Replacement shock discussion: Are my shocks blown? *PICS*

[VTECMACHINE]

You won't find the part number on the part itself, it'll be on the parts list.

Leo, are the rear mounting point to the LCA's different between the 2 shocks?

[Zdster]

ummm...

* My stock OEM shocks lasted 75,000km's, 2 track days and are still perfect, when I changed them. All of my family's 4 other Honda's shocks have always lasted the full 80,000-140,000km's on the car, with me giving them a bit of a work inbetween - then we sold the car. My VP (1992) Holden commy's shocks lasted 220,000km's never were replaced, and were perfect.

* Koni's died after a few months, and leaked everywhere.

* BuddyClubs, started getting noisey, and not dampening as well as they did when new after 10,000km's & 3 track days - No leaks.

* Zeals... in use now... will report any problems if I have any. However, some people on other forum have said they they could do with an overhaul after 10,000- 15,000 km's using these coilovers.

Is that what you were after?

No, I would like some studies. I have known of at least a couple of sets of koni shocks that have lasted over 80,000km's and are still going strong. I would think if the Koni's died after a couple of months and leaked everywhere they were installed incorrectly or they were faulty.

[e240]

Between what 2 shocks? I use EK shocks on my EG..hahha..

In some markets, EG's and other Integra's use the same suspension layout and setup across the range. Whether the damping rates are the same, I don't know. For all you know they are. I do know that ITRs have higher spring rates though.

But if there are Type R specific shocks, I'm assuming they'd have a Type R designation in their part number (P73) as with all other type R parts I've seen.

if you cannot find a type R specific designation on the shock, then maybe they're all the same. LOL

Anyway, a little trivia, factory Honda Civic/Integras etc shocks are all coilover systems already, not spring and dampers, like maybe the toyota starlet or some renault, peugot etc

[VTECMACHINE]

No, I would like some studies. I have known of at least a couple of sets of koni shocks that have lasted over 80,000km's and are still going strong. I would think if the Koni's died after a couple of months and leaked everywhere they were installed incorrectly or they were faulty.

I'm not here to take or give studies. I'm just sharing my experiences and views. Sure, if you like them... get them, and stick with them.

Ofcourse most of them last a long period of time. If they didn't, I doubt they'd still be an active business. So they should, and if you had faith in them you shouldn't ask me to justify their quality.

I've only commented that a few people have experienced these bad things - but surely they can't be that bad, right?

How wrong can you go with coilover installation. If they were faulty... well that says alot about the product. I have imported a fair few jap coilovers from Japan directly for a fair few mates, and none of them have had any issues.

So yeah, i'm not trying to steer you away from getting these. If you like/want them... get them.

Can you please give me a justification and study on why you think that Koni's are so great?

[CRXer]

Can you please give me a justification and study on why you think that Koni's are so great?

didnt anyone read the link posted by JohnL earlier in this thread?

http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html

might help a lot of the rubbish being dribbled in this thread.

btw had my koni yellows for about 10years now,must be well over 150k km on them,only 1 rear died in the last few weeks from me loading up a pair of 18k springs on them,i know they wont handle over 11k with stock valves , so save the lectures,i needed something to load the springs on........

[vuongkong]

if i wanted a lower ride with a little comfort what springs would you guys recommend with the dc2r shocks? how low can you possibly go without waring out these shocks?

In saying that the stock suspension setup in hondas are coilovers, is there any difference b/t dc2r suspension and aftermarket coilovers apart from height adjustability ?

cheers guys.

[bennjamin]

just my input....


i have had koni yellows , mated to dodgy king springs and then to eibach springs. Both times the car handed track and heavy "spirited driving" fine. Sold em around 3/4 of a year later with about 20k on them and they looked like new.

I also have had OEM ITR shocks in my EG at one stage , and altho the height looked ike a truck they were fantastic suspension. Its part of what makes a DC2 ITR THE best handling car in the world IMO.

[VTECMACHINE]

if i wanted a lower ride with a little comfort what springs would you guys recommend with the dc2r shocks? how low can you possibly go without waring out these shocks?

I haven't tried them... but Spoon springs on stock ITR shocks are meant to be awesome. And they go quite low too (Ie: tyre sits 1/2-1cm from the guard.). Using stock rims, you won't need to roll the guards.

Also Ben, ofcourse Koni's will handle track, and spirited driving. I'm just using them as a comparison to a japanese coilovers - whereby the jap coilover will crap all over Koni.

[JohnL]

Aftermarket shocks will never last as long as stock shocks, but there is always compromise when going aftermarket. IMHO Stock stuff is engineered to find the fine line between the few compromises you face, whilst achieiving the feel and performance to what the car is marketed towards.

Vtec,
If you make sweeping statements like that then you're going to find that a lot people will have a hard time taking you seriously on this. Stock dampers (as a gross generalisation) are fairly notorious for not lasting all that long. An example would be the rear dampers on my mother's Mazda 323 that started feeling quite soft after about a year or so.

Having said that, the stock dampers used on Hondas do seem to last well, my Accord still had the OE dampers at 200,000kms (when I bought the car), and they still worked acceptably (for a family sedan). A few months on dirt roads saw them off though. My friends EG Civic has the OE dampers at 300,000kms, and while they aren't great they aren't all that bad. (both these cars have good maintenance records showing things like "fitted 2 new tyres at X km" etc, but no record of any damper changes).

Konis are reknowned for their longevity, I've come across / heard maybe one or two reports of relatively early Koni failure, but plenty of reports of Konis going strong year after year after year. On the other hand I've heard quite a lot of reports of early failure with various well known Japanese brands (stand alone dampers as well as dampers supplied with 'coilover' combinations). I've also heard at least one report of early failure with Bilstein dampers, and Bilstein's reputation is second to none (statement of fact)...

Having said all this, there are some truly dreadful aftermarket dampers around, the worst I've ever experienced were Monroe Sensatracs. The worst thing about these dampers was that they just wouldn't die, and I did try to kill them, just to have an excuse to be rid of them...

[VTECMACHINE]

I was talking about Japanese coilovers, and not brands like Koni, and Monroe etc.
Majority of large Japanese suspension manufactuers state that overhauls should take place 10-15,000km's, or 1-2 years of driving for the shocks to work optimally.

From what I have learnt on my previous Japanese shocks or coilovers, is that this is very true.

OEM shocks do not need to be overhauled or replaced this regularily. If you would have to, i'd assume people would not be very happy.

You or no one has to take me seriously. But i'm sure a few people trying to make their mind up about coilovers would appreciate hearing my good and bad experiences with coilovers, shocks and springs.

So are you trying to justify Koni shocks with king springs or the likes are just as good, if not better than coilover systems like Tein, Fightex, Zeals etc...?

[Zdster]

You or no one has to take me seriously. But i'm sure a few people trying to make their mind up about coilovers would appreciate hearing my good and bad experiences with coilovers, shocks and springs.

So are you trying to justify Koni shocks with king springs or the likes are just as good, if not better than coilover systems like Tein, Fightex, Zeals etc...?

I think the problem that I specifically had was that you were presenting your information like fact. If you had said in my experience or IMO then there would have been no problem.

For example, a family member has had a set of Japanese coilovers on there car for over 70,000kms (about 5 years) and they are still going strong as ever.

[VTECMACHINE]

Wow... if you were to look through my posts, I think I have said IMO, and IMHO like hundreds of times. And that this is what I have personally experienced.

Also, IMHFO going strong and running optimally is not the same thing.