Ant81

i have ground control coilovers and i went to the store to see how much to install and they where telling me that my stock shocks would blow in 2 days ...is it true...im only lowering it 2 inches or 2 1/4 inches...how long will my stock shocks last? thank you
my car is a 2002 Si just got it in august and don't feel like changing shocks

Spider883

iTrader: (2)

yes yoru shocks will blow in two days.. if u have an 02' si hatch u should go to www.ephatch.com

Ant81

its a 2002 Si coupe... so they are gonna blow in 2 days even if i lower it 2 inches?

Spider883

iTrader: (2)

oh ok u live in canada.. yes they will blow in a matter of days.. i had neuspeed sports for a year and they didnt blow .. then i put skunk2 coilovers on and the next day my shocks where gone

Ant81

so what kind of shocks should i get ?

Deejai35

iTrader: (5)

Ant81: welcome to the site. I just wanted to let you know that to avoid confrentation with less friendly members in the future, search the threads, before asking questions. You will find that many of the questions you have, have already been discussed numerous times.

To answer your question... the only replacement (performance wise) struts available for our cars is produced by Koni. You can search under Koni and find more than what you need to answer further questions regarding strut replacement and look for info on ground controls too.

Again welcome.

Ant81

thanks, but im a bit worried now cuz i orderedthe coilovers directly from ground control now i have them ... but i don't now what to do like should i install them on my stock shocks or should i get new shocks?

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

thats bull s**t... how do they know its going to blow in two days? no one really know when they're going to blow. it could blow in a day it could blow in 3 years.. for someone to say they're going to blow in 2 days is just trying to sell you s**t. i'm not saying thats it not possible and thats it not likely but truth is it varies alot. sleeved coilovers usually do cause the struts to blow faster then just lowering springs tho. they also have a harsher ride. if you dont have the extra cash for koni's now ($550) then i recommend you just get lowering springs. but even if you were to just install ground controls i'm sure it wont be too badd. there's alot of people here using ground control on stock shocks.

Ant81

so it should be ok then to install it on my stock shocks... the thing is i already have to coilovers at home in my room and im stuck don't know what to do cuz i don't wanna ruin my car

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

well whats the worst that could happen.. shocks blow, you ride on blown shocks for awhile and replace them. only thing is you have to pay for installation again(unless if you DIY of course).

Spider883

iTrader: (2)

on 2k1 and up civics i have installed 2 sets of skunk2 coilovers and 1 set of GC's and on all the cars the shocks where blown in 4 days.. i have also installed 3 sets up neuspeed sports, 1 set of dropzones, and 2 sets of goldline springs and none of the springs have blown shocks...

Ant81

ok so i should get shocks for my car 2k2 car then? which ones should i get and who has the best price? i live in canada, montreal?

Spider883

iTrader: (2)

koni is the only shocks out right now.. hopefully in the summer more companys will have replacements out

Ant81

what is the best site i can order it from at a cheap price?

BJAI

iTrader: (-1)

alot of ppl in can east forum have ground control..me too..and i am running on stock strut..
and they are still ok.....

Slizo

Funny thing, my car is in the shop today getting the Koni's installed for my GC coilovers.

I got mine at shox.com. They quoted me in the high $500s, but they have a lowest price policy, so was able to talk them into matching the price at modacar.com. shox.com also had a neuspeed upper strut bar for $99 so I picked one up as well and the bill including shipping was $720. Compare that the the DC strut bar for $129 at modacar.com and it's a pretty good deal.

Anyway, if you haven't read the article over at hondatuningmagazine.com that details the installation of these struts, you should be aware that the Koni's require you to cut up the strut housing before you can put the strut insert in. That means you won't be going back to stock anytime soon. Also, it probably means that you won't be doing it yourself, but you'll want to find a mechanic who knows what they are doing. The instructions tell you to take a hacksaw to the strut housing, so you definately don't want to f**k that step up. If there is an authorized Koni installer in your area, you might want to look them up.

The shop I took it to quoted me an extra 3 hours labor above what it would normally cost to do the installation due to the modification to the stock struts. Also, be sure you tell the shop ahead of time what is involved. The first shop I took it to took apart the whole suspension before they realized that they needed to cut up the strut housing. Then they decided they didn't want to do it, so I was without a car all day for no reason.

Hope this helps.

Ant81

what kind of koni did u get for the ground control setup? Also was that price CAN or US? thak you by the way how long where u running on your original shocks before they blew?

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

Slizo, I suggest you never go back to the first shop... any idiot would know that they are inserts. n them refusing to do the jobs show's they dont know what they're doing

tAkTicS

couldnt you just put your GC's in on the highest setting on your stock shocks? what is the highest setting for GCs anyway?? then wait until tokicos or some other shocks come out to replace your stock ones, and when you get your aftermarket shocks, set the GCs to how low you wanted them to be in the first place.

