OK, I have new shocks for my 5th gen accord made by KYB which came without dust covers or bushings. I removed the one of the old shocks and couldn't get the dust cover off. You see, item 14 is rusted on there preventing the removal of item 10 and the dust boot.



Will Honda dust boots fit onto a KYB shock? The place I got the KYB's from don't sell the dust boots.

 

WD-40 / PB blaster, a little bit of heat from a torch, a pair of vice grips and a bigger hammer will get it apart. I just had to do the same thing a week ago to get mine apart.

1. Spray wD-40 let it soak for a few.
2. Evenly Heat the spacer/sleeve with a torch. Do not over heat to the point that you also heat the strut rod. 30 second splash of a torch should heat it up enough. When you see the WD-40 bubbling between the sleeve and the strut rod it's good to go.
3. Spray with WD-40 again. Try to avoid directly inhaling any smoke.
4. Apply vice grips to the spacer/sleeve, hold firmly
5. Smack the threaded end of the strut with a hammer.

It should slide off with a few smacks.

 

and... Yes, the Honda dust boot does fit.

 

Ok, so that means I'll probably need a new item 14 because it seems it will not be useful after this.

Did you re-use the bumpstops and bushings? Mine still seem plyable and haven't hardened over the years.

Thanks for the info.

 

You should still be able to use the sleeve (#14). Heating it up won't hurt a thing. Once you get it off just clean up the insides of the sleeve with a round file or scrape it clean with a screwdriver and some steel wool.

Re-using bushings can be hit or miss. If they were working fine when you removed them they should be OK to use. For how much longer is the question. It would be beneficial for you to replace them all while you have them apart. Could be only a matter of a few weeks or months down the road that you may have to replace them anyway. My 0.02

 

The bump stops should be fine to use if they look good. Your stock shocks/springs should rarely touch them under normal driving conditions. If you have lowering springs as well, some people cut them to give a little more travel.

Why were you replacing your shocks? I assume you got KYB GR2? and not AGX?

 

Ok, I'll probably replace those and item 10.

I want to replace them to reduce residual bouncing after going over bumps. On some bumps, I can feel the wheels bouncing around like crazy. My younger son complains of car sickness too. With KYB-GR2 shocks, hopefully these issues will go away. I prefer a more firm ride with better control.

 

I think GR2 are stock replacement with stock ride. I am not sure. Maybe AGX would have been better for you, because of the adjust ability.

 

Well, the stock ride after 13 years is worn out so new stock shocks are a big improvement from what I've got now. I've read good reviews about KYB's here:

http://www.carreview.com/cat/s...view0

I'm not looking to drive it like I stole it.

 

I put the new dampers on the front and there is noticable improvement in the ride. There's alot less residual bounce after the bumps and the front doesn't bottom out at some dips. Now onto the rears.

 

Have fun, fronts only take me like 30 minutes, rears are a pain in the ***.

 

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I would expect that from a typical garage with high end spring compressor. I did mine the hard way with a basic spring compressor which I rented. It's first time for me doing this so it took me a while.