Replacement 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 ?

 

Bite the bullet and get OEM or KYB. Monroe's suck.

 

how long do you want them to last?

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

........ 38-40mpg, too ! DAMN good thing I have a Civic ;-)

 

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 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.

 

ok - how do /you/ like the ride? i've read reviews too, but want user data.

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.

 

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 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.