my 05 xb has 48k and is completely stock. i finally decided to put some money into it and bought springs (and wheels). i bought tein h techs and was wondering if i would need to replace front and back shocks or can i ride with the originals?

thanks.

You can ride with them for a while but eventually you'll want to change them like I'm gonna do in the next few months! I'm probably gonna go with bB2ners set-up... :ponder:

you can use the stock shocks. i replaced mine with monroe sensatracs for a more comfortable ride. the rear shocks were too stiff for me.

ive been on the stock shocks for half a year. no problems.

thanks.

does anyone have pics of their box on h tech's?

mine is on H-Techs but I have Monroe Sensatracs for the Echo. It lowers my front end another 1/2in. My car's in my profile.

these pics are the drop RIGHT AFTER the installation, they have since settled about a quarter to half inch more ...

front:
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/awlin/images/photos/08.12.07/DSC02022.JPG

back:
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/awlin/images/photos/08.12.07/DSC02021.JPG

can't see the drop too well i guess, but here's a feeling for it on my car:

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v106/229/111/4800745/n4800745_31482880_1746.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v135/174/0/4811930/n4811930_31516403_3938.jpg

thanks for the pics evosky. they were helpful. great looking xb.

mine is on H-Techs but I have Monroe Sensatracs for the Echo. It lowers my front end another 1/2in. My car's in my profile.

that sounds interesting. so i would have to get sensatracs for echo in the front and xb shocks for the rear? sorry is the question is basic...

I also purchased the Tein H-Techs, not installed yet, but here are the Monroes I plan on installing as well...
- Monroe Sensatrac front struts #71575 (made for the 00-02 Echo, will drop the front of the xB an additional 1/2")
- Monroe Sensatrac rear shocks #5987
I got the rear shocks for $64 from partsamerica.com (picked up locally at Kragen), not enough $$$ for the front struts yet, those run about $125 for the pair.

hmrnbox...thanks for the part numbers and prices.
please post pics when they're installed.

I'm torn between the H techs and the S techs. Not sure if I want to be almost 2 inches lower again. I wonder how much the H techs settle to after awhile? My old Hotchkis springs sank to almost 2 inches after 2 years. :nails:
Got to the point where I had to drive on 2X4s to get the floor jack under it to change wheels. :tap:

Here is mine with H-techs, camera phone pic, kinda fuzzy.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f253/cadams206/xb.jpg

And with S-Techs now.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f253/cadams206/TOASTERPICS002.jpg

the H-techs after a year, are about where the S-Techs are now, after 2 months. I hope they settle more.

thinline - i will try to post some pix of my h-tech setup tonight - they have been on for over 2 months now so they are pretty much settled

i'd appreciate it hmrnbox.
i bought the h-techs but have not installed them yet. i have not decided whether to get the shocks yet.

for the best ride go Konis

i'd appreciate it hmrnbox.
i bought the h-techs but have not installed them yet. i have not decided whether to get the shocks yet.It's easier to do both at the same time. Ride difference is night and day. You will not regret it at all.

thanks for the suggestion.
i probably will get the shocks and then have everything installed at once.

That would be wise if you are not doing it yourself. Let us know what you think of the set up after it's all installed.

sorry thinline for taking soo long. for the life of me i could not find where these were at...on my camera of all places!
htechs, 2 months old, on 18x35s
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa97/hmrnbox/xB/100_2209.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa97/hmrnbox/xB/100_2210.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa97/hmrnbox/xB/100_2211.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa97/hmrnbox/xB/100_2213.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa97/hmrnbox/xB/100_2214.jpg

hmrnbox...thanks for the great pics. your xb is nice and clean!!!
i still didn't buy the struts & shocks yet and the springs are still sitting in my garage.
hard to find the time with work and family.
hard to find the money too with work and my other toys (guitars and motorcycle...).

did you go with the:

- Monroe Sensatrac front struts #71575 (made for the 00-02 Echo, will drop the front of the xB an additional 1/2")
- Monroe Sensatrac rear shocks #5987

thanks again for your time.

no problem. i know how it goes with no time, no money, etc. :)

for now i just have the monroe shocks in the rear, didn't have the funds for the struts in the front. also i plan on larger tires, 40 or 45, so i may not get the front struts after all.

keep us posted on the progress - would like to see how it all turns out.