Corolla 2006 bumpy ride (continued)

How many miles on the car? Maybe the shocks are worn out.

If they are KYBs, it's *entirely* possible. I don't have a whole lot of experience w/ Japanese cars though. (I've had the same experience with Sachs/Boge replacements for an old VW - replaced original shocks at something like 110K miles; 20K miles later I had to replace them again... GRR...)

nate

How sure are you of the accuracy of the tire gauge? Maybe you should just the tires at 28. It could also be the tires. Some are stiffer than others and have a harsher ride.

Wow. KYBs used to be fantastic. I put them on a 1974 Corolla 1200 and was amazed! I put them on my "Hachiroku" and was amazed! I put them on one of my other cars and was...let down big time! (I think it's the Mazda I'm driving now).

So, when it was time to buy new shocks for the Supra, Bilsteins or Konis were first choice, but wound up going with Tokico (OEM supplier) because the Bs and the Ks were just too damn expensive!

Tokico is the OEM supplier for Toyota, and I have had original shocks go to 100,000 miles!

I'd see if it has 'low rolling resistance' tires... they can be somewhat harsh. HTH, Ben

I dunno, PO of my 944 put KYBs on the rear shortly before I bought the car and they started clanking w/in a year or two. Not long after that I had occasion to borrow my then-landlady's Nissan pickup and I made some offhand comment about how it felt underdamped - here her ex-husband (pro wrench) had just put on new shocks - KYBs. (whoops... next time I'll just shut up.) So I'm not a big fan, although that is a sample size of two. The Bilsteins that replaced the KYBs on the Porsche were still going strong when I sold it just a few months ago.

nate

Tire pressure is surely going to matter. Ties matter more than shocks in general. More like bouncy ride with shocks. Most tires today are stiffer. Tires with higher speed ratings have stiffer side walls. Make a huge difference in ride.

Greg

Dan wrote in news:162373cf-c146-4348-860c-cc87428e4359 @y31g2000vbp.googlegroups.com:

You're too old. Buy a Camry or something else with a softer suspension.

Hah. I've had at least two cars I can think of - well, actually three, because I reused one of the suspension setups - where the suspension/wheels/tires were worth more than the rest of the car.

Yeah, maybe I'm a little odd.

nate

Hey! I have a Scion!

I have had a lot of people tell me the KYBs aren't what they were. They got bought up by someone, can't remember who, but a big player-Gabriel or Monroe comes to mind.

I would have liked the Bilsteins, but I paid $600 for the car, and $475 in shocks just didn't cut it!

It's possible. I've seen shocks shot in 30K and others last to 90K. I'd be surprised on the Corolla if they were the problem at that mileage. Is the poor ride something new?

I might be all wet but I was talking about this with a friend who also had a bad experience with KYBs and he thought the KYBs were made in such a way that any sideload that is applied to the shaft messes them up. I had some on an S-10 and they seemed fine, no noises. He had some on a 68 Mustang and his were noisy like you describe. He said on the Mustang the shock is what keeps the spring from rotating sideways in the swivel bottom spring mount. On my S-10 they were not side loaded at all. Any chance your problems happened on cars that somewhat sideloaded the shocks?

just put a set of gr2's on one of my civics. still made in japan. handle great. build quality better than oem - at least as far as i can see from the outside. and i have looked closely.

by that logic, you'd never change the oil or tires either. shocks are a safety item dude - if you're going to drive it, spend the money.

other than that, i had a set of bilsteins on a civic years ago. i was amazed that they didn't seem to know about the basics of metal fatigue - there were two types of load-bearing notches in their construction. i took them off. they may be great at some other types of application, but for honda, they don't get it and i wasn't going to guinea pig the fatigue testing they should have done themselves.

not likely, but possible. gas pressurized shocks tend to depressurize over time, and when they do, ride harshness increases considerably.

I wound up getting Tokicos for ~$200. That's what it came with.

The KYBs were about the same price, but the last two sets didn't hold up.

The set before that went 6 years. I don't know if they changed.

Or I have...

the last set of gr2's i had lasted about 100k. not spectacular, but for the price, good enough. and they're a little better than oem on damping, but don't rattle your brains out. the trouble with most "upgrade" shocks is that they tend to go "firm", in some cases, way firm

- and with some of the crazy bad roads we have here in the bay area, you don't want that.

anyone got experience with tokico illuminas? i tried kyb agx's, but even though they were supposed to be adjustable, it seemed that was only for the rebound, not compression - they were a harsh ride.