DeCarbon oem shocks: any good?

on friday, someone on a Camaro page on facebook said that they ordered some factory AC Delco DeCarbon shocks from rockauto for $14, which seemed like a deal... so he ordered 2, and he got 2 pair because they come 2 to a box.. so he posted the extra pair for sale for $15 and told everyone the part number in case they wanted to get their own after someone bought his...

so i logged in to rockauto and ordered myself 2 pairs out of the 12 they had left just because it's only $38 for 2 pairs of the shocks that they used in the factory SS cars from 2000 to 2002..

they should be here thursday..

anyways, are these decent shocks? i know everyone on the F body forums online was all "i replaced them with $300 Bilsteins and was much happier", but in the real world how good is my $19 (for the pair i'll run, after shipping) investment going to be for a daily driver type situation with some spirited driving in my 86 Camaro, and where can i get an equivalent front struts that don't break the bank? i can't find DeCarbon front struts for my car for sale anywhere..

wrote something longish and got deleted.. for less than $10 a pop they are awesome. some say they aren't as stiff as say a bilstein hd but they are the same inverted strut design ( I think ive heard even interchangeable parts but don't listen to me).

they were the hot takeoff from certain s-series trucks for a junkyard upgrade for a while. now i'm going to look at see what they have for my stuff.

I had them on the 95 Trans Am I had and I felt they worked quite well for a factory shock. TA handled well and the ride wasn't rough. At the price you got them for, why not try them?

sounds like a good deal to me.

I LOLed when I saw this thread title.

Mine were pieces of E36 M3 prior to being replaced around 80k miles. Car wallowed around like a busted old Buick. Granted, I replaced the DeCarbons with Konis, so my view may be a bit jaded, but that is hands down my favorite mod on the Camaro yet.

They are pretty much universally hated by fbody owners and most forums say replacing them is one of the best mods for the car.

Replaced mine with Konis and it was indeed the best mod I did to the car.

So, they are good to some but they are junk to others..

I guess i'll be happy as long as they are at least as good as the cheap NAPA gas shocks that made my Nova handle like it was on rails while giving a decent ride. And they have to at least be better than what looks to be the original 1986 issue shocks that are currently on the car.

Now to find some cheap struts for the other end of the car..

In reply to novaderrik:

For the price and your stated usage, I think they're worth a shot. However, it might be wise to temper your expectations. "Handle like on rails" is never a term I would have used to describe my Camaro on stock suspension.

What can you expect from a $7 shock tho, really? 99% of the time, you get what you pay for.

Decarbon as a brand is great, keep in mind a lot of people who say they suck also have 80k+ on them. Ymmv but I think you will be pleasantly surprised at your super cheap shocks. Won't handle on rails but will be much more forgiving than the parts store gas shocks

Desmond wrote: What can you expect from a $7 shock tho, really? 99% of the time, you get what you pay for.

They weren't $7 when the cars were new, price was quite a bit higher.

Edit: I found the prices from way back, $125 each for the front, $95 each for the rear.

they showed up... well, half of them showed up.. called Rockauto, the other 2 that i paid for is on the way...

they are pretty orange, date codes on the packaging says they've been on a shelf since September of 2000...and they were made in France so my car will handle like a French race car...

now to find a similar deal on a front strut that is a good companion to these rear shocks.. KYB AGX adjustables, perhaps?

100% better than no shocks at all. French cars typically ride really nice.

novaderrik wrote: ...and they were made in France so my car will handle like a French race car...

Are you sure that's a good thing

Considering decarbon was invented in France I'd hope they say made in France! (Decarbon is now defunct isn't it?) oh and the wonderful riding French cars are the citroens with the goofy ass fluid spheres instead of springs. You will be happy with it.

Furious_E wrote:

novaderrik wrote: ...and they were made in France so my car will handle like a French race car...

Are you sure that's a good thing

i would be seriously impressed if my the tires on my Camaro had that much sideways bite..

Furious_E wrote:

novaderrik wrote: ...and they were made in France so my car will handle like a French race car...

Are you sure that's a good thing

It's the deux chevaux salute. They were designed to drive across plowed rows without breaking your eggs.

I'm sure they start off good...but they won't last long - you'll probably be replacing them in about 40k miles. I bought a '98 Camaro with ~67k miles on it, the shocks were almost completely non-existant and dangerous on it. Most suckiest shocks I've ever driven on, absolutely scarry wet handling...or lack thereof. Koni's fixed it up really nicely.