VX's BUMPY RIDE?!?!

[VehiGAZ]

FOLLOW-UP POST: Peewog and I drove each other's VXs last night - hers with OEM shocks and mine with the the new Bilsteins - and I can report that the Bilsteins provide about 97% of the damping that the OEM shocks do. No joke - I've been paying attention. Bump, rebound, and body motions were nearly identical between the two VXs. I thought mine transmitted road surface imperfections a bit more than hers, but I'm chalking that up to different tires rather than the shocks. Her tires were probably just a little softer than mine, so I got more vibrations from the road surface. But as for bump and rebound, the bigger jolts, dips, and heaves had about the exact same effect with either shock.

[VXcaver]

I did the Bilstein thing a few weeks ago and love 'em.

VehiGAZ - how did you get them compressed? I tried everything (sitting on them, putting them under a bench and stacking weights...) and finally took them to a mechanic to install. Were they supposed to be wired in a retracted position when the arrived?

[VehiGAZ]

Well, compressing the new shocks so I could mount them was the #1 trick to figure out (they arrived uncompressed). I compressed each a couple of times against the pavement to try to loosen them up (mostly in my mind, I suppose) because I noticed a high initial resistance before they started compressing. That was about all the prep work I did though.

For the rears, it wasn't a problem at all, because the uncompressed shock fit almost perfectly when the lower control arm was hanging down loose. I put the whole rear end of the VX up on 2 stands, and I used the jack to lift and drop the control arm as necessary to get the shock to slide into place. Piece of cake.

For the fronts, I again put the whole front up on the stands to work on it. I mounted the lower end of the shock first (finger-tight). Next, I put the lower half of the upper bushing on the upper post mount and leaned it up against the upper shock mount.

I first used a crowbar against the top of the post to begin compressing the shock. I compressed it enough to wedge the bushing plate under the edge of the shock mount and released the crowbar. Then I used a hefty flat-head screwdriver to compress the shock a little more by prying the bushing and then the plate against the underside of the mount until I could get the top of the bushing wedged under the edge of the shock mount. I was able to release the shock again at this point. Then I got a second big flat-head screwdriver, and used each in turn to compress the shock some more with one, then to keep it from extending again with the other.

There are two holes in the wheel well under the shock mount which I stuck the tip of each screwdriver into as a leverage point. When I got the shock compressed to where the top of the post was about about an inch or more lower then the shock mount, I quickly sort of pried the shock into place under the mount and let it expand right up into the post hole, or tried to get in back of it (i.e., deeper in) if I missed. Keep yoru fingers clear when doing this!! It doesn't expand terribly quickly, but you don't want to get caught in the way. If the post got caught near the edge of the mount hole, I used a mallet to knock it into place and let it expand. I then installed the upper half of the bushing and plate, and that was it.

By the way, I used about the same technique to remove the old front shocks. Just make sure you loosen the lower front bolts first, then remove the the top post from the upper mount, THEN pull the lower mount bolt and remove the shock! Otherwise, the lower mount will wedge itself against the control arm in one of several awkward spots (like against the brake line!) - I speak from experience.

And while I'm at it, I removed the old rear shocks by dropping the control arm, then using the jack to adjust the height of the control arm so that the shock was as close to its "neutral" position as possible (i.e., not being compressed and not being stretched). This is of course not a concern if the old shock is completely dead - it won't want to return to a neautral position. When it's close to the neutral position, remove the upper bolt most of the way, and use that as an indicator of where the exact neutral spot of the shock is. If the bolt is pointing up, the shock is being stretched and is pulling down, so you need to raise the control arm. If the bolt is pointing down, the shock is compressed and is pushing on the bolt, so lower the control arm a little to find the sweet spot. When it's in its neutral position, it should be fairly easy to remove. Again, remove the upper bolt first, then the lower one.

A note on torquing the bolts - Each mount has its own torque specs (see one of the VX service manuals), and the service manual says to put the bolts in finger-tight, then torque each to spec with the suspension loaded (i.e., on the ground), but that was just about impossible to do without it being on a full lift. I don't know about you guys, but my torque wrench is about two feet long (heh-heh), and there is NO WAY it's going to fit under the VX when it is on the ground. I was actually able to tighten the post mount nuts with the torque wrench (although I had to use channel-lock pliers to hold the shock shaft while I tightened the nut with torque wrench). But I just tightened everything else to hand-wrench-tight, which is how tight it was when I removed the old shocks.

I hope that description of the procedure makes sense. I guess I explained the steps backwards, but close enough to git 'er done. If anyone has any questions, PM me or post here.

I wish I had taken a couple of pics or a video of the screwdriver-prying technique to share with the board, but I wouldn't have wanted to even look at our digi-cam with my filthy hands. I could have gotten the wife to handle the camera, but she was inside the house cleaning, and you know you don't want to disturb that!

[transio]

Let me tell you, I've been riding on these Bilsteins for almost a year now. They are the stiffest ride I've ever encountered. Stiffer, even, than my S2000 or M Coupe had. It's almost like a gocart. If anyone is concerned about ride comfort, don't get them!

[VehiGAZ]

Wow, I can't agree with Transio's comment on the Bilsteins. I found that they control the body motions very well, very comparably to the stock OEM shocks - FAR from the "go cart ride" Transio describes. And having had overly-soft shocks on my VX, I can tell you that going softer makes for an ugly, uncontrollable ride. Soft, yes, but that's no bargain when you're getting tossed left, right, and forward over ever undulation in the road. The Bilsteins gave my VX a softer and smoother ride than the 8-year old 145k mile Prelude SH that it replaced.

Transio, I wonder if there's a lot of difference between the actual performance (rather than the design performance) of our sets of shocks. Or maybe you don't have stock springs in your VX? I don't know how else to account for the discrepancy in our experiences with these Bilsteins.

[transio]

Gaz, do you have H1's front and back? Most people go with H2's on the front, which aren't as stiff. I have H1's, and the stiffness is noticeable.

[Raque Thomas]

Steve, your wheel/tire combo may contribute to the harsher ride as well. It made a BIG difference in my ride quality.

[t2p]

VehiGAZ:
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The KYB MonoMax is a better option for the VX than the KYB GasAdjust. The Mono Max is intended for SUV's, trucks, etc. The MonoMax is 'beefier' (larger shaft diameter, etc) and has a higher (rebound) damping rate.
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