I've never kept myself from making a negative comment about Tokico Blues in various threads here and there but now I feel I must make a thread just to share my bad experience with them.

Back in spring 2004 I decided to give my car a slight drop while I was installing new ball-joints. I ordered some Jackson Racing springs rated at a 1.5" drop and not wanting to ride on stock shocks I also picked up some Blues for the front (I already had KYB AGXs in the rear). From the start the ride was shitty. I figured it might be the springs so by summer I got some Ground Controls and set them as far up as they go. The ride was still shitty and I just lived with it until last week-end when I decided to go back to stock springs. I figured I would finally stop bouncing around but no, the ride is still shitty from an out of control front end.

I never saw any leaks but I did notice the shocks were kinda easy to compress and came back up pretty quick when I was putting the stock springs in. I had already dissasembled the springs from the stock shocks and figured I would at least give it a chance. Bad idea. Now I have to pull everything apart again to put the stock shocks in.

These are shocks that are advertised as "performance" oriented but even a buddy of mine who rides on 2.5" drop springs with stock shocks has a better ride quality then I ever had with these POS shocks. These things are nowhere NEAR performance oriented, in fact they seem WORSE than OEM shocks, both at control and durability. My KYB AGX on the other hand have always controlled the rear very well and do so as good today as they did over 3 years ago.

Cliff notes : Tokico Blues suck. They have less control than stock shocks and they get worse very quickly. DO NOT BUY TOKICO BLUES

 

you expected too much out of your tokico blues.

 

How is expecting them to deliver what they are advertising "too much"? I was only expecting them to keep my front end under control, but they can't even manage that with stock springs.

I think even the term "shock absorber" is an overstatement with these things.

 

You expected performance out of the cheapest aftermarket shock on the market? did u go on tokicos we site and do research on them? usualy the blues are considered oem replacements that might be able to handle a small drop.at least you learned from your mistake, stick with teh agx

 

The bilstein HD shocks are much better than the tokico blues, in my opinion. The Koni 'reds' are better than the blues. Even the pro dampers from Eibach might be better.

But I get the feeling you got a bad batch of shocks.

 

I rode on the Tokico HPs for about 2 years on my Prelude with Neuspeed Sport springs. I never had any issues with it, and I was definitely pleased with the ride quality. Then again, I didn't expect it to have the performance capabilities of my new suspension setup (Koni/GC), but I when I got them, I wanted something similar to an OEM-like ride.

 

yeah, the blues are made in their china plant. tokico is still a japanese company. but ive heard even someone from tokico admit the qualiy coming from their china plant as not being as good. ive heard a lot of complaints about tokico blues failing, thats why i dont recommend them anymore. but im still a fan of illuminas.

 

AMEN! tokico blues suck, they are the major suckage. stock shocks ride better. i know this from first hand experiance. autozone shocks are better. tokico blues suck in general. like you said:
"DO NOT BUY TOKICO BLUES "

 

ya, I took tysons input on the struts i chose (illuminas), because of the same thing with the gr-2's there pretty much stock replacemnet shocks. and after installing a set of gr-2's today and test driving the car... I'm glad tysons is here

 

tokico blues are not performance oriented

 

Only been posted on this and every other car site in the world how much they suck. Even I have posted about them after foolishly putting them on my car. The stock shock I replaced were better.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by snowman0520 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You expected performance out of the cheapest aftermarket shock on the market? did u go on tokicos we site and do research on them? usualy the blues are considered oem replacements that might be able to handle a small drop.at least you learned from your mistake, stick with teh agx</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually yes I did do research. Here's some quotes right off the web site :

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tokico &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> The blue units are TOKICO's HP series of premium non-adjustable performance shocks and struts. They are designed to offer superior performance and traction with ride quality that is equal to or superior to the original ride. </TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tokico &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> TOKICO Performance shock absorbers have the design and quality necessary to control excess chassis motion and keep the tires firmly on the road surface.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I never expected them to handle like Koni Yellows but I expected them to keep some stock to mild spring rates and drop under control.

