cupete

Guys,

I was thinking about changing the factory struts to Tokico struts which everyone is talking about in this forum, so last saturday I, for some reason, checked all 4 factory struts and guess what I found underneath the car? 4 blue struts with TOKICO name on them. What the? Are the factory struts Tokico? If so, why do I want to change the Tokico struts to another Tokico struts with same product number? I currently have about 95,000 miles on my '95 SC400. Is it wise to change the struts to TOKICO or go for some other struts? If it is the case, what should I get? I already have Eibach springs on my car and I am also reading a lot of stories about Eibach/Tokico combo making the tapping sound whenever driving over a pothole or something, which I am also experiencing all the time.

Any ideas?

Peter~

CamryTuner

Well, I've heard of Coilovers tapping or clicking but never springs. You probably have to cut the bump stop on your stock factory struts. That may be the cause to the clicking or tapping sounds. I had to do that. Of course, your suspension and my suspension is totally different.

Red93sc400

Hi Pete:
The factory Lexus Struts look exactly like the Tokico strut except for the color which is black for the OEMs vs blue for the Tokicos. The factory struts have KBE on them and some Japanese script as well. You seem to have purchased an SC which someone has put Tokicos on, nice. Hopefully you know how many miles are on them. I have no experience with the Eibach springs but the tapping or clicking noise is a real negative IMHO.

So far I have heard three negative things about the lowered spring units:

1) This tapping or clicking noise.

2) One side of the car is lower than the other (I wonder if this is due to somehow a faulty installation?? Or poor QC??)

3) Shock life is reduced by some yet undefined amount.

You add this all up and I ponder if lowering a car 1" is worth it?
Probably yes if you are racing or rallying the car so the CG is lowered. To do this for esthethic purposes only is something that would have to be weighed.

mjames08

I had the car that was lower on one side than the other.. A new set of Eibach springs are being installed as we speak.. I will post the results this evening..

cupete

Red93,

#1 is true and happens all the time, unless I have like 2-3 people in my car, for some I don't hear any sound.

#2 is true, my car's passenger side is higher than the driver's side. I am going to check out the seating over the weekend.

And as for the good news, BLUE TOKICO struts meaning it's not factory parts? WOW!!! But then again, I don't know how many miles they have on them. Let see, I bought the car in '99 and put more than 20,000 miles. Hmm... Maybe it's time for me to change the struts.

Thanks,

Peter

MadMaxSC400

Is there a recommended change-out time for struts?

Red93sc400

Pete and MadMax:
Like eyesight, struts and shocks and even springs go bad slowly, slowly, slowly over a period of time (unless they gas out or leak real bad). The result is that you get used to the degraded ride and handling just like the person with failed eyesight is not aware of the fact until they take a test. (I remember when I first got glasses I was shocked to see that trees had individual leaves when viewed from afar! No Kiddin')

Well, I changed out the rears at 70Kmiles and fronts at 72K miles. They were not "BAD" but the new Tokicos are a marked improvement. I notice it when going over seams in bridges, and going slowly over speed bumps and when doing hard turns at speed. The car now has the tires stuck to the road. So I think that if you have records for your car you may want to change out your struts every 60K or 70K miles.

A good test is to go over a rough roadway with some friends in a separate car. Have them watch your tires as they go over bumps. The tire should not at all bounce off the roadway. If they do that is a good sign your shock is soft and allowing excessive up and down movement. This will eventually kill your springs if left unattended and may even cause premature suspension wear.

Now the tuff part.... if you have a lowered car this interval for change out may be reduced. In the lowered car I have heard that the shocks get a much more intense work out. I have nothing to verify this fact. I would imagine that may be due to the fact that the strut is compressed 1" more than it normally would be on unlowered car. What effect this has on some variable gate (progressive resistance) shocks is also unclear.

808state

*if you use eibachs, it does not recommend that you cut the bumpstops (read the stuff if comes with).

* the uneven between pass and driver seems to be normal even on stock cars. anything beyond "1/4 difference, now that may be a quality problem or some on ther suspension problem.

* noise from the front i had was due to the stabalizer bar linkage..i guess it went bad. bought new ones and the noise dissapeared. the rear onese seems to be from the eibach springs hitting each other. put some heater hose around some of it and it stop. there are other things you can use to. if you search the web, it seems like eibachs for a lot of cars make noise..weird!

* suspension probs are weird and a lot of times,are an individual case basis. what works for me may not work for you.

black sc

Are you guys reusing the old bumper stops and shock boots? I know that with mine. I am going to change it out. As for the tapping noise. I guess the shocks are not firm enough.

AutoCoutureSC

iTrader: (8)

i have the eibach and tokico set up and it's great! i have no complaints IMO. I had them for a year now. When i had them changed, i bought some new dust boots for the struts for $60.00 at the dealer, just to prolong the life of my strut. As for the car being lower on one side, my car is a bit lower on the passenger side. It was like that before the eibachs, and they are the same afterwards. A one inch drop on my car made a HUGE difference since i have 18's and a body kit. IT handles better too.

mjames08

Just had my Eibachs installed (again) yesterday.. The car is pretty much even on both sides, there may be 1/8" difference on one of the wheels, but that is it. When I had the first set installed, there was a 1 1/2" difference between the passenger and driver side.. you can imagine how funny that looked. I complained about it, and it winds up Eibach sent us the wrong springs. We ordered a new set, and again Eibach sent us the wrong springs. One of the guys at the tire shop had to drive out to the warehouse and pick them up himself...

Slow_go_400

I have Tok and EB set also on my 96 400. My experience with them isn't so good. Everyone in CL always says " they ride almost like stock" . Not for me, it's harsh and THUMP sound always occurs when I go over a small skinny speed bumbs. Also before I had my Sub box placed i notice that the front seems to be taller than the back. I have 18's and the front gap is like 2 finger gap and back is 1 :-(. Obviously it got a little worse with the addition of my box. Oh yeah also I have a problem with the inside of my tires always seem to ware out extremely fast compared to the rest of tire (TOE in problem?). Wondering if the guys who installed it, placed the front springs in back. Is that even possible? Anyone know if the SC's camber adjustable?

black sc

I think the front is. There is a bolt on the lower control arm in the front but, not sure about the back. As for not installing springs in that is impossible.