I was wondering if the KYB AGX shocks are as stiff/durable as Bilsteins. I am going to go with a spring like the Eibach pro kit (1.5" drop right?) or H&R OE. I would like the adjustability of the KYB, but durability/longevity are definitely premiums for me. I do not plan on revalving the shocks, I'm too poor for that, too poor for konis too . I want to star autoxing at the end of this summer or the beginning of next, but as I said before, reliability is definitely the premium. Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

I'm pretty sure the KYB's are reliable enough that it won't be an issue. Those are two fine shocks for the price, and you won't go wrong with either one. I like my H&R OE/Bilstein combo, but the adjustability with the KYB AGX's would be nice, and would probably be the better route for you since you are considering AutoXing.

G'luck!

 

agree

 

I've got the H&R/Bilstein combo, and I love it. I've heard good things though about the KYB's.

But, you won't go wrong with whichever choice you choose.

 

I have the AGX's with GC's (custom rates) and they are handling it well. I had the same worry as you, but after I got it, the worry faded. And the adjustability is more than worth it, especially for autox!

 

Well, after blowing up 2 AGX's and a friend blowing up all 4 AGX's, I can say with assurance I will never buy them again! I was running them with 300# springs and it was the rear ones I trashed for no apparent reason! Next time it's either custom Bilsteins or Konis.

 

those KYB's have a limited lifetime warranty.
did u see if u could of gotten some new ones.
they also say if u drop more than 2", you decrease the life of those
also i never heard of the KYB's blowing up.

 

what happened when u blew them up??
they just bounce really bad??
did it drop the car lower??

thanks mike

 

If you want 5 way adjustable Tokico Illuminas, I have two sets left in stock. Lowest price you'll find, just trying to clear them out...
http://www.tegsportracing.com/tokiladshoc.html

Email me if interested.

 

ok, what I meant by "blowing up" is that they blew the seals. To be honest, I never even felt much difference... must be my stiff springs , but when changing wheels (which I do nearly every week when auto-xing) I noticed liquid all over the shaft! They went at different times, one last Fall, and the other this Spring. Last Fall's shock wasn't too too bad, but the one from this Spring was so blown it was full of water and road crap when I took it out!!

I replaced them both with more KYB's only to keep everything equal, and yes, I got free replacements. However, in order to collect on the replacement, you have to send it back to GC, who then has to send it to KYB, who then has to inspect it to make sure it wasn't "abused", then they'll give the ok to GC to ship me another one. Since I couldn't afford to wait the many weeks for a turnaround, I bought new ones and eventually get credit from GC.

The blown ones didn't really make my car bounce, prob because of the stiff springs, nor did it make my car sit any lower, since that's handled by the springs and not the shocks. The shocks are really just "dampers" to control the action of the shocks

Max

 

Thanks for all the replies. Integ_GrL and 420TegLS-what Bilsteins did you get and also how much of a drop did the H&R OE's settle into? Thanks again.

 

I think ours are called the Bilstein HD's (heavy duty); I'm not aware of any other models...
The OE's settle to about 1" all around (see link for pics).

 

Thank you Integ_GrL, your car is very tasteful BTW. I was just on KYB's site and saw that they have eibach lowering springs that are exactly designed to work with the AGX's-something I will definitely persue. Once again, thanks people.