The thing here is, unlike KYB GR-2, they are NOT advertised as an OEM replacement. They make performance claims when the OEM part can handle higher spring rates and drop and last longuer too. I'd have no problem if they were advertised as an inferior OEM replacement. But they are not, it's flagrant false advertising.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Spoon_Fed_EM1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">tokico blues are not performance oriented</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh thank you so much for letting me know. i appreciate it alot.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jamez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've never kept myself from making a negative comment about Tokico Blues in various threads here and there but now I feel I must make a thread just to share my bad experience with them.

Back in spring 2004 I decided to give my car a slight drop while I was installing new ball-joints. I ordered some Jackson Racing springs rated at a 1.5" drop and not wanting to ride on stock shocks I also picked up some Blues for the front (I already had KYB AGXs in the rear). From the start the ride was shitty. I figured it might be the springs so by summer I got some Ground Controls and set them as far up as they go. The ride was still shitty and I just lived with it until last week-end when I decided to go back to stock springs. I figured I would finally stop bouncing around but no, the ride is still shitty from an out of control front end.

I never saw any leaks but I did notice the shocks were kinda easy to compress and came back up pretty quick when I was putting the stock springs in. I had already dissasembled the springs from the stock shocks and figured I would at least give it a chance. Bad idea. Now I have to pull everything apart again to put the stock shocks in.

These are shocks that are advertised as "performance" oriented but even a buddy of mine who rides on 2.5" drop springs with stock shocks has a better ride quality then I ever had with these POS shocks. These things are nowhere NEAR performance oriented, in fact they seem WORSE than OEM shocks, both at control and durability. My KYB AGX on the other hand have always controlled the rear very well and do so as good today as they did over 3 years ago.

Cliff notes : Tokico Blues suck. They have less control than stock shocks and they get worse very quickly. DO NOT BUY TOKICO BLUES </TD></TR></TABLE>

I ran blues with vis spec 2 coilovers. the ride was smooth at about a 1.5inch drop but the body roll was ridiculous. my rear would whip out at about 32-37mph 90degree turns causing me to slide and lose traction/speed. but i guess you get what you pay for right? my setup was about 450$. Now i'm looking into konis with gc or the full omni coilovers with dual spring package to run 8k/10k for street and 10k/12k for autox.

 

I run Koni Yellows and Neuspeed Race springs and couldn't be happier - a relatively cheap setup too

 

Jamez your blues must have been defective.

I have tokico blues and they're fine. they ride better than stock and work really well with the tokico "advanced handling" springs. of course its not as good as the higher priced stuff, but for a 360 dollar setup, i'd say it was definitely worth it

 

my shocks must have been defective too, and my friends blues. and my other friends shocks too, or maybe tokico blues just suck. no offense to special ed. but blues suck for sucking and for being advertised as slightly better than stock and sucking. but im glad special ed is satisfied with his product, blues are the worst investment of mine.

 

ive had my tokico blues for over a year, and i bought them used. no problems whatsoever, exept for not being stiff enough. used with skunk2 400/300 springs. not the best setup but i got it for a good price, and the ride is decent

 

tokico blues = barely stiffer than oem replacements.

edit::: i ride agx's on all 4 corners. excellent for the price.

 

I think .special ed. is in denial. I was there too at one point... Now I'm just plain pissed.

 

i'm not expecting them to be incredibly stiff. they ride comfortably and do a decent job with a small drop (1.75"). if i decide to start autocrossing regularly instead of once or twice a year, then maybe i'll switch to a more aggressive setup. but for what i want out of my car, blues are

 

have you guys queried tokico for warranty replacement?

 

i didnt bother, i just sold them after some use.

 

Did you cut your bump stop in half when installing front lowering spring?

BC

 

I cut only the first "bulge". My first drop was 1.5" and I still had plenty of travel left. Second drop with GC was around 1" and it still drove shitty. Now I'm on stock GSR springs with full bump stops and they still drive shitty. The shocks never bottomed out nor rode the bumpstops but they did see real roads from the real world with everything that includes. I guess anything but ideal driving conditions will scrap these things

And no, I never queried for a replacement. My warranty is expired now. Had I known it was the shocks from day 1 I would of sent them back right away.