Seen a post today that talked about the life expectancy of the shocks/struts is reduced with installing lowering springs.

Just wondering how many miles others have gotten with the OEM shocks if they dropped their vehicle?

Looking at installing Tein H springs which is less drop then many others. I would think it would be less of an issue with these?

 

I've seen stories for both sides of the argument.
Technically I know how and why the drop kills the shocks/struts,
But a major factors are, how low is the drop, what are the roads
like out by you, and your driving style.

I'm riding my stock shocks, but I'm also setting aside a
little bit each paycheck because I'm expecting to need to
replace them before this year is over.

 

Word.

 

My stock shocks/struts only lasted 8,000 miles after lowering, but that was driving the battered streets of New Orleans.

 

What kind of springs did you put on?

 

2" Spy Drop springs.

 

I had 2" goldlines then the H techs and the struts just went bad this weekend. Either that or something borke. 19K miles (split between the two sets).

 

I have the set of H Techs sitting at my house that im gonna do this week. I would think that these springs have the least chance of blowing out your stock shocks being that its only an inch drop. I have an extra set of brand new shocks and struts at my house so im set if it does happen.

 

a 2 inch or less drop normally lasts at least 13k.

 

i have eibachs and they blew after about 10k miles.

 

So what is the solution here? I want to use the tein H but I don't want to change out my struts every 9 months. Seems wierd that a 1 inch drop will trash the struts?

My goal is for a better ride, drop is nice but I could do without it.

Thanks for all the posts.

 

Would you recommend riding on the stock shocks till they blow? Or would you say just upgrade them both now?

 

Ride em till they blow; while you're doing that, save some money for replacements.

 

Thats what I say , if you are easy on the car h techs should last longer than 13 , i used 13 as a normal minimum on average that is , heck some people kill a stock strut within 5k on stock springs , it happens. i've been lowered anywhere from 2.5 and 3.0 up front and 2.25 and 2.5 in the back for all 11,000 of my cars miles nothin blown yet and i push my car every now and again too , I even tote around 3 full sized passengers too.

 

What are the replacement strut options? Is there a aftermarket strut/shock that is going to last a lot longer?

 

My thoughts exactly. What are some options other than coil overs and bags? Is anyone making special struts for dropped Scions yet?

 

Specifically for dropped no , but , koni yellow's , h&r's as well as kyb agx adjustables in the making so i hear. There will probably be tokico illumina's eventually as well as dropzones(maybe)

 

if you want to get aftermarket struts that will handle a lowering spring, then go and spend the money on coilovers. since those struts are meant to handle a lower ride height. for price i would get the tanabe or the tein basic coilovers. for performance zeal is the most expensive while cusco and hks are average priced arond 1300

 

Anyone know what is the ride quality is like of coilovers? I need a better ride than stock.
Thx

 

I don't know if this helps the topic or not, but the last car that I had springs on was a '99 Acura TL. I put springs that dropped the car about 1.5 inches on stock shocks, the front shocks were replaced after about 40,000 miles, and the rear shocks are still fine, the car has about 55k miles on it now. The springs were made by Comptech, and gave the car a nicer look without killing the ride. I also finished it off with a set of swaybars which made the world of a difference.