alright i blew out my front left shock on my crx and just bought a replacement. my old shocks are about 2 years old. when i go to pump the new shock a couple of times, it pretty stiff compared to my old ones, and yes they are the same make model tokico illumina. i tried putting the new shock to setting 5 and push on it and it takes incredible force. but my old ones arent like that. now im in a dilema if i should put this shock on, or just ride out till i can buy 3 more new ones?

 

classic reasoning why one should never replace parts in ones.
You should have a pair matched.

 

the thing is i didnt expect the new and old shocks would be this different. the number one setting on the new shock is like number 3 setting on the old shock. do you think it needs more breaking in than the couple dozen times i pumped the new one? another thing i realized was when i put the new shock on setting 5 and compress it, it has a hard time coming up, but when it is on its way to going up, i turn the stiffness **** to 1, and comes up with ease, is this just a sign it needs more breaking in?

 

In my experience new dampers will always be somewhat stiffer due to friction between the cylinder wall and the piston seals (top end dampers made to finer tolerances and with better surface finish control will usually be better in this respect). It takes at least a few weeks for the damper to 'run-in', after which the damper should loosen up a bit.

However, I'd expect your remaining old damper to have wear in the valves and the piston seals, so it's unlikely that the new damper will loosen up enough to more or less match the older damper. You really ought to replace dampers as a pair...

 

It's going to take at least a week of driving for a new shock to wear in. They always feel a bit stiff at first due to tight manufacturing tolerances and new seals. It will loosen up with use.

I don't really buy into the "replace in pairs" theory with shocks, as long as you're replacing with an equivalent. Now if you have two completely different shocks on one end (e.g. one HP and one Illumina), that can pose some issues.

And by the way, you can't test a shock with your hand. I'm sorry. Declaring a problem by just moving it manually with next to no velocity is about as valid as licking it and saying that it tastes like something is wrong.

 

are you the original owner? Did you get the new illumina through the warranty system? Tokico has a lifetime warranty right? If not i think you can go through a shop and in some cases they can hook you up.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, it tasted alright might need a little pepper...yea i thought it might be kind of bogus to test with my hand, but seriously its like summer and winter difference. but yea i think i will just throw it on the car and let it break in. oh and to tranq, im not the orignal owner so it kinda bites but hey i got one shock!

 

dont worry about it. just put it on. if theres a problem in actual use (not just using your hands and body weight), then you should contact tokico.

but i do think there is some wisdom in replacing shocks in pairs. its not imperative. but it just kinda follows the same logic in replacing tires in pairs.

 

You may end with with one damper that is more or less OK and another that is very much OK, so damping may be acceptable on both sides but still significantly different. Sure you can change only one and have no problems, but it's not ideal, especially if the older one is nearing the end of it's useful life.

This 'test' can indicate a damper that is absolutely shot, but I agree that a damper that passes this test may still be way too shot to work properly. The same applies to the 'bounce' test where you push down on the fender.

 

Umm i have an old set of tokico white illuminas for a 94-01 integra that i'm trying to get rid of right now. I bought them for my 96 GS-R but never got them on b4 i wrote the car off. But anyways i bought them used, off a friend of a friend, and i think that one of the front shocks is blown. It didn't pass the manual test you could say. There's no resistance when pushing down and it doesn't come back up, unlike the other front shock which has resistance and comes back up. So I guess this shock would be completely blown???

 

if its not coming up, it lost its pressurized gas, which means it leaked, and so did probably oil.

its a goner.

 

yeah i figured that. I'm an idiot for buying em, never checked em out. I paid $300 cdn for Skunk2 Sleeves and the 4 illuminas all used with some rust. What would be a good price to get rid of these?? i have brand new rear LCA bushings to sell with em.