suspension

[Corey2kG]

those tein basics will run me for $1000+ yeah right for that i might as well do my whole suspension over stock lol

[E_Emerson88]

lol

[IVORY_G]

Well if your planning on getting 5-10 years out of struts, all i have to say is good luck with that. Hell, there's a lot of people that don't even get 5 years out of stock struts and can say they ride quality is still "good" enough for them to not be replaced.
My Stratus is 7 years old and still had to OEM struts, and they were blown to hell when i got the car when it was a little under 6 years old. So i couldn't imagine them lasting any longer as they were already wearing waves in my tires.

Also as far as you considering me replacing my struts with the GR-2's as a quick fix, can YOU honestly tell me that you have had THESE struts - As in KYB GR-2's on you car and they have failed due to lowering springs? Or not lasted long term? It always seems everyone is giving out opinion based response's instead of what has really happened, and putting the GR-2's on a car is no quicker a fix the putting the AGX's on....

I personally have seen the vehicles my friends have, seen the miles they have put on the struts, and know the time length they've had them on there car to tell you these struts CAN handle lowering springs.
If i wanted and type of adjustable strut or suspension (which is basically the use of the AGX's), i would have manned up and shelled out the money for coil-overs. But seeing the cost of coil-overs would cost about a third of what the car costs i don't really see the purpose in doing it, just as i don't see the purpose of putting a paint job on it that it really needs.
So until either my car or any one can prove the struts fail on the GR-2's due to lowering, my thoughts and opinions still stand. Then again there may be people out there that has already tried this and they have failed, but i've yet to see the threads. Its all been opinion based. So if there is any proof PLEASE led me to it.

Like I said before, it all depends on your driving habits and your local road conditions. I am personally basing my opinion on the feedback that I have seen a numerous amount of members post on countless threads regarding the difference b/w the two. Here are a few examples:

GR2 is original equipment replacement.

AGX is for performance vehicles, or lowered vehicles.

ya i got the Gr-2's they are garbage if u ask me. they just dont hold up well at all with lowering springs. the AGX's really are much nicer. i wanna switch over to the ksport coilover package i seen on ebay, they are pretty much twins of the megan setup an about 100 or so cheaper

on my inline 4, I'm driving with GR2s in front and they damn things only last about a year on my tiens s-tech, so i'm on the market for some AGX's. I've pretty much decided to go with a V6 Eclipse application becaues they are made for a heavier car and are avalible. I've been looking for galant AGXs for over a year and haven't found any. I'll probably loose some drop, if any, but that's ok with me. aside from the extra costs, can you guys think of any other downside?


-pedro

With me seeing posts like this, I had no interest in finding out for myself and ending up wasting my money. And "Yes" Im basing it on their past experience, because "IT REALLY HAPPENED" to them.
I call it a quick fix because you're taking the cheaper way out, instead of waiting to save up the additional money to get a better strut.
Also just bcz the cost of AGX's & Teins can almost cost up to the amount of coilovers, doesnt constitute a good enough reason to buy them. Coilovers can be a very harsh ride for a DD, & in some cases members wont even utilize them to there full potential. I rode in a local members car who had Megan Coils and the ride was absolute shit. So I figured to get the best of both worlds, i.e. Good handling and reasonable comfort, I went with Teins & AGX's. Seeing as how, I was prob never gonna take this car to a track and run it, and wasnt going to be driving the roadways like an asshole either. I just wanted a decent upgrade that made my car more manageable at HWY speeds. Thats what I got and thats why I recommend these to other members.

[Reelax]

those tein basics will run me for $1000+ yeah right for that i might as well do my whole suspension over stock lol

the TEIN BASIC dampers basically does replace your stock suspension. you can get TEIN BASIC now for like $800... if you were to get springs and shocks, it would be in the $600 range. the biggest difference is the TEIN dampers are short body meaning they will work better (and last longer) on a lowered car than full length body dampers since full length dampers will be overly compressed at lowered ride heights.

for you however, the cheapest options sounds the best as you are budget limited... just go w/ EIBACH pro springs and keep your dampers or replace w/ the cheapest dampers you can find. if you want adjustable ride height you are going to have to pay for it, plain and simple.

