When choosing a new shock or strut you have to factor in a few things, such as spring rate, driving habits, ride quality, and road conditions in your area. For general performance and daily driving, a good aftermarket shock/strut is your best bet. Whatever brand you use, make sure it's a quality name brand. You really don't want to sacrifice the rest of your suspension by using inferior shocks/struts. Expect them to last roughly 3 years, depending on how much you drive the car. Generally rear shocks will last longer than front struts and you may be able to get away with replacing them every other time you change the struts.

If you're looking for high-quality performance shocks/struts or need the adjustable kind for things like road racing, remember that your shocks, struts, and springs work in conjunction with each other for absorbing road imperfections. If you have too stiff of a strut and your springs can't handle that kind of load, then you're in for a seriously harsh ride. You should only consider high-performance shocks/struts if you're going autocrossing, drag racing, or have lowered the car over 1-1/2". Also, it is recommended by some dealers that you use a stiffer strut with stiffer springs, as the spring rate on them is much higher than stock and will eat up even decent "normal" struts in less than a year.

There were a number of manufacturers that used to produce aftermarket performance shocks and struts for our cars, but no longer. About the only one left now is Koni, and they're the manually-adjustable kind. Phillipe has passed along information about KYB gas shocks. For the 1987-1988 with the V8 (may work for 83-86 too), the KYB shocks and struts are the following :

Front: KYB GR-2 Gas part # 235005, about $52 US/each at Carparts.com or Shox.com, plus shipping.
Rear: KYB GR-2 Gas part # 343162, about $18 US/each at Carparts.com or Shox.com, plus shipping.

Then there is the ubiquitous air shock. The air shock (rear only) uses air instead of your normal gas-charging to absorb the shock. You can fully select the pressure inside the shocks, something that you cannot do with most aftermarket shocks. However, there is again a tradeoff --- a firmer ride. And you also have to keep an eye out for air leaks. Once the air leaks out, you've got nothing inside the shocks to keep your back end up, and you can imagine what that feels like. Some people like them, some don't. The fact is, it's simply a temporary fix for keeping the back end up if you've got weight in the trunk or are towing. A cargo coil spring does a much better job than an air shock.

If you have the factory quad shocks (a.k.a. axle dampeners), Advance Auto and Pep Boys carry Monroe (or Tenneco) quad shocks really cheaply --- around $12 each. You may have to order them for a Mustang GT as sometimes their computers don't list for a Cougar or Thunderbird; the Mustang parts are identical. Bilstein and Koni do make a performance quad shock, but we really can't say what advantage they'd be, since quads are so much different than a normal shock. When pulled one way, the quads do not compress back; instead, they stay put, hence the axle dampening name. They last a very long time but should be changed every other time you change the normal rear shocks for best performance. A new set of quads works miracles in keeping the rear end under control.

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