Upgraded Suspension sourced in Canada--Now with PIX

[Mikster]

Okay, well I too have FINALLY bitten the suspension bug.
After consult with many on this board, I've settled on Eibach+Bilstein combo. I was originally sold on Eibach+Tokico, but that was mainly due to cost. In aggregate, I've heard Bilstein makes a great quality product, lifetime warranty as well, and have a great ride.

In my research, I tried to compare buying locally vs. mail-order thru SHOX.COM, and Tirerack.com.

The cost of the Bilstein's was always prohibitive...until I searched the Bilstein.com dealer locator. That pointed me to their Canadian distributor, Essex Distributing located out in Richmond, BC. They have a storefront called RPI Equipped as well that is a big VW/Audi speed shop also.

Anyway, much to my amazement, I went onto their website Bilstein Canada, and ordered four Bilstein for just over $600.00 cdn, landed in Toronto.

This was very good price. Anybody who has tried to source these to Canada knows what a good price that is. Compare that to Tirerack which wanted $635 usd, and shox.com which is about $50 cheaper.

I elected to also stay with a Canadian source in case of warranty issues, and no hassles at the border.

Essex also shipped me my Eibach Prokit for just over $370 cdn landed.
Not bad considering Tirerack.com was landing Eibachs here in Toronto for $330 usd.

Dealing with these guys at Essex was great. Fast online response times. They even called *me* direct on the phone once to tell me that they had received a slight price drop on the Eibachs and were inquiring to see if I wanted to then place an order at the lower price. Mind you the shocks themselves were out-of-stock and took a few weeks to get from Bilstein in San Diego.

I'd recommend dealing with them. My contact there was Tom.

Just wanted to let the Canadian folks know about this in case they were looking.

I'll be at Bullock this weekend installing them, and will let you know how it goes.
M

[digger08]

Originally Posted by Mikster

Just wanted to let the Canadian folks know about this in case they were looking.

I'll be at Bullock this weekend installing them, and will let you know how it goes.
M

I do not know what Bullock charges to do this but, just to let you know, as I just had mine installed for $180.00 at another shop and was very happy with their work.

They knew exactly what to do with our first gens, where the problem areas are, and had all of the correct spring equipment in place.





Oh yeah and I love the Illumina's - you never know how bad your struts are untill you actually replace them.



Digger08

[Mikster]

Bullock is charging me $200.

[Crester]

I think the lowest cost place right now is APH at $120.

At the time I paid $150 at MotorWork Shop which is just down the street from Bullock City. Then after I went to Bullock City for the alignment.

[chunks]

that spring compressor, civic seat, and that drum of race fuel looks familiar. hahaha.

as much as i hear good reviews about bullock, i always hear that they don't prefer to do so much aftermarket stuff.

$180 at APH for springs or spring/shock. it's about middle of the field pricing, but great service.

[Crester]

Something else you'll notice about the Bilsteins is that they are also much THICKER.

[chunks]

Originally Posted by Crester

Something else you'll notice about the Bilsteins is that they are also much THICKER.

thicker as in? thicker gauge metal on the shock body?

[Crester]

The shock body itself is thicker... larger piston inside... and it's monotube vs. twin tube of the Tokicos.

When I saw the stock shock and the Bilstein side-by-side... I was surprised.

[lexuriuz]

Yeah APH charged $120 for the install as of last summer. I don't know if their rates have increased.

[chunks]

Originally Posted by lexuriuz

Yeah APH charged $120 for the install as of last summer. I don't know if their rates have increased.

recession? costs have gone up pretty much for everyone, even then at the higher price point its still middle ground.

also back then i think APH was still the in process of opening up the aftermarket portion of their business.

that or maybe because you're probably one of the nicer looking customers that walk in to the shop. you've seen their usual clientel, and they're not lookers. hahaha

[spideyyy]

Originally Posted by lexuriuz

Yeah APH charged $120 for the install as of last summer. I don't know if their rates have increased.

Getting mine install tomorrow at APH, they are charging me $180. (for 2nd gen IS 250)

[Crester]

Check out MotorWork Shop... I don't think their prices reached $180... even if they did go up.

[Mikster]

Ok, so spent a few hours at Bullock on Saturday.
Got there 'round 10:30 am..Andy took me to Markville Mall so I could blow some time. He called me at 11:00 am on my cell 'cause he couldn't find the wheel lock key..turns out it was in my daughter's car seat..LOL.

Anyway, I walked back to the shop around 12:30 and two mechanics (not Andy or Stanley) had the car on a hoist, all wheels off, and had one rear bilstein/eibach set assembled ready to mount. They did the remaining three in about 30-40 minutes.

As I watched them I got that uneasy "I hope they know what they're doing" feeling. They were chatting away (in Japanese?) to each other while working on the spring compressor...kinda eyeing the parts...looking at the box, then referring to the parts again. At one point they even assembled one strut, lay it down to move on to the next strut, only to find a nut on the floor that they seemed to have "missed". They then disassembled that strut and fixed their mistake. That didn't make me feel real good.

Anyway, after the struts were assembled they were mounted in about 30 minutes, wheels were torqued, and road tested.

One thing that kinda peeved me was that they laid my trunk carpeting on the roof of my car and then hoisted the car. Not crazy about that 'cause it could cause scratches. Kinda sloppy if you ask me.

I was out of there by 1:45 pm.

As for first impressions...well, not so sure. I definitely feel lower in the car, and car handles corners much better. But I do feel every $*%&% Toronto bump/pothole more so than on stock shocks. Not much more so, just a bit more. Suspension surely feels firmer, at times almost a bit skittish. I'm gonna reduce my tire pressure down to 33 psi now..see if that helps a bit.

Car definitely will need an alignment, and I have yet to take it out on any highways.

But, from a stance and look perspective, it is much lower. This is the way it should have come from the factory. It doesn't look slammed at all, which is fine by me. That ugly wheel gap is long gone. It lowers it more than the Eibach guide of "about 1 inch". (I suspect since our stock 2003 and later model cars were raised by Lexus an inch over 2002 and earlier, that the difference is so dramatic). See for yourself here:




Car Before:

Car After:


Oh yeah, and the stock shocks are KYB in the front, and Tokico in the rears.

[twestman]

Nice!

[4drsupra]

nice drop mikster!!!!...how do you like the ride now????