[blue8g]

the TEIN BASIC dampers basically does replace your stock suspension. you can get TEIN BASIC now for like $800... if you were to get springs and shocks, it would be in the $600 range. the biggest difference is the TEIN dampers are short body meaning they will work better (and last longer) on a lowered car than full length body dampers since full length dampers will be overly compressed at lowered ride heights.

for you however, the cheapest options sounds the best as you are budget limited... just go w/ EIBACH pro springs and keep your dampers or replace w/ the cheapest dampers you can find. if you want adjustable ride height you are going to have to pay for it, plain and simple.

i agree with this post

[OMEGA PHX]

the TEIN BASIC dampers basically does replace your stock suspension. you can get TEIN BASIC now for like $800... if you were to get springs and shocks, it would be in the $600 range. the biggest difference is the TEIN dampers are short body meaning they will work better (and last longer) on a lowered car than full length body dampers since full length dampers will be overly compressed at lowered ride heights.

for you however, the cheapest options sounds the best as you are budget limited... just go w/ EIBACH pro springs and keep your dampers or replace w/ the cheapest dampers you can find. if you want adjustable ride height you are going to have to pay for it, plain and simple.

Is the ride comfort on the TEIN BASICS same as any coilovers? Many people say coilovers are really stiff and prefer the AGX for the ride quality. Adjustable Ride height is great but for me not at the expense of ride comfort.

[starh4x]

had coilovers on my 8g. They made cornering fun with no bodyroll, but potholes and shit were a killer. IMO it was worth it though to be able to adjust ride height to where I wanted it.

Read the facts then make a decision that suits YOU best. no point asking springs or coilovers because it depends what your doing with the car.

[Corey2kG]

i can get the agx for $250 for all 4 and the s-tech of course on ebay for around $210

[IVORY_G]

i can get the agx for $250 for all 4 and the s-tech of course on ebay for around $210

Thats dirt cheap for AGX's, are they used? I bought mine used as a set as well combined with the Tein's. I would snatch up those used progress springs to save some money, if you look up the specs, I believe they offer the same exact drop.

[galant2k0]

Well if your planning on getting 5-10 years out of struts, all i have to say is good luck with that. Hell, there's a lot of people that don't even get 5 years out of stock struts and can say they ride quality is still "good" enough for them to not be replaced.
My Stratus is 7 years old and still had to OEM struts, and they were blown to hell when i got the car when it was a little under 6 years old. So i couldn't imagine them lasting any longer as they were already wearing waves in my tires.

Also as far as you considering me replacing my struts with the GR-2's as a quick fix, can YOU honestly tell me that you have had THESE struts - As in KYB GR-2's on you car and they have failed due to lowering springs? Or not lasted long term? It always seems everyone is giving out opinion based response's instead of what has really happened, and putting the GR-2's on a car is no quicker a fix the putting the AGX's on....

I personally have seen the vehicles my friends have, seen the miles they have put on the struts, and know the time length they've had them on there car to tell you these struts CAN handle lowering springs.
If i wanted and type of adjustable strut or suspension (which is basically the use of the AGX's), i would have manned up and shelled out the money for coil-overs. But seeing the cost of coil-overs would cost about a third of what the car costs i don't really see the purpose in doing it, just as i don't see the purpose of putting a paint job on it that it really needs.
So until either my car or any one can prove the struts fail on the GR-2's due to lowering, my thoughts and opinions still stand. Then again there may be people out there that has already tried this and they have failed, but i've yet to see the threads. Its all been opinion based. So if there is any proof PLEASE led me to it.

I have some PROOF for you. I have a 2000 LS V6 with the eibach pro-kit and kyb gr-2's, and the first set failed 2 weeks after install. I only drove highway (65-70mph. for 5 miles to work and 5 miles home from work) and both the rears completely blew out. When i say blew out i mean exactly that, the fluid blew out of the canister and my car was bouncing down the highway like a rubber ball. So i figureing it was a bad set i went ahead and sent them back and recieved brand new kyb gr-2's and installed them. SAME THING HAPPENED!!! only this time they lasted 2 months. The first set was installed at a local mechanics shop, while the second set was installed at a different shop supposedly specializing in suspension work. I asked them what the problem was and they said that the gr-2 series is NOT DESIGNED to work with lowering springs and they can only handle a moderate drop due to sagging factory springs. They recommended the AGX series because even though they are also NOT DESIGNED for a lowering spring they could handle the stress alot better than the gr-2's. Replaced entire setup with AGX and have been running almost a year with great results and no bouncing!!!!!!!!!

