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Car Forum / Honda Cars / November 2006Replacement Shcok Absorber/Strut Advice ??
I have 208K miles on my 2001 Civic, and need new shocks and struts. This is a straight commuter car..110 miles per workday. I'm wondering if the Monroe Sensatrack shocks/struts sold by Tire dealers, or similar brands are good or should I pay the premium price and go with Honda OEM. I need a good highway ride..not high performance but comfortable cruising. But I still want to 'feel the road'. Would KYB's be better ? > I have 208K miles on my 2001 Civic, and need new shocks and struts. > This is a straight commuter car..110 miles per workday. I'm wondering > if the Monroe Sensatrack shocks/struts sold by Tire dealers, or similar > brands are good or should I pay the premium price and go with Honda > OEM. I need a good highway ride..not high performance but comfortable > cruising. But I still want to 'feel the road'. Would KYB's be better ? Bite the bullet and get OEM or KYB. Monroe's suck. > I have 208K miles on my 2001 Civic, and need new shocks and > struts. This is a straight commuter car..110 miles per workday. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > performance but comfortable cruising. But I still want to 'feel the > road'. Would KYB's be better ? You got 208k miles out of the OEM shocks, in five years. What is that OEM shock price, divided by 5? 110 miles is pretty far. Good thing you have a Civic. Earle  SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com > > I have 208K miles on my 2001 Civic, and need new shocks and > > struts. This is a straight commuter car..110 miles per workday. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Earle ....... 38-40mpg, too ! DAMN good thing I have a Civic ;-) > I have 208K miles on my 2001 Civic, and need new shocks and struts. > This is a straight commuter car..110 miles per workday. I'm wondering > if the Monroe Sensatrack shocks/struts sold by Tire dealers, or similar > brands are good or should I pay the premium price and go with Honda > OEM. I need a good highway ride..not high performance but comfortable > cruising. But I still want to 'feel the road'. Would KYB's be better ? how long do you want them to last? > > I have 208K miles on my 2001 Civic, and need new shocks and struts. > > This is a straight commuter car..110 miles per workday. I'm wondering [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > > how long do you want them to last? FOREVER, preferrably. And I'm only on my third set of front brake pads, and never have replaced the rear shoes. Had the drums pulled in April and was told the shoes and drums look like new. Seriosly !! I have 3 miles to I-95, then cruise the next 50 in 5th gear at 70mph. I can just about cruise all the way to work and never hit the brakes !! Just releplaced the timing belt and w/p at 195K.... > I have 208K miles on my 2001 Civic, and need new shocks and struts. > This is a straight commuter car..110 miles per workday. I'm wondering > if the Monroe Sensatrack shocks/struts sold by Tire dealers, or similar > brands are good or should I pay the premium price and go with Honda > OEM. I need a good highway ride..not high performance but comfortable > cruising. But I still want to 'feel the road'. Would KYB's be better ? imo, kyb's are either very close or indistinguishable from oem, in build quality, durability and ride. and they're half the price or less. > imo, kyb's are either very close or indistinguishable from oem, in build > quality, durability and ride. and they're half the price or less. Yup, that's been my experience with kyb as well. Although I admit to using kyb for my Toyota cars and Tokico for my Honda cars. IMHO, Honda shocks/struts are the weakest link in their suspension set up. >> imo, kyb's are either very close or indistinguishable from oem, in build >> quality, durability and ride. and they're half the price or less. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Honda cars. IMHO, Honda shocks/struts are the weakest link in their > suspension set up. i what way? they seem like an ok compromise to me. they're not "sport" shocks, but they do the job. looking for improvements in my own car, i've tried different rated honda [si's have a different part number and damp a little more], kyb [both agx and gr2], and bilsteins. bilsteins are great for the front, but on the rear, they beat your brains out like a jack hammer. the civic si shocks are actually quite ok imo, but expensive. kyb agx's are good at damping, but a little harsh on the compression stroke for my taste. kyb gr2's are not as good as they could be on the front, but ok. on the rear, they're great. have you compared tokico and kyb's on the same car, and what's your opinion? i want something that can damp so that you can keep it on the edge when cornering, but at the same time, i don't need to loose my teeth on the amazingly rough concrete freeways we have here in california. > i want something that can damp so that > you can keep it on the edge when cornering, but at the same time, i > don't need to loose my teeth on the amazingly rough concrete freeways we > have here in california. I used to live in Santa Barbara so I have some experience with the roads in Southern CA. Now I live in the Baltimore area. Pavement is much different, roads are rougher where you get freeze/thaw cycles, potholes and heaving pavement. Getting back to the shocks; the less expensive (non adjustable) Tokicos were described to me as in between a very firm sports shock and a more comfort oriented shock like the KYB GS2. I've used them in a couple of cars with good results; long life, too. (I typically run the rear tires about 4 psi lower than the front tires in my nose-heavy FWD cars.) Re. ride quality: my daughter was not satisfied with the highway ride of her 2004 Accord EX and replaced the OEM tires with Goodyear Assurance ComforTreds. These tires aren't snappy performers (ditto the Accord) but they did a remarkable job of taking the impact out of highway imperfections. >> i want something that can damp so that >> you can keep it on the edge when cornering, but at the same time, i [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > cars with good results; long life, too. (I typically run the rear tires > about 4 psi lower than the front tires in my nose-heavy FWD cars.) ok - how do /you/ like the ride? i've read reviews too, but want user data. > Re. ride quality: my daughter was not satisfied with the highway ride > of her 2004 Accord EX and replaced the OEM tires with Goodyear > Assurance ComforTreds. These tires aren't snappy performers (ditto the > Accord) but they did a remarkable job of taking the impact out of > highway imperfections. i've experienced that too - michelin hydroedge are brutal. the problem is getting a tire with grip that's not going to beat you to death. most cars these days are mcpherson suspension which is a much cushier ride, hence tire manufacturers don't need to worry about bump transmission so much. > ok - how do /you/ like the ride? i've read reviews too, but want user data. I liked the ride well enough to have put Tokicos onto 2 of my cars. That said, the 2500 lb. car had a ride my wife did not like but the 3300 lb. car was much smoother. The lighter, sportier car had tires with much stiffer sidewalls and its suspension was sportier to begin with. The Tokicos vastly increased control of the 2500 lb. car whose back end had a tendancy to hop around turns on broken pavement. > i've experienced that too - michelin hydroedge are brutal. the problem > is getting a tire with grip that's not going to beat you to death. I dunno. Lots of tires provide good grip but some aren't as responsive as most Honda drivers might like; Honda steering being a prime reason why people enjoy driving Hondas. (Then again, you don't want the tire to provide so much grip that the suspension runs out of travel on a routine basis.) IMHO, Camry outsells Accord in large part because Toyota recognized most folks want a comfortable ride and a quiet interior and were willing to give up the fun part of driving a car. Pretty hard for a cheapskate like me to find a sporty yet comfortable solution. Decreasing unsprung weight, better shocks, springs and bushings...let alone tire selection. So I usually give up some comfort. |
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