Yeah, I bought a set of used Tein SS coilovers off of eGay and I just want to make sure they are not blown. They look minty and there is no sign of any kind of oil leak. I can compress the piston by hand with a good amount of force and it rebounds smoothly. Should I be able to compress them by hand or did I get screwed? Thanks a lot.

 

it should do that.... if it was blown it wouldnt comeout or it would be supper slow and it would very hard to push them down.
looks like your ok

 

Thanks a lot for the info, greatly appreciated.

 

^^ yep no problem

 

If the shocks were blown you would feel almost NO resistance when pressing it down and it would stay down

 

most of the times they leak.

 

As was said, if they were blown, when you push them down they would not come back up, or would come back up only part way. If they are compressing and rebounding all the way back up evenly, you should be fine.

 

stock struts come back up on there own after pushing down on.

are aftermarket/performance diffrent then that? ive had nice set-ups but they always came complete and there was no way of pushing down on the spring/strut combo

 

you can take the spring off. but to correctly test them you have to take the spring off, because theres no way in hell your gonna compress that spring by hand.

 

wrong. properly functioning shocks are hard to push down and will come back slow.

right. blown shocks are very easy to push down and have little resistance.

 

another possible way to tell is by the rebound... if the shocks are blown then it's also possible for them to bounce a lot when you push the car down and let go. Normal shocks will go down and come back up, with little to no oscillation.

 

Yeah, this is the easiest way to tell if your shocks are bad. But I don't think his shocks are on his car yet.

 

rok stok if the shocks are blown the do the same there going to come out slow or not at all, i just did this on my friends da and my ohter friends eg shocks were the same

 

you should be able to push them inwards with little ease with out springs on them. they will retract slowly like they should. now if they are blown you can push them down with no pressure and they won't retract. also check for leaks (oil stains) on them to see if the seals are good.
Now if they have spring on them . mount on the car and push the car up and down. alot of force = good being able to push the car down very very easy = blown/worn out.

 

As was said, take the springs off of the Tein SS Coilovers and push down on them. They should have a fair amount of resistance but should compress. When you let go, they should come up slowly and should eventually come up all the way (the stiffness of the compression and the speed of the rebound may change depending on the setting you have the shocks on, it will likely be a little stiffer compression and slower rebound if the dampening setting is high). The compression and rebound should be smooth, not jerky,

Blown shocks can range from partially to fully blown out. I've seen some that go down and compress with resistance, but only come back up part of the way, and others that compress ok but won't come back up. I've seen others than compress easy and don't come up at all, and 1 set of OEM shocks on a car I worked on once was so bad the shock shaft fell down and compressed all the way the moment the upper perch was unscrewed and removed from it.

it compresses and rebound smooth, and compresses with some resistance and rebounds smooth and all the way back up, the dampers are likely fine.

From the first post you made, it sounds like the dampers are fine. I'd be willing to bet the Tein SS set you bought is fine and nothing is blown. It sounds like they are acting, compressing and rebounding just as they should.

 

What's the life expectancy of a pair of KYB AGXs? I've hand mine on my 96 Civic for about 6 years, but the car's been parked for the last 4. Last time I took the car out, about 2 months ago, if I'd hit a bump or small pot hole, it felt like the wheel was going to fall off (I've go 19s w/ a 215/35/19 tire. Could it be the thin tires?

 

bump...no rebound

 

Well, how low is your car? KYB AGX's can't handle a drop of more than 1.75" or so, and neither can Tokico. The only stand alone shock that can handle more than a 1.75" drop is Koni.

If you lowered the car on KYB AGX's more than that, it will reduce the life of the shock.

The low profile tires will make you feel the road and the imperfections more too. Is the car plowing when you turn, or does it bounce excessively over bumps, dips, etc? Those are all signs the shocks are tired.

 

I'm lowered ~2" on KYB AGX shocks... been over 2 years now. No problems at all yet. They feel the same as always.

 

It can be hit and miss, but the companies don't hide the fact they aren't designed to be used with springs that lower a car more than that. When they blown, they won't honor the warrenty. If you call them up and talk to the right people, they'll tell you the max lowering their shocks can handle.

Tokico blues, for example, can handle a 1.75" drop on an EG. If your car is lowered 1.75" or less and they blow, you get warranty. If more, you're SOL. Now, they may not blow out, but it's something to keep in mind.

I've been through many suspensions over the years on my Civic, and Koni is by far the best stand alone shock to lower your Civic on.

 

Tokico Blues and KYB AGX are of a different caliber, so the comparison is irrelevant. Tokico blues are basically an OEM replacement, like the KYB GR-2's. Illuminas would make a better comparison.

 

Illuminias aren't rated much past 1.75" on an EG either, if you want to get nit-picky. Honestly, 2" probably won't be a huge issue, unless you actually want to warranty them. Now, if you running Neuspeed race springs, then Koni is probably a better idea, though again, I know people who've run AGX's with those and been fine.

I'm not saying KYB's suck, I've ran AGX's on an MR2 Turbo with Sportlines. But the fact is, even if it works and hold up for you and me, the cars have STILL been lowered more than their "recommended amount."

What does that mean to me? If they blow, I have to buy a new pair instead of warrantying them...that's about it.

I still prefer Koni to the KYB AGX's I've ran, and I prefer coilovers like Silkroad to both (unless you are re-valving the koni's to match custom rate GC's, I hate progressive rate springs). Honestly, I can't stand spring/shock combos on any car. I hate progressive rate springs.