meazz1

I hit 200k last month and my 97 2.5 TL still runs like brand new except for one issue. I need new shocks for front and rear.
Are there any after market shocks I can purchase or I need to go to the dealer ?
I really don't want to lower the car but just need regular stock-sized shockes.
I looked online but did not find any.

longeye23s

if u dont want to lower it go stock, oem shocks is the best way to go. only it will drive smoth .

meazz1

I checked with the dealer and the front shocks are $140.00 each for the front and rear are $151.00 each.
I checkd and KYB shocks for 1997 CL are $69.00 for front each and $57.00 for rear each. They don't have one for TL.
I don't know if these will fit our TL.
KYB front 341118 and rear 341119.

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

I have Koni Yellow Sport Shocks on my 2.5TL.. They are a perfect fit if you dont want to go with OEM Shocks. The Shocks will run you $500 for all 4 off of ebay, including shipping. It will lower your car ever so slightly. The Shocks are for a Honda Accord from 90-97. Got anymore questions and pm me ill see what i cna do to help you out

longeye23s

so what would u use on a 3.2l tl?

TLBaller

why is it so hard to find shocks for our car? will oem shocks for vigor fit 2.5?

meazz1

Will 1997 CL shock fit out TL ?

longeye23s

i know im using shocks that belong to an accourd. the only down fult is that our car is more heavy so the shocks has less surport

Ysidro

HI,
I have been using after market struts with eibach springs.
Guess what? It sucks in smoothness but great in performance because it makes the car low.
I found out, for Eibach springs, once it has settled(2-3 months later), it will be way lowered than the advertised height. I think this should be considered a defective product because they advertise one thing and the item does another.
You definately have to get camber kits, if you dont see your inner tires eaten, then you haven't had it long enough yet.
Its like Eibach didn't even bother weighing the 2.5TL to get its actual weigh so that they can create a spring that can handle it's weight so it doesn't sink down in like 3 months. Its like they just take a Honda Accord V6 spec and assume it would work for the 2,5 TL too because its a V6. In my opinion, ground control Eibach springs and Pro kits are sh**t products. Dont get me wrong, I think ground control is great. But the problem lies with Eibach springs. They cant even make springs retain the height they promised.
I now hate them. If you go on the slightest bump and forgot to slow down, the strut will compress in all the way and it will feel like someone threw a rock at your car. The springs are noisy as hell. Whats worse is when you freaken strut also makes air-like noises also. It sounds like a 2 kittens scratching the wall with their claws.

For ride comfort and smoothness, I recommend stock struts and springs.
Pro kits make your car look good but horrible in the inside.

TLBaller

that pretty much sums it up for any aftermarket springs. It is up to you if you want to sacrifice comfort for style. I have prokit myself and im really thinking about putting back on my stocks and stock wheels.

KelloggTL

Guess we shall see how my intrax springs ride. I refuse to leave the stock springs on it at this point. Makes the new wheels look bad with having 3 to 4 inches of gap in between the fender and tire.

longeye23s

i bought aftermarket struts and spring and at first it all good after awhile it feels like shit. i love the way it looks but it rids like if i lost my wheel for a second when i hit a bumb, i have to stop on a rail road track. but it does turn good...

LDH

have you ever thought that the reason it sucks so bad is because your using struts from a different car? Since nobody makes aftermarket struts for the tl that means whatever your using is actually meant for a different car. Just because only one website listed it as meant for our car and it happened to fit doesn't mean that it was built for the tl. A spring is never actually suppose to "settle" it's the other parts of the suspension that cause the car to lower.

Eibach springs are the best springs around, if they truely sucked then why would race cars use the ground control coilovers with eibach ers springs? The prokit is the softest ride you will ever get when lowering and I agree if your looking for comfort then use oem products, there was a reason the car was built with these parts.

The sounds your describing should never occur, I'd look over the installation and check the condition of your struts. Those air like sounds might be a sign that the seals are getting worn and it might have a tiny leak. Did you use the stock dustboots ? How easily is the car bottoming out? If I remember correctly you got illuminas, what setting do you have the dampening at?

mblackmarr

I just ordered the intrax springs curious to se how the handle

longeye23s

let us know..

