Aftermarket Struts

OB · Post by OB » Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:59 am

Hey all, as many of you know I recently bought some Eibach prokit springs from Grambo, and im now in the market for some new struts. for the last few weeks ive been down for the Tokico HP's 100%, but lately ive thought about how I might want something a little bit better. The blues are about 275$ shipped, and i know KONI's are like in the 700$ range for a set of adjustables. what i want to know is, what are all my options? I cant spend much more than 3-400 max. Or are the HP's the best bang for the buck? Its just that ive heard some people say theyre a bit on the 'soft' side, and i want a good, stiff, performing suspension (at a good price of course). any info or advice is appreciated. thanks

ob

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:39 am

Ive seen some almost new ACR SRT struts go for around $380-440. Maybe look into that

Nick Drake · Post by **Nick Drake** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:41 am

you'll be happy with the blues.

sounds weird huh?

OB · Post by OB » Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:35 pm

haha thats funny!

I just wanted to make sure theyll get the job done before we order em up.

ACHEAPSHOT · Post by **ACHEAPSHOT** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:43 pm

Check these out too, OB.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:47 pm

thanks mang. thats funny it specifically says "WILL NOT FIT REGULAR NEON MODELS". I know that the srt and neon suspensions are fully interchangeable, so this guy must be smokin crack. kinda pricey i dont think we can afford those. Illuminas are adjustable right?

tamadrumr88 · Post by **tamadrumr88** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:51 pm

theyll fit but with neon springs you wont be lowering your car as much as you would had you used comparable neon-based struts... the strut height difference on an srt4 is approx 3/8" higher on an srt4

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:52 pm

The assemblies are interchangable, but IIRC the spring perches sit higher in SRT-4 struts.

EDIT: Looks like I got beat

Matt

OB · Post by OB » Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:40 pm

are the tokico HP struts for neons or srts? I though they were also for the latter. i dont want a crazy drop, i scrape enough as it is. maybe srt based struts are a better idea?

tamadrumr88 · Post by **tamadrumr88** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:14 pm

they list the hp's for 'neon' and the iluma for 'srt4'

im on coilovers and 15's and ive scraped MAYBE once..... just go with the hp's and be done

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:15 pm

I have the HP Tokico Blues and they ride great! Hold a 1.5 inch drop like a dream.

neonpla · Post by **neonpla** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:28 am

the blues are ok i have them on my other neon with eibachs, i got them for 250 shipped from nopi.com, .

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:30 am

What about ACR struts? Sometimes they pop up on the "other org" now and again - I noticed you mentioned adjustable, so...

neonpla · Post by **neonpla** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:18 am

SlvrACR wrote:Ive seen some almost new ACR SRT struts go for around $380-440. Maybe look into that

^^

OB · Post by OB » Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:38 am

Id love adjustables, but theyre so expensive. ill prob just do the tokicos till can afford some coilovers in a couple years or something. some sway bars can fix the softness of the suspension im sure, if there its too soft that is.

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:01 am

i say try the stock ones first and see how you like them... if anything, it will buy you some time till you buy the tokicos. i had my stock struts for over a year and they were still good when i took them off.

OB · Post by OB » Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:43 am

I can do the tokicos whenever i want. Im doing this more for the handling aspect than the looks aspect, so some good am struts are important. this is just to hold me over till coilovers!

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 3:29 am

if its just to hold you over then I would stick to the stock struts... i mean think about, how much high performance driving are you gonna be doing? yeah, hitting some curves at high spedes is fun, but i was able to do it with my coilover sleves and front and rear strut bars... all i'm saying is you should try it first. whats it gonna hurt (other than your wallet)? its very similar to the whole srt stages thing.... why get stage 1 and 2 when ulitmetly your gonna get a stage 3?

tamadrumr88 · Post by **tamadrumr88** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:11 am

dblsg wrote:if its just to hold you over then I would stick to the stock struts... i mean think about, how much high performance driving are you gonna be doing? yeah, hitting some curves at high spedes is fun, but i was able to do it with my coilover sleves and front and rear strut bars... all i'm saying is you should try it first. whats it gonna hurt (other than your wallet)? its very similar to the whole srt stages thing.... why get stage 1 and 2 when ulitmetly your gonna get a stage 3?

well, in gran turismo 4, sometimes you have to spend money to make some money

OB · Post by OB » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:23 am

the reason i DONT wanna use the stock struts is so i dont have to go back and do the whole damn thing over again when they go bad. Im not upgrading to coilovers for at least a year, and these stock struts could easily die in 6 months, the way i drive. I do quite a lot more "performance" driving than you think, thats prob why my brake pads wore like 40% in 15k miles. Downhill canyon driving requires lots of hard braking and fairly hard turns, so the upgrades im making are for a good reason. Thats not to say that i dont do a shitload of everyday stop and go driving, but I DO indeed use my car to its potential when off the mainstreets and on a spirited drive. I need it to be at its best, and the stock suspension just doesnt work for me.

Knoxville_R/T · Post by **Knoxville_R/T** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:28 am

The hp blues will work fine. I had them on my rt with the eibach springs and the handling was really nice. They are cheap and you could sell them on the forum quicker when you get coilovers.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:42 pm

Knoxville_R/T wrote:...and you could sell them on the forum quicker when you get coilovers.

PM me if you get Tokico blues and then decide to sell them.

Mopar00Neon · Post by **Mopar00Neon** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 3:32 pm

Koni's are only about $588 retail. Im putting my order in tomorrow, but we wont discuss what Im actually paying for them. heh.

OB · Post by OB » Sun Jun 11, 2006 10:22 pm

id like to discuss it! hook it up mang are u getting a sick deal! konis pwn i wish i could afford them

wickedneonrt · Post by **wickedneonrt** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:21 am

kyb, koni, tokico, acr, eibach, bg springs thats everyone i know of. let me know also what you do and what the outcome. I've got eibachs and a six point roll cage and there is no stiffer ride on earth. Got a baby now and dont want him flying out the moonroof.

Wisher2 · Post by **Wisher2** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:35 am

OB!!!!! Koni's are only 588 at the tirerack....The only thing is they dont make Koni's for neon's they make Koni cartridge inserts.....which means you have to take your suspension apart and cut the old insert out and replace it with the Koni which to me cuz I am Lazy is just to much work......

Mopar00Neon · Post by **Mopar00Neon** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:43 am

Wisher2 wrote:OB!!!!! Koni's are only 588 at the tirerack....The only thing is they dont make Koni's for neon's they make Koni cartridge inserts.....which means you have to take your suspension apart and cut the old insert out and replace it with the Koni which to me cuz I am Lazy is just to much work......

Its really not that bad. It takes longer to get the struts off and on the car than it does to do the insert thing. I spent about 15 minutes per strut doing the drilling/cutting/pressing to get my Konis in. Then I spent another 2-3 hours spray painting them yellow. lol Though I was lucky, I had an extra set of (perfectly good) stock struts that I used to hack up. So when it came time to put my car on stands I had all 4 Konis installed, painted, and ready to go.

OB · Post by OB » Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:13 am

when I checked em out online they sure look like complete struts! why the f would anyone pay 500 bucks for INSERTS?! what exctly do they do and how do they work? sounds silly to me. got my tokico HP's btw. 260 shipped brand spankin new, sittin in my garage as we speak. mmmm

Wisher2 · Post by **Wisher2** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:19 am

You cut the top of the casing and pull the strut out and then put the koni strut in it's place

OB · Post by OB » Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:26 am

wierd. why not just make a direct replacement?