Which Shock/Struts should I get?

  • amreboot
    amreboot
    Banned
    • 9875

    Which Shock/Struts should I get?

    So it looks like Tokico Illuminas are either no more or they are just low in numbers. Besides that, a lot of owners have complained about them blowing too early.

    I am in the market for a complete set of shocks and struts.
    I am torn between Koni Yellow's or Bilstein HD's.

    I want an awesome match for my STs.
  • G-E
    G-E
    Junior Member
    • 6320

    #2
    Koni for the rebound adjustment, they can more than handle st springs
  • amreboot
    amreboot
    Banned
    • 9875

    #3
    G-E;n767071 wrote: Koni for the rebound adjustment, they can more than handle st springs
    Yeah, I hear they are good. But damn, they aren't cheap.
  • james
    james
    Senior Member
    • 978

    #4
    The Koni Yellows are really good, they adjustment is nice and on my car on rough roads they are doing really well with 350lb front springs and 500lb rear springs.

    BUT

    I would get the Bilsteins next time. They are much cheaper to revalve and rebuild. But none of that really matters when using drop in springs. They will Be fantastic and last forever.

    For the price of a Koni you can buy the Bilsteins and even have them revalved a couple of times to your liking.

    I use them on my 4 Runner, and i fitted them to my Dads various Land cruisers over the years.
    85 Turbo Slick Top
    __________________________________________________ _____
  • jaqattack02
    jaqattack02
    Senior Member
    • 1185

    #5
    I love my Bilsteins with the ST springs. The ride is great, and it handles really well. No complaints about them at all.
    Prius… because Pretentious wouldn't fit across the back of the car…

    Cheap, Fast, Reliable - pick any two

    My 1986 Turbo Build
  • G-E
    G-E
    Junior Member
    • 6320

    #6
    james what do you have yours set for stiffness? did you play with them much?
  • Kimbro Slice
    Kimbro Slice
    Senior Member
    • 1561

    #7
    I guess I got a good set of Illuminas.

    Mine have 10k miles or so on them already and they've been troopers. It's a low count so they may fail any minute, but they've been better than what I've heard from most.

    Go with the Konis. If this is for the 89, then you'll want the best you can to help put the power down.


    2001 Mazda Miata LS
    also a 1989 Nissan 240SX

    50th AE Build Thread SOLD 2015
  • michaelp
    michaelp
    Senior Member
    • 9384

    #8
    I loved my Bilsteins on all of my setups and cars I've used them on. They handled the Z3Rs just fine, more than adequate for STs.
    - VG30DET (HE341) 86 300ZX - 1982 280ZX Turbo - Headered NA 1986 300ZX 2+2 - 2000 Xterra -
  • james
    james
    Senior Member
    • 978

    #9
    G-E;n767111 wrote: james what do you have yours set for stiffness? did you play with them much?
    Paul I can't really remember what they are set to as it was a while ago now.

    I set F/R to full soft then found a bunch of roads that had a good varied surface and a bunch of corners. I slowly increased front and rear stiffness untill the body roll was reduced then i focused on getting it to corner slowly reducing the understeer. Once i was happy with that I made some slight changes to rear tire pressure to increase grip.

    Once i had them setup I basically have not changed them. I think the fronts are something like 60% of full stiff and the rears something like 80 or 90% of full stiffness

    But I have been known to be wrong from time to time.....
    85 Turbo Slick Top
    __________________________________________________ _____
  • NissanEgg
    NissanEgg
    Senior Member
    • 5220

    #10
    I guess I am one of the lucky ones with Illuminas, had them since 2006 and no issues yet and they are set at 3 F/R with my Z3Rs. Next time I will change up to Bilsteins.

    1986 300ZX Turbo…sold
    1990 Skyline GT-R…new money pit
    2014 Juke Nismo RS 6-speed…daily
  • amreboot
    amreboot
    Banned
    • 9875

    #11
    I ordered a brand new set of Bistein HD's F+R.

    Ughh, but now I am wondering if I should have gone Powertrix CoilOvers....
  • 862sik
    862sik
    Senior Member
    • 2159

    #12
    I to was unhappy with the illuminas. Mine blew out fairly fast. From what I read you cant go wrong with bilsteins. But those powertrix looks very tempting. The price seems great! I Have been searching for either going coils or just bilsteins. No moola.
    My Build Thread
  • jaqattack02
    jaqattack02
    Senior Member
    • 1185

    #13
    amreboot;n767223 wrote: I ordered a brand new set of Bistein HD's F+R.

    Ughh, but now I am wondering if I should have gone Powertrix CoilOvers....
    I don't think you'll regret the decision once everything is installed.
    Prius… because Pretentious wouldn't fit across the back of the car…

    Cheap, Fast, Reliable - pick any two

    My 1986 Turbo Build