[OMEGA PHX]

^^ Good info. The bad thing here in PR is that 4 AGX go for around $500

[IVORY_G]

I have some PROOF for you. I have a 2000 LS V6 with the eibach pro-kit and kyb gr-2's, and the first set failed 2 weeks after install. I only drove highway (65-70mph. for 5 miles to work and 5 miles home from work) and both the rears completely blew out. When i say blew out i mean exactly that, the fluid blew out of the canister and my car was bouncing down the highway like a rubber ball. So i figureing it was a bad set i went ahead and sent them back and recieved brand new kyb gr-2's and installed them. SAME THING HAPPENED!!! only this time they lasted 2 months. The first set was installed at a local mechanics shop, while the second set was installed at a different shop supposedly specializing in suspension work. I asked them what the problem was and they said that the gr-2 series is NOT DESIGNED to work with lowering springs and they can only handle a moderate drop due to sagging factory springs. They recommended the AGX series because even though they are also NOT DESIGNED for a lowering spring they could handle the stress alot better than the gr-2's. Replaced entire setup with AGX and have been running almost a year with great results and no bouncing!!!!!!!!!

There you have it.

[wright06jhs]

I have some PROOF for you. I have a 2000 LS V6 with the eibach pro-kit and kyb gr-2's, and the first set failed 2 weeks after install. I only drove highway (65-70mph. for 5 miles to work and 5 miles home from work) and both the rears completely blew out. When i say blew out i mean exactly that, the fluid blew out of the canister and my car was bouncing down the highway like a rubber ball. So i figureing it was a bad set i went ahead and sent them back and recieved brand new kyb gr-2's and installed them. SAME THING HAPPENED!!! only this time they lasted 2 months. The first set was installed at a local mechanics shop, while the second set was installed at a different shop supposedly specializing in suspension work. I asked them what the problem was and they said that the gr-2 series is NOT DESIGNED to work with lowering springs and they can only handle a moderate drop due to sagging factory springs. They recommended the AGX series because even though they are also NOT DESIGNED for a lowering spring they could handle the stress alot better than the gr-2's. Replaced entire setup with AGX and have been running almost a year with great results and no bouncing!!!!!!!!!

Well sucks for you, sorry to see that happened.

There you have it.

Well if it happens to me as well ill be sure to post results. But as well i'm hoping that it doesn't because there's still PROOF that it hasn't happened yet to a few other peoples cars as i know of. Hopefully i'll have just as good luck as them :D

[Corey2kG]

i called kyb and i talked to tech support for about a half hour and basically they dont make shocks and struts for lowered cars thats probably the reason why the gr2 blew up they said all of their shocks n struts are to give it a better then factory ride they dont test them for performance and as far as putting the agx on the 8g they say its not recomended thats wat they said. and if the car is lowered you can kiss the warranty bye bye but of course they wont know its dropped but if you keep blowing them up they gonna wonder why. and i know i been saying eibach my auto tech professer has eibach springs and struts in his 8G and the ride is awesome yeah it didnt drop it aggressively but again the ride was great im just gonna leave my ride height the way it is and put gr2s they really are good struts and you can pick up pretty much any kyb product at advance auto parts a set of 4 gr2's goes 4 about $210

[6G72Galant]

Damn, I know its been a while since ive posted here. But threads like this are a dime a dozen. Just buy a set of coilovers. Well worth it. Besides, you can adjust the height with coilovers.

Ive got D2 Racing coilovers. And I have them set as high as possible, and I still bottom out at times. Im willing to bet I could have the car slammed, if I wanted to. But the roads arent smooth enough around these parts to do so.

[RedGalant2k1]

This is where I disagree, where the AGX's may be better able to deal with the higher spring rates it's still a full-length damper so it won't be any better suited to handle a shorter spring.......

