Gabriel shocks and struts gas charged

i was wondering if anybody has had any good luck with these shocks
i searched and could only find a couple postings but nobody that has reviewed them
i was looking at getting the 88-91 ef rear gas charged and the 89 accord fronts cuz i heard when lowering that year accord would give u more room but if not then just get the 88-91 fronts
and if i buy seperately it would save me like 100
as compared to buying the set together
right now im just gonna put some ebay coilovers till i get some more money saved and try the washer trick i only have 2 months b4 basic and then ill be able to get some better coilovers after
any input would be appreciated

Comments

  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    How does this '89 strut give more room?

    :? I'm a little confused :?: You mention using frt. '88-91 struts(you meant Accord ,right?),but isn't '86-89 struts different from 90+ accd struts?or can you use either?

    You also mentioned saving a $100,but I saw a set of Gabriels in your configuration for only $199. and a set of (probably better)KYB GR-2 for only $49 more.
  • wago_90wago_90 Wagonist
    i read on here that using that year of accord sedan front strut is shorter but it still mounts and it would give you more room to lower
    b0bw@g0 wrote:
    just installed some accord front struts and forks more travel

    i put only the coil from the ebay coilovers on my stock struts and its the same lenght as the body of the shock so no travel with the accord the strut is shorter so i will gain about an inch of travel or should i say have some type of travel


    accord left // civic right

    462.jpg


    for a set of 88-91 front and rear its like 180
    but if i buy the rears its like 42 shipped
    and the fronts for the 89 accord are 32-40 shipped
  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    WOW! Great price on the shx.
    That sounds like the trick set-up for lowering springs w/o a tophat.The Accord shx looks like a extra 2"(50mm) of travel .Though the Accord shx perch looks about a 1/2" higher.
  • wago_90wago_90 Wagonist
    but i just started having some exhaust issues so might just buy the shocks for now while i can get a deal and wait till after basic training to get some skunk2 or ground control coilovers
    and work on getting my exhaust fully done
    met a guy who is a honda enthusists and wanted to fabricate me a a 421 header like that guy on dseries.org for my rt for like 40 bucks and i might just have him do my whole exhaust system since he is a master welder/fabricator
  • quartersquarters Council Member
    i have the Gabriel replacements on my wagon, picked them up stupid cheap. They are an outstanding OE replacement, great ride. not performance oriented at all, but good direct replacement. I would not consider lowering on these struts.
  • wago_90wago_90 Wagonist
    why wouldnt you recommend lowering on these gas struts?
    i ordered the rears already just waitn for a nice day to come so i can go to the yard and find some forks so i can get the front accord struts
  • udubrx7udubrx7 Senior Wagonist
    You shouldn't lower the car with stock replacement type struts because they would be operating outside of the dampening window they were designed for. But you should be OK if you lower the front with stock replacement type struts IF you use the shorter accord struts. If you want to lower the car with stock type replacement struts in the rear, you DEFINITELY need to extend the top hats if you don't want them to blow out really quickly.

    If you look at the picture posted above of the civic strut next to the accord strut, you can see how much shorter the accord strut is. As the car sits lowered on an accord strut the rod on the damper will be about halfway out of the strut body, that means it has a good range of motion both in and out of the strut. Now imagine if you lower the car on the civic strut, probably only about a third of the damper rod will be left coming out of the strut body, leaving it with a very strange range of motion - it will be much closer to bottoming out at that low ride height than the accord strut. This restricted range of motion is what will cause a stock type replacement strut to blow relatively quickly on a lowered car. How fast they blow is relative to how low the car is compared to stock.

    I would make a diagram but it's late...
  • wago_90wago_90 Wagonist
    thanks i guess ill just use the rear ones till they blow and put some money into some kyb or something
    im guessing the front should be fine if i order those and get the forks as well
    im not gonna dump it just wanted to give it a lower stance than stock height
    i have seen the extendend tophats just no clue as to how i would do it or find someone who knows how at that point i would be better off gettin some other aftermarket shocks for the rear
    thanks again
    oh and when it comes to like kyb gr2 are those like shorter or is it like having a shock with an extended tophat?
  • udubrx7udubrx7 Senior Wagonist
    I'm pretty sure KYB GR2 are just stock replacement type struts. I had some used ones on the front of my car for a while, they felt just like stock struts at first, then after about 6 months they blew out, but they were used to begin with. My car is only lowered about and inch and a quarter.
  • wago_90wago_90 Wagonist
    what setup did you use for your ride?
  • udubrx7udubrx7 Senior Wagonist
    I've got stock blown out struts in the rear (bouncy as shit), and KYB AGX struts in the front, with skunk2 coilover sleeves. The KYB AGX's are alright, at least they are a little adjustable, but I still don't like them very much. If you're not into racing and just want to make your car lower, KYB AGX is a good cheap replacement. They do mention in the installation instructions not to lower the car more than 1 1/4" though.

    The next struts I buy will probably be Koni's. Ask just about anybody that's done any road racing, and they will point your towards Koni's as a good priced performance strut. Koni struts are also rebuildable, so if you ever blow them out, you can just send them back to Koni to have them rebuilt.
  • wago_90wago_90 Wagonist
    alright thanks man
    i read you were making your own tophats hows that coming?
    is it just cut add weld?
  • udubrx7udubrx7 Senior Wagonist
    Yeh as far as I can tell, I haven't gotten a chance to start on it yet. The only hard part is figuring out exactly what size to make the extension part. The outside diameter of the extension needs to skinny enough so that it will still fit up into the chassis, and the inside diameter has to be wide enough so that at full compression the strut body can fit up inside of it.
  • What Gabriel Shocks (Part #) will replace the rear factories on my 86 Wagovan?

    Or any brand that will work?

    Done the Google thing...searched here..maybe not holding my mouth right..just hard to find em...
  • wago_90wago_90 Wagonist
    What Gabriel Shocks (Part #) will replace the rear factories on my 86 Wagovan?

    Or any brand that will work?

    Done the Google thing...searched here..maybe not holding my mouth right..just hard to find em...

    http://motors.shop.ebay.com/__?_from=R4 ... el&_sacat=

    the bottom ebay stores have front rear civic gabriel gas struts 84-87 dont know if they will work for the wagon
    hope that helps
  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    What Gabriel Shocks (Part #)for...for my 86 Wagovan?Or any brand that will work?...
    I don't know how far you want to modify your Wagovan?I believe it's the 1986-1989 Acura Integra(teg).Pretty much you can swap the bigger brakes(frt.&rr),teg engine/tranny & shock/struts(I think these swap too) into your WagoVan .THere is a thread on this site some where.

    I don't know whether the 84-87 WagoVan shocks was different like the 88-91 Wgn.It should be.The best place to check is at a junkyard.
Sign In or Register to comment.