Softer ride: What struts?, Sorry for my search laziness Options

[UTSlickVic]

My ride is just too freaking rough. She take bumps pretty hard. I understand that having 18 inch 225 tires is the cause but I have one one route to left to take. (Note: I recently swtiched to yokohama tires and that made a WORLD of difference in handling/noise/ride/braking). Now, I have eibach with stock struts presently. I dont want to change the springs beacause Im very happy with the drop height.

What struts do you recommend for a "softer" ride. I heard that the KYBs are alittle bit more stiffer than stock... not sure if thats just opinion. I dont want my ride to fell like "drivin miss daisy" just want her to bumps better.

Do yall think the stock struts being old is causing the rough ride? If so, would KYBs be an improvement over old-stock struts?


Can yall give me a push in the right direction?

[thespacepanda]

Um, unless I'm mistaken the springs play the bigger role in how soft/rough your ride is. If you're running on Pro-Kits, that's one of the stiffest set of springs you can buy. They're what I have on mine. I just don't think that struts are gonna make that big of a difference.

[My2Celi]

Kyb and stock makes no difference to me. After switching over to stock springs and struts, it still feels rough imo. Any springs or coilover will make your ride stiffer no matter what. I don't think theres any way around it.

[Hanyo]

i actually looked into this myself.

what i found was: we dont have that many options to shocks/ springs.

only way to get the best ride comfort is to run minivan tires (225/70/15)and use stock suspension.

sucks huh?

[CelicaST_CALI]

wat profile ur tires?25??45??40?

[lagos]

Shocks wont help you.
You just need to put more tire on there, or sell those and get a set of 17s.

[UTSlickVic]

wat profile ur tires?25??45??40?

I have 40s

Shocks wont help you.
You just need to put more tire on there, or sell those and get a set of 17s.

Yeah... sigh... thats what I was afraid of

When I driver her the ride is smooth but everytime I hit some sharp bumps... it like "OUCH!"

I also had the feeling that the springs played a bigger roll than the struts.

Well I figure I should replace my old stock struts anyways... I should have done it when I was installing the springs.

Not what I wanted to hear guys Thanks though!

[95CelicaST]

Best bet is to get a set of 17" wheels with 215 (or 225) /45R-17 tires.

[playr158]

Shocks do effect the ride of a car...only an uninformed person would say it doesn't.
You are running Springs and shocks that aren't matched to each other which is why you have a poor ride quality.

I'd suggest a quality adjustable shock (if you can find one) to help find a good setting. Koni yellows are adjustable, though they will cost you more money.
But you pay for what you get.
http://www.koni-na.com/cat_search.cfm?mt_i...p;submit=Search

This post has been edited by playr158: Feb 5, 2008 - 12:21 PM

[LewFX]

monroes are very soft
kyb is nice
bilstein is stiff
koni is adjustable

[UTSlickVic]

Shocks do effect the ride of a car...only an uninformed person would say it doesn't.
You are running Springs and shocks that aren't matched to each other which is why you have a poor ride quality.

I'd suggest a quality adjustable shock (if you can find one) to help find a good setting. Koni yellows are adjustable, though they will cost you more money.
But you pay for what you get.
http://www.koni-na.com/cat_search.cfm?mt_i...p;submit=Search

ahh thats better... now I have hope thanks for the link. A little too expensive though.

monroes are very soft
kyb is nice
bilstein is stiff
koni is adjustable

ok its either monroes or kyb. I heard kybs are pretty much stock. Can I assume the kybs are a little stiffer than Monroes ?

My LAST question is regarding my old struts: When struts get old do they get stiffer or softer over time? Im just trying to anticipate what a new strut will feel like.

thanks again.

[playr158]

the older a shock/strut gets the SOFTER it gets (this is why your car rides like butt)
you need a firmer shock to level up with the stiffer springs
KYB is an entry level shock that will "get the job done"
if you want a better ride....bilstein for the budget.

[thespacepanda]

That's strange. I just noticed that bilstein shocks aren't in the parts database.

[hongkongnerdboy]

17's still hurt :[

This post has been edited by hongkongnerdboy: Feb 5, 2008 - 5:30 PM

[LewFX]

all your answers!

http://www.eshocks.com/bil_Ind.asp?VC=8Q64&SubChar=Q

theres one seller on ebay who usually sells em for 330 shipped

This post has been edited by LewFX: Feb 5, 2008 - 5:44 PM

[UTSlickVic]

all your answers!

http://www.eshocks.com/bil_Ind.asp?VC=8Q64&SubChar=Q

theres one seller on ebay who usually sells em for 330 shipped

330-400 shipped is not too bad. I guess Bilstein it is (taking yalls word for it). Man I feel like a moron when it comes to suspension.

