Welcome to the club. I did this exact job myself last summer and the ride is quite stiff. The struts look identical to OEM but are clearly valved differently. I thought about swapping them out but opted not to redo all that work.

That's bizarre that your bump stops were missing. I replaced the boots since they were shredded to hell but everything else was reused.

If the car lasts long enough to warrant another replacement, I'll spend the money and go with OEM next time assuming they're available. But, for now, I'll be feeling every little bump for a long time I'm afraid!

 

What model of kyb did you get. Just like any product there the cheaper end and more expensive end.

 

KYB (aka, Keep Your Bilsteins) valves them stiffer to help compensate for worn suspension components (like springs), according to their website.

Some members reported that these will soften up after several months. I'm not a fan of KYBs, but others complain about Monroe OE Spectrum and Gabriel Ultras. So take your pick.

KYB supposed worked with Gabriel to use their G-Force patented valving system. But I guess you get that on the OEM struts.

 

KYB struts are stiffer than OEM to begin with. Any new strut will be stiffer than a worn OEM strut.

As to why your ride stiffness increased after an oil change - well thats a mystery, did they do any other work to the car?
Did they over-inflate the tires?

 

+1 on the tire inflation idea for sure. Stiff ride after oil change has got to be tire inflation, if I'm reading that sentence correctly. A worn strut would produce a bouncy ride. I was getting motion sick from the roads up in Chicago after moving up here last year, thus prompting my desire to replace the struts. (They were worn for several years when I lived in Atlanta but the roads down south don't expose worn suspension quite the same way.)

Having said that, the OEMs are KYBs, and they look absolutely identical to the after market ones. On the outside, that is. They're definitely valved differently, though. That's been reported by others who have immediately swapped the aftermarket KYBs for OEM KYBs. The aftermarket ones give a stiffer, sportier feel and you do feel ALL the bumps. If you want the original factory ride, you have to pay the ransom for the ones from Toyota.

I'm ok with the stiffer ride, though. There's no clunking or noise whatsoever, and the aftermarket struts were significantly less expensive to the tune of $73 or so a corner vs. $185 a corner for OEM. Luckily my seat cushion is still in good shape and I have a little extra natural padding in the buttocal-region, if you catch my drift..

 

They will mellow a bit but don't expect a drastic change, and it will take about 20,000 miles in my experience. The only way to get the Toyota ride back is go with OEM.

 

I put the KYB Excel/GR-2 (same shock, just different color) in our 02 ES300. The stock KYBs were shot so it was certainly stiffer. I was surprised at the initial stiffness, but they wore in just fine in a few months.

It took about 2 to 3k miles to wear in nicely and they ride well now. I do agree if you want a stock soft ride, you have to with OE. You can get softer with Monroe, etc., but the quality is so poor you'd be replacing them in 1/4 to 1/2 the life of the KYB units. That is whay I have experienced in other units, and that was with high-end Monroes, not the economy type.


I also agree, worn shocks give a bouncy soft ride, not a stiff one. The advice you got sounds highly suspect.

 

I don't want to rekindle the monroe vs kyb vs gabriel vs billsteins vs generic etc.. debate, but just +1 on the Monroes not lasting. I went through two sets on the minivan (swapped under lifetime warranty) and the second set, only one year later, were almost totally worn out. They were their SensaTracs too, not the cheaper ones. The Monroes on the camry clunked constantly so I sent them back under their 90 day guarantee rather than tolerate the bizarre noise. (Plus they didn't seem to do much for the ride compared to the completely worn OEM KYBs.)

Let us know how it turns out. If I were you, I'd just live with the stiffer ride and hope they settle in a bit, but others may have a different opinion.