HKS or DMS?

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 4:34 pm

I'm in a bit of a situation.

DMS 40MM Gold's, or HKS HipermaxII's?

Both are going to cost me about the same initially.

The HKS's are for a WRX, so I would need to mod my strut towers or get new top hats to get them to fit. I was quoted an average rebuild price of $250 each. The spring rates are 8kg/mm front and 6kg/mm rear. Comes to around 447lb/in front and 336lb/in rear rates. They were on my friends Road Race prepped WRX and have about 40,000 to 50,000 miles on them. The HKS units are not independently height adjustable, height control is set by preload. This DOES offer a stiffer shock though.

The DMS's are for a GC, so no modding is necessary. They don't have top hats, so I would need some Group N mounts or camber plates. The DMS rebuild rates range from $400 to $800 for all 4. They have a broken adjuster (which can be replaced in the rebuild). They also have a stiction problem in the rear (which is a free fix if you get the shocks rebuilt, as they require new, upgraded bushings). The DMS spring rates are 180lb/in front and rear (which is similar to the stock setup that has the same rates front and rear). The DMS is independently height adjustable, which will allow me to corner balance the car without fucking with preload. The DMS's have 2 years of life on them, I don't know the miles. They are about as old as the HKS bits though.

I think that's about it. Does anyone have any opinions? I am leaning towards the DMS bits right now.

Input?

Oh, I should probably mention:

NEW - The HKS coilovers run $2500 bucks. The DMS coilovers cost $2000 + strut tops/camber plates, so right around $2500 "on the road."

NuwanD · Post by **NuwanD** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:47 pm

Your trying to compare apples to oranges (tarmac vs rally setups)... your choice should depend on what you want to do with the car or where you'll spend most of your time driving

Post by **DLC** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 7:15 pm

My 2 cents: Unless they are brand new DMS, they're crap.

HKS has been around longer than most people on this board.

The End.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:57 pm

I still wanna know what the ID of the spring is on the DMS gold.. hurry up with that info bastage!

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 10:38 am

Why only Brand New DMS's?

They will be rebuilt, to fix the rear stiction issue. They are also going to be dyno'd and compared to new and then rebuilt as new.

The rebuild on the DMS's is half as expensive as the HKS's, and the HKS's are going to rattle my teeth out.

-K- · Post by **-K-** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 1:32 pm

Ok I've never been in a car with coilovers so I'm not sure what the big deal is with them. They sound like they don't last very long and unless you rally I don't see why you need them at that price.

What is the service life of coilovers? Are they really that good?

Get what you want, I'm just interested in learning more about them.

Sounds like it's more a question of ride and what you are doing with them than brand after looking at the spring rates. Me, I would go for a bit more than stock spring rates but not as much as the HKS

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 5:49 pm

BAC5.2 wrote:Why only Brand New DMS's?

They will be rebuilt, to fix the rear stiction issue. They are also going to be dyno'd and compared to new and then rebuilt as new.

The rebuild on the DMS's is half as expensive as the HKS's, and the HKS's are going to rattle my teeth out.

the early DMS 40s are notorious for the stiction problems and rust as well as the chrome plating flaking off and for a while there was very poor customer suppport here in the US. it appears to be better now.

they are a street setup. not designed for rally as the travel is too short compared to the 50s and the valving is not correct for the rigors of rally roads.

coil overs are a benefit because you get a standard spring diameter so different rates are easire to get. you can properly balance the wieght of the car and it allows people to go low for the summer and high for the winter on the same setup. the trade off is increased maintainence attention.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:39 am

The rear stiction issue doesn't bother me. Mark at DMS in Quebec offered to do the labor to upgrade the rear's to the new bushing style and location for free.

He is going to dyno my struts, tell me what needs to be done, and do it if I so desire. He quoted me something like $86 parts to do a full bushing and seal rebuild for each strut + final dyno. He said it would probably be around $100 each strut to rebuild.

That's far cry from the $250 estimate each for HKS.

The DMS coilovers retail for $2800, not $2000 like I originally thought. That's a lot of change. They are definately a streetable coilover setup. They should provide everything I am looking for in a suspension setup and more.

Plus, they look to be a lot narrower than stock setup, and don't have such a large spring (although they do have 40mm stanctions), so I could run a lower offset rim and a wider tire if I so desired.

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:37 am

BAC5.2 wrote:The rear stiction issue doesn't bother me. Mark at DMS in Quebec offered to do the labor to upgrade the rear's to the new bushing style and location for free.

He is going to dyno my struts, tell me what needs to be done, and do it if I so desire. He quoted me something like $86 parts to do a full bushing and seal rebuild for each strut + final dyno. He said it would probably be around $100 each strut to rebuild.

That's far cry from the $250 estimate each for HKS.

The DMS coilovers retail for $2800, not $2000 like I originally thought. That's a lot of change. They are definately a streetable coilover setup. They should provide everything I am looking for in a suspension setup and more.

Plus, they look to be a lot narrower than stock setup, and don't have such a large spring (although they do have 40mm stanctions), so I could run a lower offset rim and a wider tire if I so desired.

sounds like a good deal then. and the overall width is another benefit i forgot. gives you some room for a lot more tire under there.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:53 am

I got them, and they are LIGHT.

One of the strut/spring combo's weighs less than a stock strut. Pretty sweet

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:57 am

BAC5.2 wrote:I got them, and they are LIGHT.

One of the strut/spring combo's weighs less than a stock strut. Pretty sweet

just curious, where did you get these from?

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:59 am

Private seller on NASIOC.

I didn't think the post was serious. Turns out... it was.

I got an AMAZING deal on them. The kind of deal that people would kill people over.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:54 pm

maybe someone has, dot dot dot...

the plot thickens.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:34 pm

Jason, I posted the ID of the springs in the Photo Gallery. Check em out.

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HKS or DMS?

HKS or DMS?