Blown KYB AGX?

[TipStylez]

I just got a set of used AGXs, and the last owner said they were blown. Well i only baught them for the springs. And decided to test the agxs out to see witch one is blown.

I put all 4 to the lowest setting (1). Push down on them and they make a liquid woosh sound like every other shocks would. I guess it was easy to push down cause it was the softest setting.

Now i would turn the settings to one knotch up and tested each number, and it got stiffer and stiffer till i maxed out the settings. And i got to thinking, if the shocks are changing stiffness with the settings, they shouldnt be blown!

Now...are these things blown or what? Cause i know blown shocks would hold no type of pressure.

Since were on the same subject, is it true that the KYB AGXs are not ment for lowering springs such as the Sportlines, and driving with the lowerd springs would cause the shocks to blow?

Thanks
-Q

[TipStylez]

? -_-

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[orion::S14]

Did they come back up once pushed down?

If not, they are worn out (or close to worn out)...maybe not blown, b/c to me, blown is oil leaking out (blown seals).

...and they are fine to be used with lowering springs.

- Brian

[koukimonster139]

....put em on the car and drive it through a corner. fast. now you know if they're blown or not.

[shayrgob240]

really don't sound blown to me. Maybe the previous owner had them on a low setting and thought they were blown. lol

[Replicant_S14]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were ok. I pulled mine off recently to check them and they were fine. Mine were some of the very first batch to become available for s14s. They've been on for a while and I beat on the car regularly.

[DJ_Sunrise]

what the other guy said. if they come back up once pushed, they're fine.. maybe worn but not blown. they are fine to use with lowering springs.. the guy who bought my s13 drifts it once a week for the last 9-10 months.. theyve been on my ex-s13 for 1.5 years now with tein s techs.. no issues. check that they all come up at the same rate :)

-Bart

[TipStylez]

^I think il get to that tonight, too lazy to take everything apart. =]

Thanks
-Q

[aNskY]

I just got a set of used AGXs, and the last owner said they were blown. Well i only baught them for the springs. And decided to test the agxs out to see witch one is blown.

I put all 4 to the lowest setting (1). Push down on them and they make a liquid woosh sound like every other shocks would. I guess it was easy to push down cause it was the softest setting.

Now i would turn the settings to one knotch up and tested each number, and it got stiffer and stiffer till i maxed out the settings. And i got to thinking, if the shocks are changing stiffness with the settings, they shouldnt be blown!

Now...are these things blown or what? Cause i know blown shocks would hold no type of pressure.

Since were on the same subject, is it true that the KYB AGXs are not ment for lowering springs such as the Sportlines, and driving with the lowerd springs would cause the shocks to blow?

Thanks
-Q



ive got sportlines on AGX's on my s14 and theyve been fine for 20k miles.

[Nismo240SX]

yeah, well i don't think you can honestly tell if a strut is worn unless its under a load. yes it may come back up when you push it down... but in theory it may act differently when they're underneath the car. try it!

[TipStylez]

Yeah, but the thing is, they change stiffness at each adjustment. That what is making me think they are not blown.

[Nismo240SX]

good point, but its different holding a charge at x amount of pounds.

[krustindumm]

Yeah, but the thing is, they change stiffness at each adjustment. That what is making me think they are not blown.


The valving can be fine even when the strut is "blown". There is a nitrogen charge inside the strut, the nitrogen is a gas so as the strut shaft enters the body it compresses to make up for the displacement of the shaft. Oil is not compressable. The nitrogen is also under pressure, this helps to keep the oil from foaming when being forced through the valving. If the nitrogen charge is gone or depleted the oil will quickly foam and then be basically useless. There are also seals around the piston, if one of those is damaged the resistance provided by the strut will be reduced considerably, though it will still offer some resistance, so changing the dampening setting will still effect how hard it is to push the strut in.

So basically you can have them dyno'd, or stop your bitching and put them on.

[Nismo240SX]

told you so! listen to the ASE Master Tech!

[TipStylez]

I WILL STOP MY BITCHING, and install them when i pull out my motor.

[TipStylez]

ok i took the springs off and pushed down on the shocks..they didnt come up! Gay.

But i only tested the rears, and now i need to do the front, but i forgot how the hell i got the springs out last time...anyone want to help?

[Replicant_S14]

ok i took the springs off and pushed down on the shocks..they didnt come up! Gay.

But i only tested the rears, and now i need to do the front, but i forgot how the hell i got the springs out last time...anyone want to help?


I'm not sure the rears are supposed to come back up.

[TipStylez]

great...


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[krustindumm]

I'm not sure the rears are supposed to come back up.


They are.

Disconnect brake line from bracket, unbolt strut from spindle, unbolt strut from strut tower. done.

[TipStylez]

^rember these aint on my car.

[krustindumm]

If you're trying to get the spring off the strut, just pull off the tiop nut, and make sure it's not pointing at anything valuable.

[TipStylez]

^Yeah i know. I did this all before.

But i forgot how i got the fronts off without using a alen key.

[krustindumm]

vice grips on the shaft, their blown anyway

[TipStylez]

Rawr, man i was hopeing they went blown.

But quick question, since they dont push themself back up, and even tho it feels like it needs pressure to push down...under my cars load and corner, wont they just sink in like any stock blown shocks?

Thanks for the help everyone.
-Q

[PS13SILVIA]

Just because they don't come back up especially when you push them all teh way down doesn;t mean there blown help them just a tad and tey probably come up on there own slowly, if there hard press down compression shoudl be good and if there hard to pull back up then rebound is good. When i've incountered blown sturs/shocks I could basically man handle the shaft of the shock/strut pushing in and out rather quickly, basically there was not fight left in teh shock/struts to dampen anyting....

[soreballz]

What would it mean if you tried to adjust the AGX struts and the top nut just kept spinning as though it wasn't attached to anything?