TheSamba.com :: View topic - Alternatives to Gabriel HiJacker 49307 Rear Air Shocks

Mon Jun 19, 2023 11:38 am

After reading through recent posts on this topic and recent product reviews, I see that the Monroe equivalents to these Gabriel air shocks seem to be a disappointment, so I'm hoping to find another alternative. I called Gabriel today and they said the 49307 air shocks are not in stock and could not provide a production date ... so maybe it is the end of the road for these shocks. :(

Like others, I don't want to go through the considerable hassle of adjusting the rear torsion bars to achieve the 1" to 1.5" lift needed to even out the stance. I have seen the point raised that the shock mounts are not meant to support the weight of the car. Probably not, but they should be able to handle the weight of an excess load that is placed in the rear. The amount of "weight lifting" air shocks would need to do for a very minor lift should be well within the capacity of the shock and shock mount. I used air shocks years ago to raise a sagging rear on other non-VWs without a problem, and it seems others have done so on their bugs.

Have any of you used a different air shock from Gabriel or other brand for the rear on your bug? I have a '69 (all stock), but I imagine any year with IRS would have the same shock.

Mon Jun 19, 2023 3:37 pm

OldSchoolVW's wrote: Have any of you used a different air shock from Gabriel or other brand for the rear on your bug? I have a '69 (all stock), but I imagine any year with IRS would have the same shock.

I have had the Gabriel 49307 on my 1971 Convertible for 2 decades. So I know nothing about other brands.

Mon Jun 19, 2023 5:48 pm

Cusser wrote: OldSchoolVW's wrote: Have any of you used a different air shock from Gabriel or other brand for the rear on your bug? I have a '69 (all stock), but I imagine any year with IRS would have the same shock.

I have had the Gabriel 49307 on my 1971 Convertible for 2 decades.

Yes, I saw in other discussions that you mentioned this, which is why I was hoping to get a set for mine. I know quality for most VW-related products has fallen over the years, but recent reviews for these shocks still give it 4 or 5 stars, unlike what I have seen for the Monroes. In fact, some of the websites that carry the Monroes indicate there is no warranty on them. I'd say that's a pretty big red flag. I saw that NAPA carries their own air shocks for bugs, but the part number matches the Monroe number, so I'm guessing they are just relabeled Monroes. NAPA, however, offers a 12 month warranty on them. Still would rather have the Gabriels.

Mon Jun 19, 2023 8:13 pm

OldSchoolVW's wrote: I know quality for most VW-related products has fallen over the years, but recent reviews for these shocks still give it 4 or 5 stars, unlike what I have seen for the Monroes. In fact, some of the websites that carry the Monroes indicate there is no warranty on them. I'd say that's a pretty big red flag. I saw that NAPA carries their own air shocks for bugs, but the part number matches the Monroe number, so I'm guessing they are just relabeled Monroes. NAPA, however, offers a 12 month warranty on them. Still would rather have the Gabriels.

I would CALL Gabriel to ask them about the shocks; likely these are made overseas, maybe just waiting for a shipment. I did have a warranty replacement done on one of my Gabriel shocks, but that was over 15 years ago.

Tue Jun 20, 2023 10:58 am

So I called Gabriel this morning ...

The good news:
They are not discontinued.
Currently made in the U.S. (Imagine that!)
Warranty is for 2 years/24months to original purchaser.

The bad news:
Not expected to be available for 4 - 6 weeks. Production is waiting on parts. :roll:

So, unless an alternative is suggested by someone in the community, it looks like I'll be doing this little project sometime in August. :(

Tue Jun 20, 2023 12:21 pm

OldSchoolVW's wrote: So I called Gabriel this morning ...
The good news:
They are not discontinued.
Currently made in the U.S. (Imagine that!)
Warranty is for 2 years/24months to original purchaser.
All good to know.

OldSchoolVW's wrote: So, unless an alternative is suggested by someone in the community, it looks like I'll be doing this little project sometime in August.
I'd wait....

Tue Jun 20, 2023 7:30 pm

I added them to my Super based on Cusser's recommendation. They do the job.

One point to note: if you need to lift each side a slightly different amount, to achieve level ride, you will need to get a separate kit Gabriel sells that allows two Schrader valves to be installed, instead of both shocks sharing the same valve.

A second point: don't buy these from Amazon, which does sell them. The reason is that Gabriel will not warranty them if you buy them from Amazon--they will tell you Amazon honors the warranty (same 24 months) when they are purchased there. However, if you need to make a warranty claim (I did; one shock was leaking 30 psi a day--confirmed not the air lines), Amazon will claim that you must go to the manufacturer. I spent two weeks escalating calls to both Gabriel and Amazon before Gabriel finally called Amazon directly on my behalf to force them to honor the warranty. Note that none of this is mentioned on the Amazon listing.

Tue Jun 20, 2023 9:04 pm

virusdoc wrote: I added them to my Super based on Cusser's recommendation. They do the job.

One point to note: if you need to lift each side a slightly different amount, to achieve level ride, you will need to get a separate kit Gabriel sells that allows two Schrader valves to be installed, instead of both shocks sharing the same valve.

A second point: don't buy these from Amazon, which does sell them. The reason is that Gabriel will not warranty them if you buy them from Amazon--they will tell you Amazon honors the warranty (same 24 months) when they are purchased there. However, if you need to make a warranty claim (I did; one shock was leaking 30 psi a day--confirmed not the air lines), Amazon will claim that you must go to the manufacturer. I spent two weeks escalating calls to both Gabriel and Amazon before Gabriel finally called Amazon directly on my behalf to force them to honor the warranty. Note that none of this is mentioned on the Amazon listing.

