How long do stock shock absorbers typically last?
 

The title sums it up!

We've had ours 6 1/2 years and ~68,000 miles.

I'll bet dollars-to-doughnuts somebody on here has had stockers on for more miles than that. I wouldn't be surprised if some have mde it 100k+.

I bet if you don't drive it hard you can make 100,000 miles, no problems. My '91 Accord ran 10 years on OEM shocks before I heard them start creaking. Honda engineers those things to last the life of a 'typical' car and then some ...

If you're gonna need to change the shocks, you might as well buy a decent set. OEM are fine, just order online from a discounter (ie acuraoemparts.com) and then install at your neighborhood shop or if you really want to pay more, the dealership. :dunno:

I had my stocks on for over 160k miles and shocks were still in decent shape and the springs were OK. Everything lasted til about 160k then I started replacing just about everything one after the other. First was shocks, springs, sways and endlinks, then ball joints and most recently tie rod ends.

All depends on location - climate, roads driven.

Typically most places say 50k. Id bet many here are driving on bad shocks and dont know it as they usually start to wear out gradually over time, while not being "blown" they have lost their ability to do their job as effectively as they should. Most of my driving is HWY and i changed mine out at around 115,000 ish miles. I felt them wearing out close to the 90k mark, and im sure they probably could have been changed around 70k. I did notice a HUGE improvement in ride with new, even though the ride most thought was great wasnt.

110k miles and 6 years here.....and they are still fine IMO.

Put new ones on and i bet you will notice a more compliant ride. Most shocks wear slowly and you will never know they are worn out till the valving completely goes (and even then most dont notice it)

Hey this thread basically just helped me answer my questions. SWEET! My car only has 3,000 miles on it anyways.... LLOONNGG WAAAY TO GO...But it still helps... Right on yall. PEACE!

I agree.

In the Vegas and Bakersfield climate along with the quality of roads in my area of Vegas, mine got soft around 50K. They weren't worn by any means but I noticed when I hit speed bumps the car bottomed more easily so they got replaced with the Konis. It was a good excuse to upgrade and more importantly it will keep some of the front end components from wearing as fast with less bounciness.

I have almost 99k miles with the stock shocks. I can tell it's wearing out about 5k miles ago. I'm also dropped on H&R sports about 25k miles ago.

It's interesting the big range of when shocks wear out. I wonder if it's the type of driving or what some consider worn out.

Most of mine was freeway driving which is supposed to be easier on everything except the paint. I have wondered if the constant thumping for hours at a time on certain freeways doesn't heat up and wear out the shocks.

I think its because most just dont know what worn out is. Most think the ride should be bad or bouncy or for them to make some sort of noise to know their bad.

Probably right.

I actually don't know if my shocks are "worn out". I only know that the day-to-day ride seems acceptable.

Except for a little "floatiness" in the steering wheel, that is NOT tires (pretty new, good wear pattern and RF balanced) or Alignment.

Regardless, I hope to replace the shocks and springs sometime early next year.

I'm still on stock shocks on my H&R Sports, but since I'm not the original owner and have put on ~ 24k miles (currently at 90k) I think the ride is the same as when I bought it.

I'm considering Tokico shocks (Blues?) for the replacements. For those of you that are dropped and have replaced the stock shocks on TL-S, what model of Tokicos did you use, and did you use a different model shock than for a stock (non-lowered) TL-S, i.e., do they make a Tokico Blue for lowered cars?

What's the concensus on OEM vs. aftermarket?

My car has 87K, and I suspect that the shocks aren't shot, but have probably gone downhill enough that I'd notice the difference with new ones.

A firm ride is fine, but I don't want to increase harshness over stock.

WRT Koni Yellow, how much of a range in ride/performance does the adjustment give? Also, how do you adjust the rear shocks in a TL, from under the car?

The Koni Yellows are awesome, one of the few true competition shocks that don't just give you a harsh ride to make it "feel" like the car corners good. They control the motions very well without being harsh.

The softest setting feels about like stock, maybe a little better but close. On full firm, they get pretty firm. At night, I noticed my headlights bouncing all over the place. Luckily with the TL's long wheelbase you don't notice all that much. I keep mine set a little over half which is a little on the firm side.

To make the rear adjustment, you have to remove the seat. Err on the soft side, it's pretty easy to accidentally get a harsh ride from the rear shocks. I started with 1/3 of the way from soft and ended up keeping it that way. It matches the fronts pretty well.

The Koni Yellows or the Bilstein shocks are the best. They are pricey compared to others. The KYB and Tokico Blues are often used as oem replacements.

How difficult is it to remove the rear seat to adjust Koni Yellows?

A poll: How much have people been paying to have shocks installed?
 

As at the start of this thread, the title says it all...

keep it unbolted and it takes 1 min. With it bolted it takes 5.

1-300 depending where you go. There are DIYs for doing it yourself.

