways full set of kyb's with 2wd rears should come inby friday

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 11:21 am

I got my kyb's in yesterday. note the springbase on the 2wd rears

looks much better now- anti-sag in the back.
before

after

other side

2wd vs 4wd

leakin strut

Busdriver · Post by **Busdriver** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:41 pm

Just wanting to make a point, springs are there to hold up the weight of the car, and the shockers are to control the oscillations of the springs.Therefore if there is any sagging going on, you would have to look at the springs. If the height changes with new shockers, then they are prob too stiff and it is no suprise when things like welds start breaking. Been there and done that. Had an adjustable Gas Koni seize once and bust the mount out of a lower control arm, same as having too stiff shockers.Never tried the Archangels suspension but am big wraps on KYB shockers and have been for over 20 years.

openflame06 · Post by **openflame06** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:41 pm

I have gabriel shocks in my corolla, they barely lasted a few months. Its not even worth buying them.

I replaced my L series factory suspension with KYB excel g's not too long back after reading advice on this forum and would have to say they are a great product. Wont be using any poor brand like gabriel for anything ever again.