My wife's 2000 Civic has 137k on the clock and the shocks feel like they're just along for the ride. As much as I'd like to put on a nice set of coilovers, she's not having that. That said, it would be nice to replace the shocks with something semi-decent. Adjustability would be a bonus, but not necessary. Price is important, but not paramount. Can you get a good set of shocks for under $300?

 

tokico, KYB, koni, bilstein....

they will all work. price will determine if you get adjustability though

 

Right, I know there are a lot of choices... what would you recommend in my price range? Or are you saying they're all the same?

 

shocks are just about like everything else when it comes to cars; all about taste.

youre going to get ALL kinds of answers to "which is better" best bet, would be to find one(s) that other have used and speak well of (like the ones i listed)

then look at price, warranty (if available), ride (stiffness) and MAYBE adjustability

Perosnally, i've only used the tokico blues, & i liked them. Even with a decent drop, they still rode smooth & improved the handling.

it all boils down to what YOU want. I know that doesnt give you an answer, but sometimes you just gotta roll the dice.

& since its just for replacement for your wife's car (& she doesnt want to lower it) then all of the above should be good choices.

good luck!

 

try some KYBGR2

 

I have a set of KYB AGX for my Miata. They're not the quietest shocks around. They squish over bumps and are now sounding a bit hollow. They still feel like they're damping appropriately, but I think for the Civic the noise would be a deal breaker. Do the GR2s for the Civic have this weakness as well?

 

then get some tokico's. good brand, good rep on this board & i never had ANY problems w/ them

 

if she doesnt wana lower it, get the tokico blues or kyb gr2s, theyre oem replacements

 

yup tokico blues are oem replacement and if you wana lower her car id get ground control coilover sleves!! both verry inexpensive and have a good rep!!! =]


and later on if one of the tokicos goes out they sell them seperatly so u dont have to buy a whole set again!!! =]

 

i got KYB gr2 from summit for 220 shipped for all 4 and they ride excellent, just a tad stiffer than oem if any.

 

I have the same question, except I only need to replace my rear shocks. I just bought the car off a friend and don't know exactly what coilovers he has installed, but was only told that I would need to replace the rear shocks.

What shocks would be good to use with coilovers?

 

Do you notice any noise from them?

 

no not yet atleast, only have about 500 miles on them, i like them a lot so far.

 

I helped install GC sleeves, and Eibach springs on a friends EM1 which already had Koni Yellows w/100,000 Miles and still tickin! They were installed on the car with H&R springs when the car only had 20,000 miles 9 years ago! Now with the Eibach and Gc setup the car is pretty low, a finger and half away from tucking tire, and the ride is really firm and no bounce at all! Im going with a GC/ eibach spring, and Koni Yellow setup if I do suspension work.

 

seems to me a quality stock replacement would be something from kyb or tociko. Bilstien and Koni are my favorites but are probably not necesary for your wifes car and are more expensive.

 

[QUOTE=DjDr1ft;38197361]I have the same question, except I only need to replace my rear shocks. I just bought the car off a friend and don't know exactly what coilovers he has installed, but was only told that I would need to replace the rear shocks.

I have a similar situation as above, except I know that the springs are tein s.techs. When I drive my car and hit a small bump the rear squeaks like mad. I've been reading around and heard that either tokico or koni would be best with those springs. What do you guys think?

 

Koni Reds FTW if you're on a budget.

If you see a chart of the rates between reds and yellows (think I saw it on the koni website), they're very comparable across the range of adjustability. Reds range starts softer than yellows though, and doesn't go quite as firm. If you don't need on-the-car adjustability and don't need it super firm, then reds are perfect. Plus they have a lifetime warranty.

Only drawback is that you have to pull them off the car to adjust them.

 

hey thx for the suggestion, will look into the reds as well as yellows.

 

they are a stock replacement. i recommend these as well if its just a stock daily.

 

I have probably done easily over 100 shock installs (at my shop) from stock to full threaded body $2,000.00 units and for what you want I think the KYB GR-2 shocks will be THE best. I have personally ran them on three different cars of mine, and they are an excellent shock and they are cheap. They are not noisy, they fit perfect, and you can even run a mild lowering spring with a 1.5'' drop on them if you'd like to without any issues.

 

getting ready to run the kyb gr2's over here. Beware of the rear lower control are bolts or any of the them for that matter. I was able to get three bolts out of the rear, both that hold the bottom of the shock assembly to the control arm and one of the lca, the other one snapped the head off. If I had to guess I was still running the orig. ones, bought the car used with 67k and I have 179k now and I never had them done. I did the fronts first so they are done, honda just called my new bolts is in I ordered all new bolts for the rear, the lower shock assembly bolt is the exact same as the rear lca bolts so I ordered four of them.

 

thought I'd give an update... I finally got my lca off. I had to take off the brake drum and brake assembly off and then the backing plate, once I had everything out of the way I cut the welded nut off but that bolt is froze in there it will not budge for nothing. Fortunately the other lca bolt came out fine so now I'm just going to press out the busing and put a new one back in, I called honda and ordered a bushing and went ahead and also got two more bolts so they will all be new back there. Now I just need to get a new nut so we can held it back on there.

 

i got a set of koni yellows for $400 and about to put them on. will update after the weekend.