Ysidro

No shit. Really, yes its sad to find no struts officially made for the 2.5TL.
I had both used ground control and Pro kits. Had used with Tokico Illumina and swap with stock that I still have that were still in good condition. And guest what, its still lowered than advertised height. And I have been using the prokit for only 3 weeks! I have actually used and experienced it first hand to know how it's like. And, Im saying it like it is, that it suck sh**. I'm not the only one with similar testimony..They can say whatever they want about their product. When it doesnt work as advertised, its sh**. In this case, it is shit cause the springs sink in only 3 months for ground control and 3 weeks for pro kit. The pro kits were I think made for the 2.5TL. I dont know, if I bought a tv from Bestbuy and it didnt work in 3 months, it is considered a defect.

Yes, I agree, its maybe the best spring around and used in race cars. But, it doesn't neccessarily mean it is reliable does it? I mean, the thing sank lowered than advertised.

The pro kits are a little better in noise wise.
Some aftermarket parts are better than OEM. Just because its Oem doesnt mean its he best design for it. In this case, the springs just werent reliable.And not alot of company makes them. If they do, I will auction off my eibach off any day.


Installation is fine. I only got it for only 3 months. yeah, I do thinks its defective too. But thats a different issue.
And I already played around with the settings.

From my observations, the struts doesnt hold up the car. The springs does. If the springs sink, the struts will sunk also, if the springs rise, the strut will rise also. The height of the strut will depend on the string. the reason it bottom out is because, the spring sank down. Even if I set the strut level to max tight, the weight of the car still sinks it because the springs cant hold the weight. if the springs cant hold the weight, it doesnt matter what struts you use. THe struts are used for dampening purposes and not hold up the car.

Eibach perhaps make great springs but I doubt its reliability for the actually height wasnt as advertised. On the other hand, there arent alot of companys that make springs for the 2.5
So theres only a couple and Eibach is the best? The only reason I only have the pro kits is because I hate the gap on the wheel with the stock springs. I just have to learn to live with it.

thA hiPnoTiC

I have had Sprint springs for my 2.5TL for a year now and the shocks are still good...I have yet to bottom out. However, it does feel like a big rock hitting my car when I run over a big pot hole and I believe that my aftermarket wheels with 40 series tires is also a contribution.

Acuraman4ever

I was considering purchasing monroe sensa-trac shox and combining them with wither the eibach or the intraxx springs, but i want feedback for the intraxx springs first. I have worked at a brake shop for a while and can install the set, but I am not sure about how the springs will match up with the strut assembly. I want to consider putting 97 Accord struts like people suggest, but I dont want to be modifying anything.

Ysidro

Hi folks,
This is the first time Id heard of the intrax springs. Is this a new company?
Anyone know how much? Id like to give it a try.

Ysidro

Hi again,
I know this has nothing to do with the TL. The Intrax spriing is used for a different car. If your interested here is is link

Ysidro

Hi folks,
Today I spent some time playing around with my ground control coilovers.
I took off my pro kits and put my coilovers back. After 5 hours playing with it, I must say, I have improved my ride quality by alot, and finally got rid of the bottom out problem.

When I observed the factory spring and strut setup, I noticed the springs were longer, each spring coils have certain amount of gaps in between each other to handle bumps and vibrations. The struts were sticking up longer thus resulting in a better dampening.
I then observed the coilover springs and noticed a real big difference.
The gaps in between each coil spring are really slim and compact together. As a result the struts lengths are also short. This is what causes the car's ride quality to degrade and bottoms out. The springs are so compact together that theres no resistance against big bumps.

For my solution, I'd shortened the bump stopper down to 1/4 of an inch. This will allow the strut to compress more resulting in a better dampening. However, I still wasn't satify with the length. I wasnted to push it to the max. So I had to rolled down the coilover. When I roll the coilover down, this will make the car lower and also, most importantly, each coil in the spring will now have a bigger gap in between each other and the strut will now be longer resulting in an even better dampening.

Conclusion,
When you roll the coilover too high to avoid damaging the inner side of your tires, you also will degrade the ride quality because as you roll the coilover up higher, it makes the spring compact. When it gets compact, your strut will also get shorter. The idea is, you want the strut length to be as long as possible so it can dampen more. The bottom out problem is a result of the springs becoming too compact.
When the springs become too compact, there is not enough resistance
to handle bumps.

For my setup,
I rolled the coilover to 14 threads. I'd cut my bump stopper down to 1/4 of an inch.
I have Tokico Illumina struts and, I tried it on all levels, 1 though 5 and experience no bottom outs. I like level 1 for max ride quality and Im using that. Anyone decidng to use coilovers, I recommend getting adjustable struts. You will get more out of coilovers with adjustable struts.
I now have a ride quality that is alittle better than stock struts. You will noticed a major diffrence on highways going at 35mph and up. It will be silkiy smooth! The steering wheel wont vibrate as much.

