New shocks

[VTECnique]

I think i may need some new shocks, its a bit rigid now. I was driving through a bit of road that was a little bumpy, & my teeth nearly rattled out of my friggin mouth.

Now, dont have alot of money, so OEM shocks will probably be the go. But what about the aftermarkets. Monroe, etc. the brands you can get from like supercheap & autobarn. Im going to my local honda dealer tomorrow to price some OEM struts, maybe a good excuse too, to get those king springs ive been hanging for aswell...

[jeffreymui]

OEM will be as expensive as well branded ones

[I heart the SSS]

Just go KYB

[JohnL]

A couple of years ago a Honda dealer quoted me $1400 for four dampers ('shocks') for my CB7 Accord. I bought four Koni Sports ('Yellows') for $850...

Don't bother with botom of the market dampers, I'll bet you'll be needing to replace them within a year.

[twing]

When it's bumpy, it doesn't mean the shock has worned out.
What I found with my koni yellows, is that they are stiff. Hence I feel more bump on uneven roads.

Maybe it's worth while to take it to pedders shop to have drive on shock absorber test.

[VTECnique]

When it's bumpy, it doesn't mean the shock has worned out.
What I found with my koni yellows, is that they are stiff. Hence I feel more bump on uneven roads.

Maybe it's worth while to take it to pedders shop to have drive on shock absorber test.

Correct, but it aint stiff, its alot softer, too soft.

Id love to buy koni yellows, just the price tag that is holding me back, you could get some decent coilovers for that price...

[jeffreymui]

skunk2 pro S will be around 1.3k mark, will do the job

[hisoka]

skunk 2 sports shocks 600 bucks cant go wrong . ,match up some springs too

[riruiz_88]

i think i can get you Koni, BOGE, KYB and Bilstein shocks. can also get you eibach springs too. ill get back to you later tonight

[string]

Correct, but it aint stiff, its alot softer, too soft.

Id love to buy koni yellows, just the price tag that is holding me back, you could get some decent coilovers for that price...

They're expensive because they're better than decent...

[cnez]

skunk 2 gas shocks i think are around 600au from US ebay. (inc shipping)
the kyb gas shocks around 250au (not inc shipping).

i'm in need of replacement shocks aswell and i'm in the same position as u....broke phi broke

[JohnL]

Id love to buy koni yellows, just the price tag that is holding me back, you could get some decent coilovers for that price...

Dampers are the basis of the suspension set up, if handling is a priority (and damper longevity) then you need the best dampers you can afford. I would suggest that the dampers incorporated into any of the commonly available 'coilovers' are not anywhere near as good as Koni dampers.

[moogle]

is it bad to have stiff suspensions?
im running tien coilovers and my gets pretty bumpy

[twing]

depending on your purpose.
Stiff suspension is good for tracking.
I'm currently using koni yellow with oem spring. It does stiffen up my drive and more bumpy. The good thing is, I'm more confident in taking s curve on twisty road.
It's something to do with weight transfer on stiffer suspension.

If tein is too stiff for you... is it bound/rebound adjustable?

If I may suggest, do a research on suspension tech in order to understand it more, and able to maximise your tein's potential. It's not only about how low can u go (I guess you bought the tein to lower your ride?). Comfy ride and sporty ride is mutually exclusive unless you spend massive money on variable dampers (koni fsd, or other stuff used bymerc, bimmer, audi tt).
It is a very-very deep technical topic. JohnL is the master here :thumbsup:

[JohnL]

JohnL is the master here :thumbsup:

twing,
very nice of you to say so, but it's not true. I'm just a student of chassis dynamics, nowhere near a master of it.

[JohnL]

is it bad to have stiff suspensions?
im running tien coilovers and my gets pretty bumpy

This is an impossible question to answer in generalities because it always depends on how long the pieces of string are. Very basically a stiffer suspension set up will tend to be more responsive but less grippy, a softer set up will tend to be less responsive but more grippy. A stiffer set up will reach the limit of adhesion with less warning to the driver, and when it reaches the limit will tend to lose grip a lot more suddenly and completely. This is all a huge over-simplification.

You don't want a very stiff set up on a road car because public roads are generally not smooth enough. In fact with less than race track smooth surfaces a very stiff set up can be dangerously unpredictable. A sensibly thought through fairly stiff road set up should be fine, but avoid extremes.

[moogle]

Thanks twing and JohnL for explaining and giving useful information. Yes i bought the coilovers to lower my car and yes twing im also confident on taking sharp corners. The bumpy rides are not too bad..im just worried that if stiffer suspensions will wear out my coils

[lookingforboost]

bro i have some New KYB's and lowered springs that were in the car for like 500kms then taken out, i have coilovers and bags so i have no use for them if you would buy second hand / basically new lol :P

[string]

Performance dampers can actually control and distribute weight during the low frequency roll movements of the chassis - unlike stock shocks.

Don't be fooled into thinking that because a shock and spring are sold together that they are a perfect match. The low speed adjustment on the Koni Yellows covers a HUGE range of forces, they will work well from stock springs up to 3-4x stock rates. Can't say the same about the jap crap.

There's a difference between a car feeling planted and being fast. Heavy damping certainly achieves the former.

[JohnL]

Note that Konis have a very 'digressive' force curve, meaning that they are relatively stiff for slow speed inputs (such as ocur when body roll / weight transfer is occuring), which is what you want for handling / steering response etc. When there is a high speed input (such as when you hit a large bump) the valving becomes relatively soft allowing the tyre to ride over the bump more easily, which helps maintain grip on bumpier surfaces. Cheaper / inferior damper valves (as found in cheaper / inferior dampers) tend to be far less capable in this respect.

The best thing about most of the commonly available aftermarket 'coilovers' (i.e. a spring and damper sold as a 'matched' set, including those with a zillion not very effective adjustments) is that most of them do look the business. This is where the money has typically been spent on them, making them look good...

[imratedpg]

i got KYB shocks with super lows i think its a very good combo and its not too pricey

[VTECnique]

Was looking on konis website & came across the STR.T struts, they look appealing to me & end up being the same price as the s2 sport shocks...

imratedpg - what model KYB shocks did you get though? not the AGXs?!?!

[imratedpg]

i got kyb excel g