gogydog Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Two weeks ago I changed over my wagon from Zeal V6's to a setup with the tokico's, swifts, the JDM top hat, and an extra spring seat in the rear as a spacer (since the JDM top hat supposedly raises a half inch. Don't have a working camera, but the ride height is exactly what I was looking for - two fingers gap in the rear to 215/45/17's, slightly more in front - will post pics next week. I really like the tokico/swift combo and their trade off between comfort and performance. I'd say they provide 90% of the Zeal's performance - aren't quite as crisp in turn in or transitions - but are more comfortable and with less NVH. Steering feel is excellent without the chatter of road imperfections that goes along with having solid pillowball mounts. The range of adjustability on the Tokicos is huge, but as others have mentioned, the damping range tends to be biased towards the soft side. I'm running two turns from full firm on a car my wife and toddler use for their daily commute. It is unlikely that one would use the softer half of the damping settings - if I go much softer the rear end gets bouncy as in underdamped, at least on the swifts. At full firm the tokico's are quite firm. I was surprised how subtle the handling changes where with damping adjustments, in particular the ability to dial in under/neutral/over steer by changing the firmness of the rear. A big thumbs up on this setup, have far exceeded my expectations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodan Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share Posted September 18, 2006 I ordered tophats this morning, and will be ordering the iON springs for the front. Since I'm pleased with the ride quality, I decided it would have been a costly gamble to try the KWs if I ended up not being happy with them. All told, I have enough in the struts/springs etc. to nearly equal the cost of the KWs, but I have a known ride/handling combination that I (and my wife) am happy with. I will admit, if I were starting with a stock Legacy today, I would probably try the KWs first, or wait and see what the Konis look like... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Interesting stuff. I'd like to hear something from someone who has experience with both Tokicos and Bilsteins... I am wondering if Tokicos are firmer than JDM SpecB Bilsteins when set on "firm" setting... Also does anyone know about possibility of rebuilding Tokicos once they wear out? I know Bilstein will rebuild their dampers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 we just took Spec B Bilsteins off 'sandwood's car and put on Tokico's....he posted in the other thread that he felt the ride was comparable. We had planned to use his USDM tophats, but in the end, moved the JDM ones over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal9e3 Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Also does anyone know about possibility of rebuilding Tokicos once they wear out? I know Bilstein will rebuild their dampers. Aftermarket Tokicos have a lifetime warranty ASAIK, and their Web site FAQ confirms this. You take the old ones off, deliver them back to the place you purchased them and they send you a new set. At least, that's how it worked for me a while back. I like the first FAQ question: How long has TOKICO be making shocks? Answer: We be making shocks since befo you wuz bizzle, biatch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckman Posted September 21, 2006 Share Posted September 21, 2006 I wish that ALL Tokico shocks had a lifetime warranty and fit properly. According to the product literature in the box, the HTS or D-Spec have no warranty and are considered a "racing" strut/shock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 I wish that ALL Tokico shocks had a lifetime warranty and fit properly. According to the product literature in the box, the HTS or D-Spec have no warranty and are considered a "racing" strut/shock. Oh, that sucks... Wonder how much they charge for rebuild, if they do it at all. I just checked Bilstein webpage, it's only $75 to rebuild a strut and $65 for a shock. Nice to know that when my set is worn, it'll be only $300 to get it back in shape... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal9e3 Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Because of warranty questions raised in this thread I decided to call Tokico and ask them about it. Left a message yesterday and got a call back this morning from Ray, who seems to be fairly familar with our issues. We had a lengthy discussion about this and here are the main points: 1) The lifetime warranty normally offered on Tokico shocks MAY OR MAY NOT be honored on these particular models. Ray told me that previously they always took care of these, but now that they're under the Hitachi corporate umbrella things are a little more strict. For people on the fence about these you should assume there's no warranty until further notice. 2) He was very interested in hearing about my experiences with the shocks. Unfortunately, since I haven't installed them yet I couldn't tell him much. 3) They seem to be working towards a solution and are still trying to evaluate the current model. I believe other posts have indicated that they have already tried them with USDM front tophats and Ray told me they are in the process of obtaining JDM front tophats to see how that works. 4) I emailed Ray with links from this forum so he could read our experiences (and get a sense of the potential customer loss) with these shocks. I also asked him to post a status report so we wouldn't feel like our concerns are going unheeded. He seemed receptive to this idea so we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodan Posted September 22, 2006 Author Share Posted September 22, 2006 Ray is who I dealt with throughout this process. He should be familiar with the issues, as I had to explain them repeatedly. I'm guessing that when they try the JDM tophats, the struts will fit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal9e3 Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 ^^^ That's what I thought, his name sounded familar. Hopefully Tokico will step up and get this resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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