I was talking about $1200 coilovers lol. like you said It wouldnt make sense for 4 grand coilovers. I had a car with stock shocks and aftermarket springs and lasted 3 years with no problems because I drove it 12 miles a year was a sedan and never track. I see what you are saying but I still think decent coilovers is the way to go if you are keeping your car for a long time and dont track it and drive it normal..
think about it this way if you get some $1200 and they blow up and you revalve them: 2 grand total and you have the advantage of lowering, damp, etc. for a pretty good time (depends on how you drive). On the other hand by the time your second set of coilovers would need to be revalving... your stock shocks will be feeling like a Lada (LOL), and having to replace lexus shocks will cost you a bunch of money that wouldnt be worth it. counting also that the ride would be better.
I understand your side though.

 

Also remember it will take a few weeks to get your coilovers rebuilt, which some of us can't spare since its our daily driver. If your doing your own install, then you could just put your stock springs/shocks on while you wait for your coilovers, but most people here aren't so handy.

If I was to get coilovers, I wouldn't put them to good use. I don't track my car and honestly I'll just set the dampeners and ride height once and forget about it.

 

This man speaks the truth.

A turn off about coilovers for me is the fact that I have to pay someone to take it off, stick my oem coils back on, and then paid to get them rebuilt, and install them again. Every time I need a rebuild I will spend around 400~500 bucks + a week or so down time, or I can get F sport shocks for 2x as much, with time interval between change 3x as long.

 

Exactly as I see. What shop wants to take off your coilovers, leave the car sitting in their garage while it takes some questionable vendor 1-3 weeks to rebuild them. The F-Sport shocks will last far longer than most of us will keep our cars, and they can be replaced same day, no downtime. I'll monitor my OEM sport shocks for wear now that I'm on Eibach springs (I use the IS350 loaner cars for comparison purposes).

 

And that's exactly why I will be switching to F-Sport shocks when it comes time to change my shocks...spent less than $1k on shock + spring + all installation.

Which shock do you guys think will be comfier, the F-Sport (Bilstein) or Tokicos?

 

I had Tokikos on my Q45 and they rode pretty soft compared to Bilstein Sports. I thought they were well suited for a "sporty" luxury ride.

Can I ask an honest question? In the German world of tuning where I come from, I've never heard of anyone having coilovers rebuilt. Is this common with JDM type products? Folks who run H&R coilovers on Audis, Porches, etc never seem to have any wear issues... at least with the coilovers anyway :-)

 

I can't speak from experience because I'm still reasearching the issue, but I called and spoke with both Megan and BC Racing and they both said their coilovers don't need a rebuild for around 100K miles. And that all you need is a new cartridge sent to you instead of an entire 'rebuild'. They said they could walk me throught the rebuild and I could do it myself or have my local shop do it. Sales pitch? I don't think so... Regarding the 100k miles, I doubt they both would lie and both come to about the same milage... I just don't see coilovers manufacturers making a product that needs maintenance from 1 or 2 years of driving, but I could be wrong... but I dont' think so, it just doesn't seem right.

That, and I'll state (becase I DO have experience in this matter) - my stock shocks blew on H&R springs in 5K miles!
I trimed the bumpstops so that my of had something to do with it, but 5K people... these shocks are NOT meant to be driven on anything lower then F-Sport springs, which we all would agree hardley even satisfiy as a drop at all.

 

There's nothing special about coilovers that makes it necessariy to "rebuild" them any more or less often than shocks. The reason why you hear about people getting their coilovers rebuilt so often is because they A) bought crappy coilovers, B) use their cars for competition and want the dampers to perform like new for every race, or C) have more money than sense. The JIC coilovers that I had on my S2000 for about 50K miles were still performing very well when I sold them to another S2000 owner.

FWIW, there are companies that will rebuild OEM shocks too.

 

The reason why Megan and BC are telling you that is because their dampers are too cheap to rebuild. Basically, you just throw them away, and buy new "cartridges" (dampers) then use the old springs and mounts with the new dampers. However, I would guess that new cartridges would cost over $500.

 

That's kind of what I figured. Thanks!

 

A few points on subjects above, speaking from experience with F-Sport/Eibach 350 springs:

. It's a bit of a mystery to me why coilover rebuilds should be done anymore often than quality shock replacements. Everybody is speculating for the most part, in reality it's not much of real issue in the lifespan of the typical owner. The real issue if a coilover rebuild is necessary is the downtime with the coilover out of the car while it's being rebuilt.

. Shocks that blow at 7K miles are defective (mfg. defect), it rarely happens with or without lowering springs, and shows as a leaking shock.

. For many people F-Sports is the perfect drop. It looks just right, not slammed. It still rides like a Lexus, not a lowered Honda Civic with almost no suspension travel. It doesn't require dodging every bump, speedbump, driveway, etc. The car actually ends up with improved handling and is capable of more than just posing in parking lots.

 

Common? Not really. Bilstein shocks get rebuilt all the time for racers. Street drivers, not so much. Tein has a bad habit of rattling and the rattles go away after a rebuild, so that's why I had mine rebuilt.

 

Any shock that blows after 5k is defective.