How long will the stock shocks last on lowering springs. I'm thinking of picking up some Tanabe springs, but I'm worried about how they will affect the life of the OEM shocks.

I really don't wanna go all-out on this car, as I already own a car that's extremely modified.

Should I just keep it at stock height and slap some 16's on it for the 4x4 look?

 

its just out of luck man. depending on how bad the roads are, how hard you take your car into the turns. its a hit or miss thing. no one can tell you EXactly or nearly roughly how long they will last. they will only tell you how long they have had their springs on...and how they havnt been blown yet.


for me since ive had my car about 7 months. nothing is wrong with them yet.and im on tein s-techs

ewwww 4x4 look is gross man....drop it. take the risk.

 

Do what you think is best for your car. I would just slap on the GF210 they give you 1.5 in th front and a 0.9 in the rear. This should not be too rough on your shocks. Of coarse it all comes down to how you drive and the road conditions.

 

im expecting (no scientific data) about 25k miles out of mine
running DF210's.

by that time im hoping tokico will have some shocks for us... if
not,i'll just keep replacing them with the factory shocks. it's quite
easy to do.

 

Yeah i was wondering the same thing about the shocks but hey ill take the risk. If they dont last ill just switch it up!

 

Would I need a camber kit if I drop the car on GF210's? Or is the drop not substantial enough to warrant?

 

you dont "need" a camber kit. unless you want more camber on the
front for auto-x or something. the rear is non-adjustable unless you do
the washer trick. bascially only your front toe is adjustable unless the
tech is nice enough to loosen your strut top on the front and see if he
can adjust the seating of the strut to adjust front camber.

you can get camber bolts everyone's talking about, or just get an
alignment and leave it like me. i posted some numbers of the
alignment in the newbs section.

 

Awesome. I know I needed a camber kit on my prelude after lowering it and adding 18's. However, I'm only getting 16's for the FIT and don't want to spend anymore money than I have to to lower it.

PS.

Any thoughts on the Tanabe DF210's compared to the GF210's? The DF210's do give a bigger drop, but I was wondering on the ride quality they'd produce.

 

I would assume (based on previous cars having this done) that you would potentially HALVE the life of your shocks by swapping out the OEM springs. That said, I expect to have to change the shocks and struts at about 40K miles.

 

GF210 has a higher spring rate. Go to Tanabe-USA.com to compare.

 

im lowered. and i am in the honda specs for camber all around. ALthough for some reason i have like negative toe. its not huge...but its out of the specs.


so....that could cause some problems..but pfft i would sacrifice that then be at stock height. hands down.


i dont need a camber kit.

 

I'm really debating between the DP210's and the Skunk2 springs right now. The GF210's don't lower the car enough for what I'm looking for.

 

Its about the spring rate that will directly affect your oem shocks. Its not so much a matter of lowering your car or how much you lowered it, but putting on springs that are much stiffer than oem. From looking at all the different springs out there for us, all after market springs have a stiffer spring rate than oem. Some stiffer than others. The stiffer spring rate, will cause the shocks to work harder, leading to a decrease in its useful life expectancy.

The only other experience I have with this is from my 2000 audi a4, and my friends 2001 gti. I lowered my audi with eibach pro-kit, and changed my suspension again with h&r springs with bilstein shocks nine months later, and my oem shocks were completely dead.

Same with my friend's gti who was already running on h&r sport springs, and roughly 1 1/2 years later, he ended up putting some koni yellows on, and same thing.

But than again, i'm comparing german to japanese, which is not the same things, so I don't know what to tell you.

All I know is that, if you want your stock shocks to last as long as possible, I recommend finding some lowering springs that have the closest spring rate to stock as possible. (the softest springs you can find)

I'm currently running on swift springs, which doesnt lower the car that much, but its still a harsh ride, and much more stiffer than stock. I don't expect my shocks to last for more then a year or two.

I think I read somewhere that spoon springs will allow the use of our oem shocks for at least 3 years... let me see if i can find it again. But their spring are usually very stiff.

 

I'm just over 10000 KM on my t1r lowering springs, stock shocks still seem to be fine. I drive my car pretty hard as well. I'm surprised they've lasted this long so far.

 

After speaking with my friend Ricky who is on the same setup as me, his T1R V2 Lowering Springs on stock shocks, is having no problems and he is over 20,000KM as well.

 

my friend got his fit the day they were released and put tanabes on it about a week or two later. at 30k miles his suspension feels like brand new still. ill have some tanabe springs for sale as soon as i get some coilovers. (hopefully soon)