Hello all,

I'm a new user here and I'm not much of a gear head, so forgive any ignorance of my vehicle. Today I am having my '07 Civic EX repaired for a known factory issue with the rear control arm. (Luckily they are replacing it under my extended warranty after a lot of protest on my part....but thats another story). While the technicians were working on my car they also noticed that my right front shock is bent and needed to be replaced with a new strut assembly. I am trying to decide whether or not to replace the part with an OEM part or if I should go with something aftermarket. Honda is quoting me about $325 for the assembly itself. Can I find a better price somewhere else, and if so, would I need to replace the front left assembly as well? I'm not interested in having a racing shock on the vehicle. I just want a smooth and comfortable ride.

 

Right front shock bent egh? Sounds suspect. Is this something you noticed giving you problems or did they come up with this after agreeing to doing the warranty work? I wouldn't have honda do shocks as they're a rip off. Shocks are something that don't need to be OEM.

Go aftermarket and you should replace both sides. KYB GR-2's are pretty much stock. You can get them cheaply at Import Replacement Parts | Import Performance & OEM Parts

I dont recommend you replacing them yourself if you're not really familiar with working on cars. You have to compress the springs to get out the shocks and that can be dangerous if you dont do it the right way.

 

It was discovered before they agreed to do the work under warranty. I didn't really notice any problems, but that had more to do with the overwhelming problems being caused by the bad rear control arm (LOUD road noise and vibration and uneven tire wear...i'm on my third and a half set of tires with an '07 car because of the horrible wear the control arm caused and it took up until now to find out about the issue with the control arm.)

I can believe that it is actually bent due to a nasty run-in with a curb a short time ago that pretty much popped the entire front end off the ground. I was pulling out of a parking lot and not paying great attention to the road in front of me and i was too close to the side of the road where the curb started about 20 feet in front of the exit out of the lot I took (yeah i feel pretty dumb about that one).

 

While I am looking at these struts, I have to ask, the dealer told me that it was the whole assembly, so it would include the springs I am assuming. Could you tell me if the struts I'm looking at for a '07 Civic EX includes the full assembly with springs or if i need to get that seperate? I don't see springs with it when i'm looking at it, so I need to be sure if i need to go out looking for any other parts. Also, would you suggest replacing both the front assemblies, or should I be just fine with replacing the right?

 

What i sent you was just the shocks. Typically you just replace the shock and reuse the spring. Honda sells the entire assembly that includes the springs for obviously a lot more money. It depends on what's damaged. If you dont need springs, then just he KYB shocks would be the way to go because they're like $50 instead of $300 for the honda assembly. If springs are damaged, you can buy aftermarket OEM height ones. Still, I would have a private shop do shock work in lieu of getting gouged at the dealer.

Generally speaking, it's not good to have a new suspension component on just one side, but since yours is 07 it might not make that big a difference if the other ones arent too worn, up to you.