Cost Effective Performance Dampers?

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YBLEGAL

Regular Member w/ Cheese
Well. I've been doing stuff on my car all winter. I was just planning on throwing some Tein S-Techs on and calling it a day (for now) when it came to my suspension, but things like to keep breaking on me. I installed the springs months ago, and it's just been sitting in the garage. Well now the back passenger strut seems like it's leaking. And it squeeks bad when I push down on the car. Lame. I didn't want to go crazy spending money on my suspension much now, because I want good coilovers in the end, but this sucks.

Should I replace the bad one with an OEM or replace them all and have a decent upgrade? At $90 a piece from Majestic Honda, and being unsure of how long the other 3 will last, I'm more leaning tward just replacing them all.

If I get a set, they're gonna have to be cheap. I'm runin low on funds and I still want coilovers in the future. Here's a few I've found quickly, all from Modacar, and their prices.

KYB GR2's for $280
"Tokico HP Premium" (Tokico Blues? I'm new :p) for $300
Eibach Pro's for $270

- With Tein S-Tech springs

What to get??

If anyone has any other suggestions, please lmk. About $300 is basicly the upper limit, give or take some.

All input appricated!
 
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to each as his own i guess, my cuz has the s-techs in his 98ex and there not my stile, The ride is really bouncy and the springs are not stiff enough for my taste. I guess if your into the intracks feel you will like them. I personally like a stiff spring


I always used kyb shocks and never had a complaint
 
Ya that's cool how you feel about the springs. I havn't even got to drive mine yet. Regardless, stock ride height and handling sucked bad. And I don't have a thousand or two at the moment to buy a nice coilover setup like I'd like. S'fine for now.

Alrighty, +1 for kyb's.

...I am searching still, but I'll ask anyway, what makes a good damper?
 
Your using factory struts, correct? OEM isn't designed for the stiffer spring rate, or the decrease in height. The cheapest suspension setup I had in one of my old eg's, was kyb agx's and neuspeed race springs. Costed me (at the time), around 650 for all of it. And not for nothing, it was pretty low, but the quality of the ride was so much better than the cheap coilovers I had it in on oem struts prior.

Yonaka makes a decent full coilover setup pretty cheap, somewhere around 600-700.
 
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yes, as it is right now. un-drivin, 1.5 month old s-tech spring installation, oem struts, 3 ok now, 1 bad.
 
IMO, from experience, the Yonaka full coilover setup is worth it. I would buy that. Tein is over-rated if you ask me.
 
Your using factory struts, correct? OEM isn't designed for the stiffer spring rate, or the decrease in height. The cheapest suspension setup I had in one of my old eg's, was kyb agx's and neuspeed race springs. Costed me (at the time), around 650 for all of it. And not for nothing, it was pretty low, but the quality of the ride was so much better than the cheap coilovers I had it in on oem struts prior.

Yonaka makes a decent full coilover setup pretty cheap, somewhere around 600-700.

That's cool. I'm straight on the Yonaka's. When I do 'complete' my suspension, which is not the goal of this project, I will go all out on some real nice coilovers.

So what strut would you pick to go with my tein springs?

Or, what information should I be concerned about when buying a performance strut?

I went to KYB's site and didn't find any tech specs. I'm completely new at this so bare with me. I was hoping there was atleast some sort of number, a rate or pressure indication or something that says how tight or soft the strut will be.
 
I already have the tein springs. I don't care at this point to make it anymore hassle for now. I've got a stock motor still. Not to say I'm doing it in 'stages', but I'm going as my budget allows. I've spent atleast 2k in misc stuff for the car over this winter already. Stock suspension really sucked, I just needed a step up.

btw I got the springs brand new for 70 shipped, which I'd say is alright.
 
For your budget, I would go with the Tokico Blues, non andjustable.

alrighty then. thanks for finally giving me your suggestion :D

ya the Eibach one isnt really apealing to me. it's still between the kyb and the tokico's.

damn i wish i just knew people around here with suspension so i could get a feel... what a lame area i live in
 
Ive had so many different suspensions, im like a suspension whore. My 10 sec hatch had five different suspensions in it throughout the time I owned that car.

Just get the tokico's and stop bitchin'. :slap:
 
Well, I just came across a wholesale parts distributor. Reminds me of Costco, but for the car enthusiast. You have to pay for a membership, but its cheap and worth it if you ask me.

www.yoparts.com
 
hmm. do you happen to have a membership to view the price? maybe i'm not seeing it, but i dont think i'm allowed to view the price without the membership.

i did some searching too, and found on ebay of course... this guy jdmwerks13. stuff looks good. brand new in box. just good and cheap, with freeee shipping. making it a hell of a deal.

eBay Motors: TOKICO HP 4 SHOCKS HONDA CIVIC 1992 to 2000 92 - 00 (item 180248724618 end time Jun-09-08 18:30:10 PDT)

even has the kyb's for really really cheap.
eBay Motors: KYB GR-2 GR2 SHOCKS HONDA CIVIC 1996 - 2000 96 - 00 (item 310054573432 end time Jun-07-08 16:17:05 PDT)
 
You do not need a membership to view the retail/member prices. Just brouse through their catalog. You can even enter in your cars year/make/model and they will have 1000+ parts for your specific car available for viewing with pictures and prices.

I don't have a membership yet, but I plan on joining real soon.
 
Tokico blues are not meant for a drastic drop.. they're more of an OEM replacement, not saying you cant use them when lowering a car.. but if its too low, those shocks will be toast also.. just an FYI
 
Tokico blues are not meant for a drastic drop.. they're more of an OEM replacement, not saying you cant use them when lowering a car.. but if its too low, those shocks will be toast also.. just an FYI

Right, but so are the KYB GR-2s, and those are the only two choices he listed. I've never used the GR-2s personally, but from what I've read and heard they're essentially just stock replacements. With the Tokico Blues you know they're at least good for a 1.5" drop, since Tokico sells a kit with matched drop springs.

The Tokico Blues get my vote. That's what I have on my car...
 
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