I've had them on my 94 Accord for just over 2 years now and I just discovered that both rears are leaking.I guess the harsh Chicago winter finally took it's toll on them.I didn't drive on them the first winter that I had them on,but I had to this winter because I got rid of my beater.

So anyway I do have a question and am not just blowing on.I still have my GC sleeves that were on the car when I bought it and I'm trying to decide whether or not to go with Tokico Illuminas or the ever popular,tried and true Koni yellows.I'm leaning more towards the Koni's,even thought they cost more,but I guess you can't go wrong with them according to almost everyone who has had them.

Either way,I'm wondering how difficult it is to install them.I'm really trying to save as much money as possible on this,so to avoid $200 in labor would be huge,considering that I'm going to have to shell out $100 for an alignment(but I'm really tying to find a way to do that myself too.Two words:laser levels!).Also about how long of a job is it for someone with decent mechanical skills but hasn't done it before.The only thing remotely close was I had to put in a whole new subframe on,which was surprisingly easy.

Thanks.

 

takes about 4 hours to do all four if your new to it and u can do it yourself

 

Well I just ordered my Koni's today and they should come in on Wednesday.I guess I'll give it a shot next weekend.

I have another question.When I got this car,they already had the GC's on it,like I mentioned before,but I don't know exactly what the spring rates are.Is this info indicated in the white stamped letters on the coils themselves?Also,what is a good spring rate for a d/d Accord?

 

mine are still fine and i daily drive w/ them. its been almost 4 yrs.

 

however its only seen 1 winter

 

Are the winters where you live as harsh and cold as Chicago's?

This winter the roads were abnormally terrible.They are usually bad,but the potholes were just never ending and relentless.

I'm not complaining about getting Ksports in the first place,because I'm sure this would've probably happened no matter what coilovers I would've bought.

 

i live 10 mins from schaumburg lol

 

Have fun with the rears. I just did my suspension and the fronts were easy.

The rears were a PITA. The bolt corroded to the bushing. Took hours and hours to burn the bushing and trying to cut through the grade 10 bolts.

 

do you realize that you need oem tophats to complete the installation of koni yellows/GCs? maybe you ordered aftermarket ones, i dunno. if not, i hope you have your entire old oem suspension.

p.s. you were lucky to get that much time out of the k-sports. i got about 2 weeks out of mine before they were spewing oil. junk. you wont regret konis.

 

yup when i redo my suspension when i get money i would def. buy the koni/gc full coilovers

 

I didn't realize that.I still have my GC/Tokico Blues setup in tact. They still have the top hats on them,I guess that I can just take them off of those,right?

I'm really leaning towards having the shop that I'm getting them from put them on.I just don't have the work space to do it.Either way,They came in yesterday and I'm either giong to have them put on this weekend or next week end.

Does anyone know where I can find info about getting my Ksport shocks fixed?After I get the Koni/GC's on I want to try to sell them at a cutrate price to who ever wants them.

 

gc sleeves are differtent 4 koni than it is 4 tokiko fyi.

 

Yeah,I know,but The guy who owns the shop where I ordered them said that even though they will fit a little different,they will still work without any problem.

 

Not sure if I would believe the guy from the shop or not, I believe the koni ones have a steped lip inside the collar. I cant remember from when I did mine so dont quote me on this. Also yes the white numbers on the springs will tell you what the rates are. You will also need bump sstops if you dont have them.

 

I just picked up my new Koni's and my guy was right,I don't have to have the GC sleeves that are Koni specific and that's because they come with a spring perch that's a separate piece that slides right onto the shock.It looks kinda lame though because it's not painted and is just chrome,but I am gonna paint it though.

Looks like I'm about good to go.Can't wait to get these bouncy *** Ksports off so my car can feel somewhat normal again.

 

how many miles did you put on the ksports? 2 years isn't very long for a suspension.

 

I don't remember exactly,but I'm going to guess about 30-35k.I drive quite a bit,about 55-60 miles per day just commuting to work and back.I didn't drive on them at all two winters ago,but did all of last winter.I'm willing to bet that was their downfall.If I still had my beater,I would've driven it this past winter and I'm sure that my shocks would still be in good shape,but,oh well.I'm just glad I didn't sell my Ground Controls

 

that's not many miles at all. i had my konis for like 50k miles until i sold the car. the car was my dd and i drove it up to the ski resort a few times a year with no issues.

 

Yeah,I know that's not a lot of miles,but driving to a ski resort for a few days and driving in sub zero temperatures for a few months are worlds apart.I just don't think that any sport oriented street suspension is made to handle that climate,no matter what they are.If we are talking about Rally Racing or something like that,then that's a whole different story.

I know that if my Koni shocks blow,no matter what the weather,I can get them replaced for free with their lifetime warranty,and that's why I'm going with them now instead of any other setup.

 

Latest update:

I got my Koni/GC setup installed today,and all I can say is SWEET LORD!

I guess you really don't know what you are missing if you've never had it.The Koni/GC setup is so smooth that I only wish that I would've gotten them in the first place.My Ksports served their purpose,but now I know that there really isn't any comparison.

I'm really glad that I decided not to try and put them on myself,as there were a few issues with the old sleeves that I wouldn't have been able to deal with on my own.Now all that's left is the alignment and I'm set.

 

it's kinda funny that i've yet to see a thread where somebody talks about how awesome their k-sports are; instead, people are always talking about their sub-par quality and how they're soft compared to most other coilovers

 

k-sports, d2, function and form, stance ect ect....all come from the same building. people just seem to rag on ksports more than the others because i think the "in crowd" uses d2 and funtion/form. i would even tell you what building they come from but i promised a vendor i wouldnt. ive seen the catalog.

 

from what i've read on 8thcivic, k-sport and d2 are pretty much the same exact thing, just different colors. as for stance, supposedly they're of better quality than k-sport and d2. so you know where they're manufactured? do you know where the buddy club n+ are made? i've tried to find where they're made online and can't.

 

Soft my ***.Mine were stiff as ****.

I'll say this,if you are on a budget and like a somewhat stiff ride and live and or drive where the temps don't drop below 20 degrees,then Ksports are a viable option.

I don't necessarily regret ever buying mine because they pretty much did what I expected out of them,but the Koni/GC are just soooo much better.

BTW,what full coilovers are comparable to the Koni/GC setup as far as ride quality?I've heard that PIC are pretty good,same with Tein SS.

 

they are made in buddy club's Chinese factory