Vinh

iTrader: (24)

STUPID NOOB!!!!USE THE SEARCH BUTTON!!!



nah.....i'm just messing wit ya....but there are a lot of @nal ppl on this site that will
have a cow if you ask a question like this....

i've had my ground control on for2 months so far....no problem
i've taken four critical shots to my driver's side rear....still okay

install the gc and spc camber ....u should be set for about 5 months (i'm estimating)
in the mean time....start saving

Deejai35

iTrader: (5)

I am in an indecisive state with my GCs. I have been staring at my GC box for the last 2-3 months. I am saving for struts and hoping that Tokicos come out soon. I think I am going to give in next month and buy whatever struts are out.... looks like Koni will still be my only option. Also the weather here has helped me wait too.

Ant: I suggest that you get everything that you need and do it all at once. It takes patience, but its better to have it done once and done right if you aren't going to do it yourself. Buy struts, and camber kit, and install at the same time as your GCs. Save on labor... I think its worth the wait, at least to me it is.

Slizo

Ant81: I have a 2002 EX, not an SI (not sure how much of a difference it makes), but I think the only Koni's available are the yellows. I don't believe you can get the reds for the 02 civic. I called up ground control to confirm, and they were pretty adamant that they only recommend the Koni yellows. And all prices I mentioned were US, with shipping to the same state.

As for how long it took for my shocks to blow...I'm not really sure. The ride was real harsh from day one. I think that they place I had install them (the same place that bailed on the strut install, and YES I'm never going back :_doh[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] didn't cut the bump stop because I was bottoming out like crazy.

After going through what I'm going through, I would give the same advice as Deejai35, do it right the first time.
The lower you go with the coilovers, the worse your camber is going to get. So your tires will wear out, AND your shocks will probably blow. That's no way to treat a new SI.

Ant81

so you guys say i should get the koni yellows? cuz the box of ground control is in my room and been siiting there for a month cuz don't know what to do? i think im gonna try with my stock shocks[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] but then i think about that i would like to do everything all at once to avoid problems .... im really confused

guamcivic2k1

iTrader: (1)

i got a question too...if i dont lower it more than 2 inches..will shocks last longer than if i drop it below 2 inches? im thinking about getting gcs too, but dont have enough money for koni's..im getting a good price for them that 's why i want to know.

Slizo

Ant81: You should read through other people's threads to see how they like GC on stock shocks. For me, I got tired of wincing every time I hit a pothole and explaining to people why my fancy new car couldn't take a bump. So I just bit the bullet and charged the koni yellows + installation to my credit card (over $1000, OUCH!) Yeah, I'll be paying for it for a while, but at least I won't have to worry about my ride. This is going to be the last major upgrade I make for a long time, but at least my suspension will be all the better for it.

This is just one man's opinion. Like someone else pointed out, there are folks around here who are happy with GC coilovers on stock shocks. If you do ride the stock shocks, and either you blow them, or you just don't like the performance, it will end up costing you more in the long run due to labor. The flip side of this coin is that once you install the koni's, you aren't going back to stock very easily.

You can try with the stock shocks, but my experience with that is your aligment (and thus tires) will suffer, you will have to baby the car on rough roads, and it probably won't be the last upgrade you make to the suspension (which is a good case for doing it all at once). The upside is that it is a cheap way to get exactly the ride height that you want. People will compliment you on it, and it will handle pretty darned good on well paved, curvy roads.

Check out this article, and look at the last 3 paragraphs: honda-life suspension article (page 4). It makes a pretty good case for having your shocks match your springs.

Chances are, if you are reading this board, and have already purchased some coilovers, you have a whole set of upgrades in mind for your car, right? You aren't going to throw in some springs and call it a day, you are going to continue to mod your car, a little bit of this, a little bit of that...it's a hobby, right. So all I'm saying is that your suspension depends on so many factors (tires, springs, shocks, camber, etc) just save up and do it all at once. If you are looking for a "cheap" upgrade, you will get exactly that: a suspension that has one decent part, at the expense of everything else. That's fine if you're just going for show, but I drive my car almost every day, and
bottoming out really started to bother me.

guamcivic2k1: Regardless of ride height, the increased spring rate is till overworking your shock, so I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't last any longer. You won't bottom out as much, though, which is good. I had my ride dropped as far as it would go without rubbing and it wasn't nice. If you're riding stock shocks, I would definately keep the ride height sane. The great thing about the GC coilovers is it's easy to adjust, so if you just want to cruise for poon tang, you can slam it down, then raise it up when you have to work

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

damn slizo writes just as much as i do, if not more [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]
too lazy to read now, maybe i will later..

BJAI

iTrader: (-1)

yes if u don't lower ur car as much ur shock will last longer..

Slizo

lol. No need to read later, VNlilMAN. It's nothing exciting.

Ant81 just seems to be in the same spot I was last year, and I wish I had done more research before installing the coilovers. I was expecting a performance upgrade, but just got fancy lowering springs and busted shocks.

Ant81

so i guess i might get to koni yellows ... but will they fit with my gc's? also what is a reasonable price for them and what can i do with my stock shocks and my sock springs?

Slizo

Ground Control designed those coilovers specifically for the koni yellows, so yeah, they'll fit. You might have other options in a few months when more parts come out, but right now Koni yellows are your best bet.

I wouldn't pay more than $600 US.

Save them in case you want to go back to stock. But keep in mind you'll need to replace the strut housing if you do.