https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...011-model.html

Best if you have immediate access to Techstream to peform the calibration.

 

Completely unscientific test but while replacing my shocks on my 2011 the Bilstein's are significantly easier to compress by hand vs the OEM Tokico shocks.
I could compress the Bilstein's with 1 hand and little body weight. The OEM shocks I struggle to compress with both hands and a lot of body weight (180lbs) and it takes a while to compress.
I haven't driven the car yet because I'm also installing superpro bushings.

Any thoughts?

 

Not really. There are phantom springs in every shock absorber just as there are phantom springs in rubber bushings. If you want to know what a shock does, you need to put it on a dyno and test it. Anything else is just guessing.

 

Appreciate reading everyones Comments. I feel like my 08 Shocks are welded together. I might sell the car because of this beyond brutal stiff ride. I own a track Bobcat. It's like driving that on 8" rocks. I bought a GSF RED interior so I'm way the hell upside down in my car. So is everyone recommending these Bilsteins for the smoothest ride besides selling this car? Yes Need to fix or sell. 79k miles. Teins on the front. 19's

 

Finding the front left in stock anywhere is impossible right now (April 2021). @ 118k and think it’s about time to replace.

I’d really rather not go for oe shocks, but may have to.

 

Tire Rack shows it in stock. They have the fitment guide backwards though showing the bilsteins only fit the newer cars when in reality they only fit the older models.

In stock in DE.

 

thanks man, you’re a life saver. I tried tire rack but with my2009 selected initially and showed not in stock. They’re oos on the 24-155328 it looks like, but I can find that one around.

 

You got it. I found out the hard way that they don't fit my 2014 Springs. The perch was a little different. I told them the fit guide was backwards a year ago but they still haven't fixed it.

 

You 19 inch stretched tires are ruining your ride every bit as bad as your suspension. Lose the lowering springs. Upgrade your shocks, get 18s with fluffy tall tires. Do it in that order or until you find the desired ride. The stock 13 suspension is pretty smooth. Another member recently posted what it takes to update the suspension to 13-14. If you must stay low, do it right and buy a nice coilover set for comfort like the KW V3.

My 13 rides really well with 18s. It has some ugly wheel gap. I preferred that to the toothless ride I had with swift springs. It still handles well, so I got over the wheel gap.

 

I agree 100% w/ @Jwconeil. Some tires just don't like the stretch in these super-low profiles. (Even though, as @flowrider points out, the factory did the stretch in later model years for a specific tire.) My car came with Michelin A/S3's on 0.5-in wider wheels that are a couple pounds lighter each than OEM wheels. I thought going to heavier OEM wheels would result in a rougher, less compliant ride, but the opposite was true....less sidewall compliance more than compensated for the "free" compression damping effect of the lighter wheels. The difference in comfort was remarkable. Properly sized, well-constructed tires create a new baseline, then it is easier to chase down other nuances one at a time.

 

I've said before, I probably wouldn't own an F car if I lived in the frost heaved concrete road Midwest. I visit my dad in Cedar Rapids and I marvel at the horrid road conditions they take as normal, and I get my liver bounced around whenever I visit. Not so in Georgia. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if the roads in Missouri are similar to the roads in Iowa. To be fair, the highways are mostly good, but the surface streets are a nightmare. Every time I've been to Chicago, I've marveled at how anyone could believe their tax dollars are well spent maintaining the roads, even on the freeways. Again, if I lived there, I'd hate driving any of my three cars. Jwconeil and ChpEng are on point with their recommendations if you want a softer ride over broken concrete, and it sounds like you have that where you live.

 

Trust me... we don’t feel like our tax dollars are well spent.

My ISF came with 20s and lowering springs. I thought it rode great on the way home at first, but I bought it in Florida. Georgia was smooth sailing. By the time we crossed the Indiana line, I knew it had to change. OEM suspension and 18s was the end result. It has the added bonus of lighter wheels and better function. If I ever want to go low, the only option for me is Ohlins TTX because they are the only performance shocks that CAN ride smooth, when set up for smooth riding. Until then, I’ll drive my monster truck ISF around with a smile on my face and zero back aches.

 

Your other option would be going with Tokico HTS adjustable dampers which I did the prototype testing for:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...mper-is-f.html



@ModInJapan sells them: http://www.modinjapan.com/tokico-hts...strut-set.html

 

Can anyone confirm B6 Rear struts will work with 2012 OEM springs, no other parts required?

Seems like this is a favoured setup here, would that be accurate?

 

If the 12 is like the 13 or 14 they will not. The perch is the wrong size. But if the 12 spring is the same diameter as the 08-11 you're good.