I was telling my friend how I just ordered Tein H-Tech springs for my car. This will in turn lead to only 0.7F / 0.6R inch drop on my car with the stock suspension and the stock 18's. He replied "Don't do it, it will ruin your current stock suspension (specifically the struts) in the long run."

I don't know how true this is and upon being a member of G35Driver for over a year and a half I have never come across one suspension post that addresses this issue. The only suspension issues I hear are about Camber and Toe.

I told him this not as a rebuttle but just as a small ignorance on my part. He said that "all of the guys on clubrsx.com (laff)" say this is true.

Since the Acura RSX is COMPLETLY a different car I told him I would have to ask it here.

So the million dollar question... Will springs hurt your stock suspension (struts, dampeners or whatever... etc.) in the long run (Excluding Camber and Toe issues)?

Thanks - Joey Avino

 

i've heard the same in the past regarding h-cars. i don't really know the rationale behind it, but basically it's along the lines that since it's a more agressive spring, it reduces the life of the shocks. i don't know how true it is, it's probably more of a gimmick to get you to swap out your shocks also.

 

h-car?

Thanks - Joey Avino

 

Shocks convert springs energy into heat........stiffer the springs the more heat. The more heat the faster internals wear.
Progressively the shocks get softer and softer due to wear and loss of nitrogen pressure.
If money doesn't matter you replace them every 2 years or 30k to restore as new performance --------many wait till 4 years or 60k. Many 100k+ used Infiniti we see never have replaced shocks.......they just undulate down the road and sway excessively............the rears wear twice as fast as the fronts.

Wear and tear item only warrantiable if they leak.

My guess is that progressive stiffer rear springs halve the life of the rear shocks but only reduce the front life by 20%.

My experience on changing lots of shocks on lowered Q/J/G20..........I'm poor so I change my shocks every 60k [4 years].........adjustable shocks are a great value because you can adjust them to cover up the wear!

 

Thanks for a real answer. So I'm not really in a huge ammount of trouble. I think I'll be fine being that the spings only off a 0.7" Front drop and a 0.6" Rear drop.

Thanks - Joey Avino

 

When the shocks start going in a few years it's a good excuse to get some coilovers...

 

What are the symptoms of bad shocks usually?

Thanks - Joey Avino

 

This is true for any car. It's always best to get a well balanced shock/spring setup. No matter what car it is.

The symptons your going to start getting is a bouncy ride. It feels like your floating. It's a lot more serious then it sounds. The car can bottom out from pot holes and you can lose control easy. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img] speaking from exerience. Once the shocks go out all the ride will be on the springs. Eventually the springs will start to sag and you'll have this uneven sway in your car. Feels like it's rocking diagonal.

Since the springs are shorter they don't fit tightly and are pretty much floating around the strut. On rebound the strut can expand more and the spring can move out of place. This can cause a lot of noise and sometimes a loud bang from the spring moving back into place.

I spent a lot of time and money to find out it's better to do it right the first time. Especially with suspension. No matter how you lower the car you should always get a camber kit. It really is better to put in the $3k for a good setup then to put on $200 springs and end up spending $3k in new tires, shocks, springs and any other damage.

I think your G is as old as mine (going on 2 years) too so it would be nice to replace the shocks, I feel mine going out. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img] It's almost Christmas bro treat your self to some nice Tein flex's. The ride and quality is worth it. You will not get the same ride with springs as you would with a full coil over set.

 

Quote: ***What are the symptoms of bad shocks usually?***

Hey Malx,

Like OvaYahead said, you'll get a bouncy ride.

It's not very scientific, but if you do a "bounce test" the bad shocks won't dampen the gyrations very well after rocking the bumper up and down a few times, so the car keeps bouncing.

On the road this'll translate to poor ride and handling... when you go over small rises or dips the car will feel 'mushy' or 'floaty'. The bad shocks don't have guts left to absorb those oscillations so the car keeps on bouncing as you drive. The wrong bump at the wrong speed and you might even get loud bangs or clanking if the suspension travels through its range and hits the bump stops.
Depending on your wheels and offsets, you could also start to get rubbing from the fenders.

Your steering will also feel terrible -- you'll likely get excessive steering feedback from the road through the steering linkage since there's much less dampening of bumps.

You'll get more "squat" (weight transfer) on acceleration (which might actually give a bit of extra rear wheel traction) but you'll suffer more wheel hop too -- and more 'dip' (front end dive) on braking. Cornering won't be pretty -- with a lot of body roll, swaying and bouncing around. Add passengers and things get worse.

 

My car is 2 years old. Why would it need new shocks at all even if I didn't get the springs? It feels great, none of these symptoms occur at all. I will be watching out for them.

Thanks - Joey Avino

 

Q45Tech, you said:

'...adjustable shocks are a great value because you can adjust them to cover up the wear!'

Does this mean as the shocks wear, you adjust them to be stiffer? I'm just wondering because I just bought some Tokico shocks but might not put them on if they too are going to wear...and might trade them for coilovers.


Black 5AT Coupe, Navi, Falken Koblenz 19", HKS Legamax Exhaust, ZTube/Stillen, Grounding Kit, RSR Springs, Tokico DSpec Shocks

 

the coilovers wear out also. You'll have to remove them, and send them in for maintenance periodically.

 

malx - you don't have to replace the shocks even if you don't do the springs. I'm just saying if your going to do the suspension change it out. Mine is 2 years old too and I can feel the suspension getting mushy. Then again I'm in California where the roads are torn up.

al503 - yes coilovers do wear out like all suspension, just not as quickly as aftermarket springs on stock shocks.

 

thanx

Thanks - Joey Avino