Acuraman4ever

can you post a link of where you purchased your Tokico Illumina struts, if you purchased them online? Did you find them for your model?

Ysidro

Let me be clear on this, as LDH mentioned in this thread, No company out there makes aftermarket struts thats straightout for the 3.2 or 2.5TL. Therefore, your only options are to use the OEM struts which is sort of obsolete to be use in coilovers if you know what I mean. Or you can use struts from the Accord V6 like many of us on this forum is doing. Acura/Honda they are the same company thus some models will share the same parts.

From my experience with coilovers, I highly recommend you use adjustable struts with coilover only. Why? Well, if the strut is tight, you're going to be stuck with a rough ride and can't do anything about it. When I say rough, I aint kidding .

I think Koni, Kyb, and bilstein makes adjustable shocks also. If anyone ever used it with coilovers, Id love to hear feed backs about them.

As for Tokico Illumina, it has 5 modes. 1=softest and 5=performance. I use mode 1 and the ride quality is about 2 times better than the stock struts. And my stock struts were still in good condition after I took it off and examined it. When Im on the highway cruising at 35Mph and up, its silky smooth in turning and all I like to do is pass people. Inaddition the steering wheel will feel tighter and somehow, it accelerates better.
Remember one thing though, if the spring coils are too compressed then no matter what mode you put it in, it aint going make a difference because the strut pole will be short.

heres one on eBay. Apparently this one comes with springs too. But disregard if you're going to use ground control.
Tokico Illumina struts

The part numbers are
front=BU3714
REar=BU2896

Heres another one


And another one,


Heres the front
Heres the rear

goodluck and let us know how it turns out.

meazz1

KYB GR2 Shocks Struts for Acura CL, Honda Accord (1990-1997) -- will it fit 1997 TL 2.5 .
Look at the link and please shed some light.
thanks.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KYB-G...spagenameZWDVW

longeye23s

ysidro ur the man! im using a 1990-1997 accord struts by dropzone, the ride is a little rough but not that bad, well ok bad. thinking about replacing them with tokico. i just hope it make a diffence.

how about struts tower bar, u know after market. since i have drop my tl the turns a little better but i have to many body roll, struts bar will make a huge diffence on my turns

mblackmarr

So Ysidro, what after market shock could I use on my 96' 3.2 TL, adjustable or non-adjustable. My car is going to be lowered 1.7 inches on intrax springs. But I would like a after market shock for my car but don't know what cross applications I could use on my car. And do you know if I will have to modify the shocks or my car in any way. This would be a big help and from what you said in the thread it sounds like you know more about this topic than I do

Thanks, mblackmarr

Ysidro

For the 96-98 3.2 TL, it uses the same rear struts as the 1997 Honda Accord which is alsoo compatible with the 2.5TL rear struts.
However what sucks is that the 3.2TL uses the 1998 RL front struts. Which no one makes one for it except Honda.
So, you probably can only use the Tokico Illumina for your rears. But for your fronts, it will have to be OEM parts.
hope that helps.

mblackmarr

If I were to use Tokico shocks in the back and OEM in the front will that fuck up my car or make it lower in the front because the OEM shocks are not as stiff

Ysidro

Like I said before, stock struts are not meant for lowering.

Ysidro

Hi,
Yes the 1997-99 CL struts and Accord strut will fit the 2.5TL.

meazz1

That's all I needed to hear for my 2.5 TL strut problem.
Thanks Ysidro. You are DA man !!

longeye23s

i have a 98 3.2l and i using 90-97 accords struts. fits fine. its funny couse at first its smooth as hell, now that it been 3 month it kind of rough.

Inspired[RUS]

I've installed this one

KYB NSR Special


As for me - driving is really better - especially in part of pecking back and in starting or breaking. And, of course, heels are smaller. I've driveing it 20K yet, and them looks like new.

The numbers is:

Front:

NSF9409L (left)
NSF9409R (right)

Back:

NSF9062 (they are the same for left and right)

Here you can see oriental prices for us (last column, in $), but may be it's made only for japanees market and not really spread.

P.S. It's only for 2,5 Honda Inspire (Acura TL)

meazz1

why are 2 sets of pictures ? Small and larger photos of the same thing ?

Acuraman4ever

Thanx for the help Ysidro, you are a God among men

Inspired[RUS]

This is just a sample of such type shoks, its not mine I have picture of rear ones, only. Rear shoes and right bamper marker are also there

PS I've compared mine rear shocks and vigors - they are the same.

meazz1

thnx, Inspired[RUS].