Thanks for sharing this tip and your experience with Amazon. My bug is pretty level from side to side, so I hope one valve will do the trick. I was kind of leery about buying these shocks from Amazon. Depending on price, I was thinking of ordering from either NAPA or Summit Racing. Rock Auto shows them as well, but I haven't heard anything about dealing with them if there is a problem.

Wed Jun 21, 2023 7:57 am

For stuff where I can get lifetime warranty, I typically use O'Reilly or Autozone. Trying to get that done from online supplier is way more complicated.

In 2020 local Autozone replaced my 2 decades old master cylinder for my 1971 Super, easy return with lifetime warranty.

Wed Jun 21, 2023 8:22 am

NAPA NS MA803 Air shocks fits VW rear and most NAPA brand parts carry a lifetime guarantee so you may want to look at them.

Wed Jun 21, 2023 12:31 pm

Starbucket wrote: NAPA NS MA803 Air shocks fits VW rear and most NAPA brand parts carry a lifetime guarantee so you may want to look at them.

I did see these at NAPAOnline:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NS_MA803?impressionRank=1

States 12 month warranty, however the part number is the same as the Monroe Max-Air Shocks and NAPA even identifies them as "Max-Air" in the product description, so it seems pretty certain that NAPA buys them from Monroe and puts their name on them. Recent reviews that I've seen for these shocks express a good deal of displeasure, so I think I'll have to wait for the Gabriels (which have a 2 year/24K warranty).

Wed Jun 21, 2023 3:28 pm

Have you looked into Gas adjustable and coil over adjustable shocks since you just want to level your ride not carry big loads, Rockauto carries both.

Wed Jun 21, 2023 3:58 pm

I must say, Rockauto is absolutely awesome to deal with regarding replacement or warranty on parts, even if fully your own fault.

I designed a set of coilovers for my son's '73 Super made from a set of Raceland coilovers meant for a VW Caddy pickup (watercooled VW pickup). I had to try 3 different brands of insert before I found the one that fit properly. Rockauto had no problem with this, what-so-ever. I never paid another penny for the replacement part, nor any additional shipping. One of the attempted brands was a close out deal, and when it didn't work, they didn't even want it back.

H2OSB

Wed Jun 21, 2023 5:46 pm

Why not adjust the suspension properly and install new oil filled shocks. It will ride like an original Volkswagen instead of something engineered in the 19th century.

Wed Jun 21, 2023 6:02 pm

Igpoe wrote: Why not adjust the suspension properly and install new oil filled shocks. It will ride like an original Volkswagen instead of something engineered in the 19th century.

I can only speak for myself: because adjusting that mechanism on a nearly 50-year old car seems somewhat intimidating and would likely unleash a hornets' nest of other parts needing replacement, as well as cussing and potential irritation of a chronic neck injury. I read numerous threads here on the process, and decided it wasn't for me. And then I asked my local VW mechanic if he'd do it, and he advised against it because he was concerned that he wouldn't be able to get torsion mechanism parts in a timely fashion if it broke.

And the air shocks get the job done and are very easy to install.

Wed Jun 21, 2023 9:46 pm

Starbucket wrote: Have you looked into Gas adjustable and coil over adjustable shocks since you just want to level your ride not carry big loads, Rockauto carries both.

You know, I thought about these options and read up on them. As I understand it, gas adjustable shocks allow you to adjust the ride characteristics (stiffness/softness), but don't affect the ride height. Coil over adjustable shocks also affect the ride characteristics, and some can change the ride height, however it is not as precise as air shocks at setting the desired height and the ride quality is harsher than with air shocks. I know from experience that air shocks will make the ride stiffer, but we are talking about a '69 Bug, not a Lincoln Town Car, so not a drastic change from what I'm already used to.

virusdoc wrote: Igpoe wrote: Why not adjust the suspension properly and install new oil filled shocks. It will ride like an original Volkswagen instead of something engineered in the 19th century.

I can only speak for myself: because adjusting that mechanism on a nearly 50-year old car seems somewhat intimidating and would likely unleash a hornets' nest of other parts needing replacement, as well as cussing and potential irritation of a chronic neck injury. I read numerous threads here on the process, and decided it wasn't for me. And then I asked my local VW mechanic if he'd do it, and he advised against it because he was concerned that he wouldn't be able to get torsion mechanism parts in a timely fashion if it broke.

And the air shocks get the job done and are very easy to install.

Same here virusdoc. I watched several youtube videos that demonstrated the process. Tricky to do at points and it seems to me that it wouldn't be that hard to make a mistake that would result in a too high, too low or uneven ride height that you wouldn't find out about until everything was back together and it was back on the ground. Just about every project I've done on my bug has snowballed into something more involved and time consuming. I'm guessing this has been the case with most of us. No reason to believe that wouldn't be the case here. Using air shocks seems to be the easier way to get the desired results ... and if it has worked for Cusser for 20 years, that's good enough for me. :)

Thu Jun 22, 2023 6:44 am

virusdoc wrote: And the air shocks get the job done and are very easy to install.

Why I went that route a couple of decades ago, and have not regretted the decision. I did adjust torsion bars exactly once, on a different VW, and took quite a while and a lot of effort. So that drove my decision.