Quick Question,

I have a 2002 NBP TL-S with 73k miles on it. Its lowered with H&R with stock shocks. The ride overall feels ok still, I had a slam Integra before, and i know about ride quailty when u lower a car.

My question is, Since the car is lowered already, if I do replace the shocks later, do I need to do an alingment again or anything? Most Shocks dont change the height of the ride right? I dont need high performance shocks, as I dont need to make made corners or run at the track, what do u guys recommend?

Thanks! :thumbsup:

Any time you play with the suspension you should get an alignment. Even then you should get one once a year.

I replaced my shocks at 70k (not the springs); I now have 125k and my ride is very bouncy, would this be from the oem springs still being on there?
I notice it especially when making a corner with a small bumps in the road, the car bounces sideways a bid, even when doing the speed limit.

Replaced the shocks
 

I did have the shocks replaced during the summer. I went with OEM shocks. I didn't want to turn the car into a science experiment with adjustable damping, ride height, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with tuning your suspension, you just have to have the time available to do it right...

The difference was amazing. The ride improved 1000%. In retrospect, the shocks were probably candidates for replacement years ago.

I bought the shocks on-line from Delray Acura and had the installation done at A&H Motorsport in Warminster, PA. I highly recommend A&H - the quality is top notch and the prices are very reasonable. (No I don't get a kickback for the plug...)

Just bumped an older thread with the same subject. This thread gives me more insight.

Reason I bumped these 2 threads is that I'm at 150k and I'm going to be replacing my LCA bushings. As long as work is being done, I'm thinking of using it as an opportunity to go ahead and swap out the whole suspension to an A-Spec suspension. My ride seems to poorer in quality than it should be, but at the same time, there are no real problems... and I'm sure the cracked bushings are contributing to the poor ride. I guess I'm trying to justify a whole suspension replacement to myself.


EDIT: Just realized that this thread is in the 2G forum. I was more curious about the 3G suspension, but feel free to give your insight on the 2G.

Im on stock shocks and springs with 154k, its time for a new set but times are tough haha

I just replaced mine with 178K on the originals. I just got some Monroe OEM replacements from Rock Auto. Probably way too long and what a difference it makes. The rear are a little tricky because you have to push down on the axle to get clearance for the bottom stud to go back through. Make sure you align the hole at the bottom with the top two bolts to make it easier.

134k for me and stock suspension. oh my the times are tough! stock timing belt too!

Honda has definitely cheapened up their shocks/struts. The 91 accord that my son is driving has about 480,000 miles on them. I lowered it at 200,000 when I owned it and it didn't affect them at all. Contrast that with my 03 tl. I lowered it at about 40,000 miles, and it needed shocks in about 3 weeks.
Back in the old days, honda dealers didn't even stock shocks.

my 01 tl has 125K miles. the rear struts are starting to finally wear.

Bumping this thread as I have 163k mikes on my 02 and just aquired it about 1 month ago. I am not sure if i have the original OEMs on it or not. I had been seriously looking at adding improved sway bars as it feels like i have too much roll in the corners.

Would replacing the struts help with the roll?

Or should I still be looking at sway bars to reduce roll?

Thanks!

Sway bars will make the biggest difference. Replacing the shocks with OEM shocks will help but may not even be noticeable. You are better off replacing the shocks with Koni adjustables but they are 150 bucks per shock.

Thanks! i will replace my shocks eventually but will probably keep them OEM as I like the gentle ride. I am a commute driver and do not want to get a firmer rider.

Given this would OEM be the best shock to replace with?

I will still do the sway bars though as i want to reduce roll in the corners...it is just too excessive for me.

I had stocks for 8 years or 15O ish K....
Replaced All 2 years ago for KYB now they have around 40K on them and they are OK!

I like kybs as well. Very close to oe ride. Maybe slightly stiffer, but very slight. Lifetime warranty [which you probably will never need], cheaper than oe with better quality.

Not to thread jack...
 

I have 91k right now on my tl-s. My Eibach springs are suppose to come in on the 31st of May. I was going to just replace the front shocks since i will be doing an alignment anyways after the tranny swap. My question is: I know 91k is not to little of a mileage but the thing is I just spent a ton of money on the tranny and need an alignment but most of the weight sits on the front shocks, would i be fine to get new front shocks with eibach springs and use the original stock rear shocks with eibach springs?

I think Stocks Rears last a shit ton more than Fronts....
I replaced all 4 cuz the Fronts were Shot but the rears were still Fine.

i have 120 kilometers and just got some koni yellow on eibachs today because i suspected my fronts were shot. the rears seemed ok when i checked them out, but to my satisfaction, both fronts were real slow to rebound/no pressure. which is nice cause it justified my mod.

I've never replaced the shocks on my car, but a lot of my driving has been highway miles... thinking about doing it now, but since I could be in a new car as early as in the next couple of months, I don't know. Then again, I could wait for the 5G TL to come out, which won't be until late next year, I guess. Decisions, decisions ...