Are my struts worn already?
 

I just got my car lowered with Eibach Pro Kit about 1 month ago, (I bought my car 1 year ago) and in the last few days I've noticed that the ride is a little more bumpier and I feel the "little reflector" speed bumps when changing lanes more. Are these signs of worn struts? How much can I ware them down before replacing them? Thanks in advance :)

Stock struts don't have enough damping for aftermarket springs.
So they always gonna feel like "worn".
I used to get 110 k km out of Mazda OEM struts with 1.75" drop.
Your options are:
1) Do nothing
2) get MP3 struts
3) get mazdaspeed struts
If your car is SERIOUSLY unstable in bumpy corners(scares the shit out of you), then you need to drop option 1)
Alex

I have Mazdaspeed struts with Eibach springs for about 2 years now and I'm really not very happy. The damping from the shocks is and never was very good and I've got them on the softest setting - my junk is bouncing all OVER the place, man - forget about the reflective bumps on the road I feel it when I roll over a quarter!! I am sure they're blown and that's pretty ass for the bocoups $$$ I shelled out for those suckers. Maybe I just got a bad set (?) but

I think I will go with the MP3 struts and pair them with Racing Beat springs (since Racing Beats are closer to the MP3 springs than Eibachs.

You should try to match you suspension components from the company you are buying them from. IE. Mazdaspeed shocks with mazdaspeed springs or MP3 Struts with MP3 springs. This way you are positive that proper testing was done to ensure positive travel of shock/strut concurs with the height and density of the spring. Or you could just buy a good set of coilovers and problem is solved. Your struts are bottoming out because they do not have enough travel to support the lower spring with different density. Just my 2 cents :D

So you don't need new struts when you get coilovers?

yeah, I see that now. I think the Racing Beat springs are very similar in drop to the MP3 springs so I'm going to go with the RBs and MP3 struts and hopefully in the future I'll be able to go over a speed bump without smashing my head on the ceiling.

I am very surprised to hear something bad about MS struts.
But I crawl over speed bumps at 3 km/h, so I don't hit ceiling.
My be we do not understand each other right-aftermarket struts will not make ride more comfortable, they might even make it worse. What aftermarket stuts offer is more damping force, which helps keep wheels planted on the ground and increased stability in bumpy corners, sometimes at the expense of ride comfort.

Alex

Lets define what I meant by coilover: By coilover I mean a shock assembly and spring mounted together with up mount bracket or pillowball assembly mated all as one assembly( IE Jic-Magic Coilovers, or Tein Coilover). I did not mean just a lowering spring atttached to a adjustable lower collar assembly( IE Ground Control, or Skunk2). So yes you may need a new set of shocks to match the Eibach springs but to my knowledge there are no shock/strut assemblies made to match the lowering height of those springs. Your struts may not be worn out yet but, I can tell you that if you hit bottom with your struts to much you can wear out other suspenaion components as well. Not to mention being very uncomfortable. I would recommend you investigate this more. Perhaps if you would like performance and a comfortable ride then you should remove those springs sell them and save up for real coilovers or if your not that interested in coilovers like Jic Magic. You could buy MP3 springs(Racing Beat springs are the same) and Mp3 Shocks as a matched set. I hope I clarified this matter if I confused you I am more than willing to answer more questions. This is just my opinion. Hope it helped.

Thanks, it's more clear to me now. I'm just not ready to spend $1000 + right now, also since the ride is just a little more bumpy, not intoleratable. If my struts don't give up soon, I'm going to wait for more companies to come out with them, there are rumors of Tokico coming out with them too. Thanks all;)

Just a friendly reminder that playing around with the suspension using aftermarket parts without a means for testing, especially without sufficient knowledge, can be quite dangerous. Car engineers spend a lot of time and money balancing comfort, performance, and cost. So why throw all that effort away?

If you really must have aftermarket stuff to increase performance, ask for a specific combination of a set-up that a real racer (with your car model) on this board is using.

Here's a good resource on tuning suspension:
http://www.se-r.net/car_info/suspens...#Basic%20Rules (I know it's an SE-R site, but it has great info that applies to all cars)

obender, yes I got the MS because of the handling and I knew the ride would be stiffer, but these things feel like they're already worn out. In bumpy corners there's more bouncing than before, the rear suspension goes *thud* whenever I go over any medium size irregularity, and the rear struts also make hissing noises when the shocks compress/decompress.

If they are making those noises it is most certainly time to change them. :cool:

Stock struts and springs will make hissing noises when compressed/decompressed. That is normal. You just don't always hear it at speed. blown struts will stop making that noise as much becuase the vavling and seals are ruined. If your car bounces up and down after a bump rather than returning to the normal height almost instantly, your struts are the problem. The spring allows the suspension to be un-compressed and travel, while the strut absorbs the impact to get rid of the bounce. Stiffer springs will make the cars suspension harder to move. The problem is usually that the lighter damping of stock struts can't handle the rate at which the stiffer springs return the car to normal. The springs push the car up faster and harder than normal, wearing heavily on the struts. This turns around and makes the car bottom out easier because the worn struts can't prevent the suspension from fully compressing any more.

If your car bounces more than normal your struts are the culprit. An easy test is to park the car and push hard on the corners of it. If the car lowers a little and returns to normal ride height quickly with out bouncing, you are fine. If you push on it and it keeps bouncing you have strut problems. Getting new springs will make the car stiffer and always make it a little bouncy at first. It will get worse and worse as your mileage goes up.