Hey all,

I'm curious if anyone has changed out their struts/shocks. Did you do it because of a problem or because of interval? I lowered my with springs a few years ago and it rides well, but seems to move a little more than I remember. I am at 97xxx and wondering if its time to change, though normal tests indicate they are still good...

 

First are you lowered on the factory shocks? If so they are probably beat those things don't last forever. Keep in mind a shock job is to counteract the springs tendencies to bounce, so a dead shock can be determined by a wheel bouncing after a bump or being overly rigid depending on the failure. Also keep in mind that that a shock is filed with oil and nitrogen. The nitrogen can leak out with no signs of oil on the shock body at all, leading to poor dampening and the oil in the shock is just like any other oil in a vehicle it can break down over time from friction and heat. This is why Bilstein and Koni shock are rebuild-able, the physical parts of the shock are good it just needs an oil change.


From what I have read on the forum even the cheaper shocks don't have a good service life with lowered springs. I have had several cars lowered besides my TL an have used bilstein's for all with no issue and had a long service life. Some like the Koni but its like any thing you get what you pay for.

 

Just replace the shocks with some real shocks, springs and stock shocks wont last very long, unless you are on the tein springs.

 

Thanks guys,

Yes they are stock shocks, but I know they are not bad, but probably just starting. I don't have any bounce, but do notice things seem to hit harder now than they did before, like transition point of new sections on the highway. I will look to change them out and keep on rockin.

 

Bistein Sports from AJUSA...... The go slowly over time so you don't notice they're gone. It's time.

 

Not sure if you're still looking at new struts, but I just had some Koni Yellows installed on my otherwise bone stock 01 CLS Auto. I was going to go with Tokico Blues, but everything from Tokico is back ordered for months.
I'm no professional, but I am very critical and analytical of how my car drives.
After 2.5 hours of driving on these new Yellows, my first impressions are that the car leans considerably less, rides overall more taught, is generally smoother across the road, but is a little bouncy over unevenness in the pavement. The car doesn't slam into dips and expansion joints anymore. Handling is flatter due to the reduced lean, and feels more secure at speed around turns. Initial transitional responsiveness (the speed between the front and rear reacting) seems slightly... delayed. I'm not sure how to describe it. It feels like the rear begins to move and load up when I make a turn slower than my old struts. I'm wondering if its a sensation caused by increased responsiveness in the front end due to the Yellows. I also get the impression that there is a more direct connection to the road through the steering wheel, but that could be placebo. The car seems quieter going down the road now, as if there's less road noise, interestingly enough. My stock ride height seems to have gone up just a bit, unfortunately. Hopefully it will settle down a little.