MrLeadFoot

Wife's AT, daily driver. Nearly 200k miles. Needs front shocks. Back already done with the standard Monroe fare, I believe she had a shop put it the OE spectrum, but not positive. A friend of mine who works for a local shop is recommending the KYB Gas-a-Just over the GR/2. He says they are a little stiffer than OE, and customers like them. My concern is ride. My wife said she'd like something that handles a little better, but I have to consider she's riding on worn out shocks right now, so I would think even OE shocks would be better. And, she's a middle-aged woman. Also, being a shop, I would suspect my friend's customers are not enthusiasts, so if the KYBs were too stiff, they likely wouldn't be happy.

FWIW, I drive a C5 Corvette, so I'm used to a firmer ride with good handling, but I don't think Koni Yellows are for my wife. Maybe on the softest settings, but then that would be just wasting money. So, do any of you have experience with the KYB monotube shocks I mentioned above?

Thanks in advance.

BROlando

No experience with KYB monotubes. But:
-Monotubes are generally a little less comfort oriented than an equivalent twin tube.
-KYB makes a decent product...but its nothing to rave about. The advantage is that you can buy a complete shock and spring assembly.

Koni yellows will usually make the car ride a little more comfortably than your stock shocks. They're like $600, last I saw. Koni usually turns down the over damping on the compression side that Honda shocks are known for. The rebound is definitely firmer, but more digressive. On the soft settings, you may feel the car being more comfy than stock. The thing I dislike about Konis is their coating. If you don't drive in road salt, you'll be fine.

Bilstein B6's are also fairly soft, well damped shocks. They are monotubes if you want monotube construction. They'd probably make a better "standard replacement" shocks as compared to Koni Yellows. Shockwarehouse usually has deals on them. I'm not sure if any of the AZine vendors carry them.

If Koni makes a FSD for the TL, its definitely worth looking at.

SocomM4

iTrader: (2)

I just did my fronts using the kyb struts, feels awesome.
Used 341330. Took 2 hours.

MrLeadFoot

Thanks for the info.

MrLeadFoot

Did you replace the upper mount, lower spring seat insulator, cover/boot/bellows, too? How many miles do you have on yours?

BROlando

KYB strut plus comes completely assembled and ready to bolt in. Including new tophats, bushings, bumpstops, dust boots....all of it.

I used them on someone's car that had 200+K on it when the stock shocks went bad. I think they have been on the car like....15K miles at this point. No issues to report. But...its only been 15K miles. Reviews online are fairly positive....and KYB makes shocks for a lot of factory lines (Toyota, Honda, etc).

MrLeadFoot

I'm showing conflicting info on the web. Kyb catalog shows no strut plus option for 2007 Acura tl. Some sites show a part number SR4169, but Amazon says it doesn't fit, and the pic shows that model has a different mounting option. When I cross reference that number in kyb catalog I get an application for an mix. Did you install a strut plus on a different car?

rklatzkin

Don't see these online anywhere. Wondering where you got these? Do you have a part#? I see them for 2004 accord, but not the TL.

MrLeadFoot

I found a complete oem assembly for $170 for each front. That's about $50 moren than all kyb replacement parts bought individually, less the spring. Trying to figure out what parts I need and sourcing them for this particular car seems to be a real pita! Almost as big a pain as changing a front light bulb in this darn car! At this point I'd spend the extra $50 for a spring I don't need. But, before I do that, I would like to know if oem better than kyb excel-g? Anybody got an opinion? ;-)

Loid

iTrader: (1)

My Type-S is overdue for shocks, been putting it off for a few months now. I've looked at all the options and I've decided to just do Tein SAs all around for 600 bucks and reuse my top hats. Oem will be at least that much from what I've found and the Teins should ride close to stock and allow me to give a mild drop (1/2" or so is all I would want). There's no good, cheap easy option for these cars that I've found.

MrLeadFoot

I've already spent way more money in the time trying to figure out what to get, and where it all knight be available, and I'm still not done! So, right now, I want to know if KYBs are worth me buying the struts, Bushings, covers, etc., then spending the time and effort to compress Springs, and swap struts, when I can just get an oem assembly and to a straight remove and install of the whole thing. I don't care about the extra $50, because I would spend less time by not having to compress the springs. But, I will do it if the KYBs are worth installing, you know what I mean?

BROlando

I used the KYB strut plus on a 07 Accord V6.

Upon some searching...there is a lack of options. Koni yellows and STRT's came up, however.

If you don't mind spending a little more, the Acura replacement will work great...and those do come fully assembled. Using Bernardiparts.com or similar parts sites makes the price difference smaller.

If you're planning on just replacing shocks and transferring your old components over...or assembling new components yourself, look into an actual spring compressor or have a shop do it. You may not need a spring compressor for the rears. I didn't on my friend's 07 TLS.

MrLeadFoot

Did that part number come with the little Bushings, or whatever you call them? I'm not talking about the coil spring insulators, I'm talking about the little rubber bumpers that go on the top of the shock shaft. Thank you.

truonghthe

I have KYB Excel G in my IS300 and coincidently KYB is OEM supplier for Toyota, compare to Tokico Blue and OEM Type S shocks the KYB is the softest of them 3, if it wasn't for the KYB softness the Lexus definitely can out run my TL-S in the corner. I feel the TL-S actually doing pretty good job hiding the car FF layout especially for the price, the softness in the KYB also mean the ride in the lexus is smoother when come to road imperfection.

MrLeadFoot

OK, I decided to do shocks only. Ordered KYB 340066 from Amazon. Not only were these cheaper than the 341330, which I believe is the update to the 340066, they include the rubber mounts. Even better, upon arrival I found that the boxes were opened and the shocks had been replaced with the newer 341330. Install went smoothly, and the KYB shocks are great!