AGX/Whitelines vs. Tein Basic Damper?
AGX/Whitelines vs. Tein Basic Damper?
Which should I get? The AGX/Whiteline springs will cost me about $650-$675 shipped (PDM) and the Basic Dampers will be about $780 shipped (eBay seller). I want a simple setup to tide me over for a year or so till I get HEs...
I don't own either setups, but I'll give this a shot.
KYB AGX/Whiteline
+ AND - If one of your AGX's blows out, you can easily buy a replacement for it and get it to your house in a reasonable amount of time. I don't think you can get an AGX rebuilt. Maybe considering the price of a new one it wouldn't be practical anyway.
- Damper not matched to spring rate.
- Ride height not adjustable.
- Shipping from Canada (PDM) might shock you. Best check that out first.
Tein Basic
+ Damper matched to spring rate (if Tein's doing their job).
+ Sounds like the corrosion problems with the threads on the HA have been corrected on the Basic. You should still keep the threads nice and clean.
+ Replaced everything between the strut mount and the knuckle. You can always replace your stock mounts with Tein Pillowball Mounts too, but you could use them with AGX's as well. The Tein Basic comes with some dust boots, which is nice. As I recall, KYB boots are ~$10 a piece.
+ AND - You can get them rebuilt, but you'll need to send them to Tein. What will your car be doing while the damper is away at the Suspension Hospital?
? Stiffer spring rate than the Whiteline springs. The spring rate is 6 kgf/mm for both front and rear (S13 and S14). Not sure how you feel about that, and since I haven't tried either setup, I can't comment on ride quality.
One last question...are you sure that the Ebay seller is reputable? Have you checked to see if any established online merchants (Phase2, etc.) can get somewhere near that price?
That's all I've got. Anyone else with first hand exp. can feel free to tell me I'm full of ****.
KYB AGX/Whiteline
+ AND - If one of your AGX's blows out, you can easily buy a replacement for it and get it to your house in a reasonable amount of time. I don't think you can get an AGX rebuilt. Maybe considering the price of a new one it wouldn't be practical anyway.
- Damper not matched to spring rate.
- Ride height not adjustable.
- Shipping from Canada (PDM) might shock you. Best check that out first.
Tein Basic
+ Damper matched to spring rate (if Tein's doing their job).
+ Sounds like the corrosion problems with the threads on the HA have been corrected on the Basic. You should still keep the threads nice and clean.
+ Replaced everything between the strut mount and the knuckle. You can always replace your stock mounts with Tein Pillowball Mounts too, but you could use them with AGX's as well. The Tein Basic comes with some dust boots, which is nice. As I recall, KYB boots are ~$10 a piece.
+ AND - You can get them rebuilt, but you'll need to send them to Tein. What will your car be doing while the damper is away at the Suspension Hospital?
? Stiffer spring rate than the Whiteline springs. The spring rate is 6 kgf/mm for both front and rear (S13 and S14). Not sure how you feel about that, and since I haven't tried either setup, I can't comment on ride quality.
One last question...are you sure that the Ebay seller is reputable? Have you checked to see if any established online merchants (Phase2, etc.) can get somewhere near that price?
That's all I've got. Anyone else with first hand exp. can feel free to tell me I'm full of ****.
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M3thod_Man
- Posts: 90
- Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2003 9:33 pm
- Contact:
Um i dont see how the whiteline's spring rate w/ the AGX's is a negative..... The struts will not wear out as quickly with a lower spring rate period (if im not mistaken) than a higher spring rate. Sure the AGX's can handle much stiffer spring rates, and it can also andle much softer spring rates... I wouldnt base your decision purely on that
The point is that the Tein Basic shocks dampers are specifically valved to work with the springs included (there's also a range of different spring rates you can choose).M3thod_Man wrote:Um i dont see how the whiteline's spring rate w/ the AGX's is a negative.....
You can't expect KYB to have designed the AGX's to work specifically with the Whiteline springs. I'm sure KYB assumed stock spring rates and ride height when they designed the AGX for our application.
The AGX and Whiteline springs might match up well, but it's pretty much hit or miss, IMO. If you can find someone running this setup, it would be very helpful to hear what the ride quality is like. From what I've heard, the adjustment on the AGX's is fairly grainy.
If I had the money, I'd go with the Tein setup.
BadMojo brought up (in my opinion) the most important point. If you want to get that sweet suspension set-up for the BEST price, you should go with the TEINs. Their upgrade cost for pillow ball uppers is something like $240-$300 front and rear, but if you use the AGX's you'll have to purchase more expensive upper mounts like HKS. I was under the impression that the TEIN uppers only worked with the TEIN units.....that's why no one sells them seperately.
Also, with coilovers you can get the car corner weighted and actually have a SWEET ride.........not eyeball adjusted like a few posers I know.......
Also, with coilovers you can get the car corner weighted and actually have a SWEET ride.........not eyeball adjusted like a few posers I know.......
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M3thod_Man
- Posts: 90
- Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2003 9:33 pm
- Contact:
You can't learn unless you ask................ Pillow ball upper mounts are the components of a suspension package that allow you to adjust camber. The way most stock suspensions come from the factory are with a fixed mounting point, giving the car a set camber that can't be changed. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
The Tein mounts will work with the AGX's. Tein says they (the mounts) will work with any direct OE replacement shocks. I've seen the mounts sold somewhere for ~$170 for the fronts and slightly less for the rear (pair).
You can adjust camber on a stock 240SX, the Tein mounts just make it a lot easier to dial in camber changes quickly and easily based on conditions. The spherical bearings and aluminum mount have a lot less "give" than the rubber OE mounts.
The rear mounts aren't adjustable.
I've been told that the Tein mounts transmit a bit more road noise than the OE ones, which makes sense since they're so rigid. It also looks like the car will sit a bit lower with the Tein mounts, but I'm not really sure about that. The OE ones are pretty thick pieces of rubber.
Here they are...
http://www.tein.com/pumnt.html
You can adjust camber on a stock 240SX, the Tein mounts just make it a lot easier to dial in camber changes quickly and easily based on conditions. The spherical bearings and aluminum mount have a lot less "give" than the rubber OE mounts.
The rear mounts aren't adjustable.
I've been told that the Tein mounts transmit a bit more road noise than the OE ones, which makes sense since they're so rigid. It also looks like the car will sit a bit lower with the Tein mounts, but I'm not really sure about that. The OE ones are pretty thick pieces of rubber.
Here they are...
http://www.tein.com/pumnt.html
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dreamsOfSkylines
- Posts: 254
- Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2002 11:29 am
Pillowball mounts allow you to adjust the camber sufficently in the front since its a strut design, in the back however it won't since its a double wishbone style setup and the damper/springs play no role in geometry except ride height. The pillow ball mounts stiffen the mounting point on the strut tower which combined with a STB will help reduce flex.
There's no camber adjustability on the rear mounts. It's just a piece of aluminum with a spherical bearing. They're just more rigid than the stock mounts. Oh, they look cool too!jeansguy wrote:That's a great point. But I thought that you needed the pillow ball mounts in the rear for the adjustability given to you with an adjustable upper arm.......