The AGX's are not full-length dampers.

Well if your planning on getting 5-10 years out of struts, all i have to say is good luck with that. Hell, there's a lot of people that don't even get 5 years out of stock struts and can say they ride quality is still "good" enough for them to not be replaced.
My Stratus is 7 years old and still had to OEM struts, and they were blown to hell when i got the car when it was a little under 6 years old. So i couldn't imagine them lasting any longer as they were already wearing waves in my tires.

Also as far as you considering me replacing my struts with the GR-2's as a quick fix, can YOU honestly tell me that you have had THESE struts - As in KYB GR-2's on you car and they have failed due to lowering springs? Or not lasted long term? It always seems everyone is giving out opinion based response's instead of what has really happened, and putting the GR-2's on a car is no quicker a fix the putting the AGX's on....

I personally have seen the vehicles my friends have, seen the miles they have put on the struts, and know the time length they've had them on there car to tell you these struts CAN handle lowering springs.
If i wanted and type of adjustable strut or suspension (which is basically the use of the AGX's), i would have manned up and shelled out the money for coil-overs. But seeing the cost of coil-overs would cost about a third of what the car costs i don't really see the purpose in doing it, just as i don't see the purpose of putting a paint job on it that it really needs.
So until either my car or any one can prove the struts fail on the GR-2's due to lowering, my thoughts and opinions still stand. Then again there may be people out there that has already tried this and they have failed, but I've yet to see the threads. Its all been opinion based. So if there is any proof PLEASE led me to it.

Opinion is irrelevant. The GR-2s aren't designed for service in lowered vehicles. They are a twin tube body damper. The range of usable motion is exceeded when used on a lowered vehicle. Though if you aren't a stupidly aggressive driver you may find that they last some length of time. However, more often would be the case of a MUCH HIGHER potential for catastrophic failure at any time. THAT alone should be enough cause to not use GR-2s in a improper application.

i called kyb and i talked to tech support for about a half hour and basically they dont make shocks and struts for lowered cars thats probably the reason why the gr2 blew up they said all of their shocks n struts are to give it a better then factory ride they dont test them for performance and as far as putting the agx on the 8g they say its not recomended thats wat they said. and if the car is lowered you can kiss the warranty bye bye but of course they wont know its dropped but if you keep blowing them up they gonna wonder why. and i know i been saying eibach my auto tech professer has eibach springs and struts in his 8G and the ride is awesome yeah it didnt drop it aggressively but again the ride was great im just gonna leave my ride height the way it is and put gr2s they really are good struts and you can pick up pretty much any kyb product at advance auto parts a set of 4 gr2's goes 4 about $210

Eibachs and GR-2s or Tein H-tech and GR-2s should be just fine. Though you are still better off with coilovers.

[Corey2kG]

The AGX's are not full-length dampers.



Opinion is irrelevant. The GR-2s aren't designed for service in lowered vehicles. They are a twin tube body damper. The range of usable motion is exceeded when used on a lowered vehicle. Though if you aren't a stupidly aggressive driver you may find that they last some length of time. However, more often would be the case of a MUCH HIGHER potential for catastrophic failure at any time. THAT alone should be enough cause to not use GR-2s in a improper application.



Eibachs and GR-2s or Tein H-tech and GR-2s should be just fine. Though you are still better off with coilovers.

yeah i show the h techs those look nice but they only drop the car .9" whereas the eibachs drop it 1.2" in the front and wont sag maybe less then 5mm when it settles and 1" in the back i mean if your looking to slam your car which the 8g looks good anyway wat everyone is suggesting then thats fine but if your looking for a small drop and really comfortable ride then the eibach or h tech and the gr2 is the way 2 go if you want a nice drop and a good ride tein and agx all the way the slammed look coilovers i was researching all that stuff over the weekend and its amazing all the shit they got out there and the info is crazy if you know where to look.
i also go to school for auto tech and there are proper ways to lower your car like adjustable control arms and shit like that cuz when you drop any car your changing the factory specs and can fuck up your suspension more sooner then later so just be careful fellas those who cars are drop and those who want to drop there car do your research and get it right the first time so you wont regret your decision