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I have an 05 civic coupe automatic, it's just my daily driver so other than the typical bolt on's my car will stay stock, I have 16" wheels with tires due for replacement, I was looking to go back with 205/50/16's I'm just not sure what to get for new struts. I went to a local shop and they quoted me 880 installed for kyb oem type struts with alignment and 840 for a set of monroes... Then I called the Honda dealer and they said they can do it for 700 out the door. Now given my options which would be my best route? Or does anyone live near Bakersfield CA willing to help with a wrenching party? I've never done struts but I do have spring compressors... Any help/info would be greatly appreciated, I'm not new to tools or working on cars I'm just not sure how hard it would be to do it myself.

 
Rep Power: 285

Struts are really easy, spend $400 on all OEM parts and you could have it done in a day without much trouble and basic tools.

 
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Will I need to compress the coils alot or will they be pretty well fully extended once removed? I guess I could go google a strut diy huh

 
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I've actually been eyeballin these for a long time prolly a few years now I'm just not sure how good they are.
http://www.hopupracing.com/meracokitcis.html

 
Rep Power: 512

No need to google.. We got it right here for you. Sure, it's a spring swap DIY guide but you have to remove the strut to replace the spring, so it doubles as a strut replacement DIY guide. Just letting you know, this was the first thing I did on my car, and I was 17 with the aid of my 15 year old friend, both of us highly inexperienced at working on cars. Before that, all the experience I had on cars was oil changes, brake pads, and a little bit of stereo wiring.

We had nothing more than a socket set, allen wrench set, a hammer, jack stands, a hydraulic jack, the scissor jack that came with the car, and my dad's driveway. Took us 4 hours.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/4...info-pics.html

 
Rep Power: 367

vote for tokiko blues based on others' reviews

 
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since its a DD, get tokico blues. they are soft enough to be a DD but will increase handling very well.

they go for under 400. so buy them yourself, have the shop install them and sell ur STOCK struts on this forum...and yes they will sell....but im looking for some. lol

you will spend about 700ish total (with tokico blues+labor+alignment)

kyb oem are CRAPPPPPPPPP....and so are monroes

 
Rep Power: 367

thought the monroes were even lower ratings?

 
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monroes are so horrible. i had a scale they would be down there..... those r the kind struts u put on ur car in hopes that you'll get into a car accident so ur insurance would get u a new car.

 
Rep Power: 367

good scaling!

 
Rep Power: 244

I don't like the Monroe brand for some reason. However, is there any test to show their bad performance?

- Slalom
- Braking distance
- G force
- handling

I am not quite sure what are testing factors but these are what I came up with.

 
Rep Power: 352

u know that example of the crashing i gave? i didnt make it up.

i cant speak how it would perform on a civic, but i replaced my friend's nissan 99 maxima with monroe (cuz they were cheap and he was going to sell his car soon).

after we installed it, he said the car's suspension was still crap. very bouncy, way too much roll in corners....just junk. its funny because his mom has a 97 maximia with new OEM shocks (obviously mom was willing to pay the 800 that the nissian dealer charged)..and his ride quality of his mom's car was WAY better.

about a month after installing the monroe, he was driving on the I-5 freeway and he hit an uneven part of the road, it launched his car up n when it went down, it bounced so hard he lost traction n slammed into the car next to him.
a month later. his car was totalled and insurance paid him full.

im sure there were other factors at play, but the suspension dampening is a big part of it.

matter of fact, i hit the same uneven pavement when i go pick up my sister at UCLA, but since my suspension is much stiffer (koni yellow+GC) i dont get bounced.

 
Rep Power: 367

OMG, even if i don't put them in my car, i can be a monroe victim?

 
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thats odd cause my shop has installed hundreds of monroe's and never had a complaint. But now that i think about it we've never used "Cheap" monroe's so i guess you get what you pay for. Now we did sell a set of KYB oem's on a mazda 3 that i thought felt like crap but never drove the car prior so that may just have been how the car rode

 
Rep Power: 352

i cannot speak for the higher end monroe, but i dont think we spent more than $200 on all 4 corners...

all i can say is i nor my friend liked them.