So last year I installed A set of Ground control coilovers with some KYB GR-2 struts and the struts are already shot. My car makes a loud squealing noise when I reverse or go out of 1st gear and my wheels are also rubbing now. Put car on lift and def. the struts are shot no tension at all!

My question is what would cause these to go out so quick? I am currently about to purchase a set of Koni Str.t struts and am concerned if there could be something causing this to happen, like bad bushings or something? Any insight would be great?

Thanks,
Ttali211

 

umm... just out of curiousity, how low were you on those coilovers? Cuz GR-2's are like oem replacement shocks and not really meant for the rigors of a lowered ride.

In short... KYB GR-2 Shock + Coilovers= Blown GR-2 Shocks

 

I never really measured it, but i would say 1.8-2.0 inches. I heard that the koni str.t struts are a good strut for a mild setup and have a lifetime warranty so hopefully won't have to worry about this shit again.

 

bump

 

Hit the nail on the head there. GR-2 isn't for lowered hoopties. That's a job for the AGX

 

It's not the lowering, it's the higher spring rate from stiff lowering springs. OEM replacement struts can't damp stiff springs any better than OEM struts can, so they're going to die too..

You might have problems with spring sag also. Your struts aren't meant to hold the car up, they're just meant to damp the springs. The springs hold the car up.

 

whats spring sag? Have you all heard anything about the koni str.t with a coilover setup?

 

bump

 

when you installed them, did you set/tune the springs right? IOW did you allow the springs to reach their full height or did you just compress the spring, put the cap on, and install it?

the reason i ask is cuz i made this mistake on my integra years ago. after the spring has been compressed, if you put the cap on and the spring has pressure on it, it will seem ok, but in the long run, the strut will not be and end up taking a beating and death

 

After you load the spring for a while, it will take a set. Basically its compressed height will change after a little while, but it will stay constant after that. So if you set the ride height only once (when the springs were installed), that's part of the problem.

Really what's going on here is that stock length struts aren't valved to damp the stiffer springs and the smaller range of travel that you have, and having to do all of their damping at one end of their travel isn't helping much either.

You just need better dampers that are made for stiffer, shorter springs, that's the solution to the problem.