Edit: PS- in the link you sent. Why does the front strut look incomplete? Shouldnt it look similar to the rear strut?

This post has been edited by UTSlickVic: Feb 5, 2008 - 6:11 PM

[jason]

rear is an assembly, front are cartridges, you have to rebuild it

[UTSlickVic]

rear is an assembly, front are cartridges, you have to rebuild it

... is that hard to do? Or is it pretty straight forward.



The Monroe strut pics seem like the enitre assembly is included for front / rear struts... or maybe that is just a generic pic they use? Anyways I wonder why Blistein doesnt sell the entire front assembly? It seems like it would make my install alot easier... or maybe I'm worried about nothing.

Monroe


Sorry for keeping this post alive...

[LewFX]

dont buy the monroes

[jason]

pretty easy... i would use 2 wrenches, and a breaker bar. then put the whole 2 wrench & strut assembly on the ground n loosen the top end that way... ill try n find some pics to show you how to go about doing so.

rears are a piece of cake... hardest part is taking the back deck off to get to the tops

fronts the same way, cept the hardest part is loosening the nut that holds the shock secure

[Slick]

pretty easy... i would use 2 wrenches, and a breaker bar. then put the whole 2 wrench & strut assembly on the ground n loosen the top end that way... ill try n find some pics to show you how to go about doing so.

rears are a piece of cake... hardest part is taking the back deck off to get to the tops

fronts the same way, cept the hardest part is loosening the nut that holds the shock secure

You're telling me! I STILL can't get mine open!

[UTSlickVic]

pretty easy... i would use 2 wrenches, and a breaker bar. then put the whole 2 wrench & strut assembly on the ground n loosen the top end that way... ill try n find some pics to show you how to go about doing so.

rears are a piece of cake... hardest part is taking the back deck off to get to the tops

fronts the same way, cept the hardest part is loosening the nut that holds the shock secure

Sweet. Thanks Jason.

[playr158]

you can't get the big center strut nut off/on that holds the pillow mount?!
thats easy....takes like i dunno 30 seconds?

[lagos]

whats the exact size of your tires?

[jason]

believe he has 225/40 18's

which those tires should ride better than mine...

only issues i have now is my rear sway bar chassis bushings... think one or both of them cracked or something =/ so now it clunks around. so annoying

i vote you go for the bilsteins, then clearance permitting you go for some larger tires. like 235 x whatever fits when its time to get new rubber

[UTSlickVic]

Purchased the Blistein struts... thanks LewFX for the direction, found the guy/place on ebay. $228 shipped!

Cant wait to feel the results... today it seemed like every bump I took was bad.

[94TRDcelica]

How have you got on Slick? Im intrigued cause my shocks have been squeaking at the front and Im thinking of getting the same shocks with fensport springs! How do the Bilsteins feel? Better?

[UTSlickVic]

How have you got on Slick? Im intrigued cause my shocks have been squeaking at the front and Im thinking of getting the same shocks with fensport springs! How do the Bilsteins feel? Better?

Im glad you ask TRD!

Review of Blistein Struts (with ebach pro-kit springs)
Well as I said before I had ebach pro-kits with stock struts. I notice "some" sueaking but not much. What I did notice (and the reason why I finally decided to change my struts) was I uded to bottom out on long-dips, not deep but long, and forget about any other imperfections in the road I LITERALLY was bracing at every incoming dip/hole/railroad track.

So I decided to go with Blistein Struts (bought of ebay $228 shipped). The rears came with the entire assembly but the two fronts are just the cartridges. Took it to my mechanic because I had other things wrong my car.

Anyways, the ride is great now. Its not incredibly stiff (it is "stiffer" dont like to use that word cause it isnt... I just have more damping now... it takes bumps better) very smooth. And I think the road nose has been reduced.

BUT the most impressive part (I wasnt really looking forward to) was the turns. I mean the body roll has been drastically reduced. Turns are fun now! plus I noticed that steering response is kick ass now... even just by switching lanes.

I have nothing to compare them to but just compared to stock struts (with 150K on them)... these are 100x better

good buy
thanks for the help all!

PS- my ride hieght / drop was not noticably affected.

[tim86]

good info on here... glad those blistein struts worked out for you... maybe ill have to check them out someday