I have no idea how it happened. Today after I got out of work I give a co worker a ride and notice that the rear right wheel is bottoming out when ever I take any bumps. At first I thoght that there was something on the bump that scraped the bottom of the car but after taking even the slightest bump and feeling it i decided that there was something wrong.

When I got home, Much later tonight, I lifted the car on a jack and cheked the suspension on both sides and shurley enogh the rear right shock was covered in oil and the rear left was squeeky clean. I degrease the suspension every time I wash the car.

so know I am wondering. Am I the only one that's had this problem.

How are your shocks holding up???

 

That's not something that I've seen on the forum. But do a search and see if anyone else has reported a similar problem. Of course, if the car is still under warranty, the shock will be replaced by the dealer.

Edit: Apparently I missed this one:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ht=blown+shock

 

I think sometimes that I am the only member of this forum who has experienced this besides you, but around 20,000 miles, my front left shock gave up the ghost. There was oil all over the base of the spring. IMHO the shocks are underdamped for the car. It was a pothole on my street that I feel took out my shock from hitting it over and over again (the thing was unavoidable), but it wasn't really that deep so I am surprised that it destroyed the shock, but it did.

From your picture I am guessing that you race (autocross)? I don't think that the stock shocks would be able to deal with it. For standard driving the shocks seem to do fine for everyone, but for racing I would think that they would be a liability. Anyway, if your car is under warranty still, then I would assume that the dealer would replace the shock. I think that I could have has mine replaced that way, at least the dealer told me that they would. I decided to go with Konis instead for a couple of reasons. The first being that if I had blown out one shock that fast, I didn't have alot of hope for the rest of the shocks living well with me, and two that under hard acceleration I found that my car was subject to rear wheel hop, which really annoyed me. The Konis fully eliminated the wheel hop problem that I was having under hard acceleration. They ride a little harder than the stock shocks, but it was nothing that I didn't get used to. I kept the stock springs, wheels, etc., and the car corners much better than stock, accerates better . . . I set the shocks very much on the soft not firm side to match the spring rate as closely as possible. It has worked out very well for me. You might also try reading the wheel/ suspension part of the forum. I found that very helpful. Best of luck.

 

Thanks,
Exacty what Konis did you buy? I will search on your posts to see if you mention it on another thread, but if you can give me the specs that would be awsome. also how much did they set you back. I am taking the car to the dealer to have it replaced this monday (as long as it's in waranty and the replacement is free, what the hell) but just like you I am not expecting the stockers to last verry long. so I need to have the replacements ready for when I run out of warranty.
also I am verry glad to hear that the konis get rid of the annoying wheel hop on hard acceleration. I always thoght that it wasn't right that a car of this caliber would peel out singing morse code.

 

I got Koni yellows Standard Adjustable shocks from the tirerack. I have no idea what I paid since I bought these over a year ago, but they currently charge $146 a piece for one set and $163 a piece for the other set. They are externally adjustable, although the rears can only be adjusted out of the car, and getting them out of the car takes a little time. I installed the fronts first, played around with the settings until I had a good setup then matched the rears to that setting and put them in the back. That worked pretty well. (as an aside, driving with the konis on the front and the stock dampers on the rear was odd. The car became unpredictable in hard cornering) I've never felt the need to readjust the rears. Adjusting the fronts is easy. Below is the Tire Rack's discussion of the shocks.

I went with Konis partly because the piston in a Koni is double the diameter of the Tokicos (even Mazda Speed), and the Koni reds that I have in My 1967 Alfa Romeo must be more than 20 years old, and they stilll work perfectly. Anyway, that's all that I can tell you. All the best - H

<snip>
KONI Sport shock absorbers (painted yellow) were developed for sporting drivers by focusing on exceptional road holding and handling properties, combined with an acceptable level of comfort. KONI Sport shock absorbers are also available as part of KONI's Threaded Suspension Kits which feature threaded adjustable lower spring perches (where applicable) and progressive rate lowering springs designed for performance street driving.
<snip>

 

thanks, you have definitively convinced me, these are my next shocks!
again, thanks for your help

 

My 2006 RX8 had a failed right rear shock from, I guess, new.

Replaced under warranty.

 

I was rotating my tires today and while doing so I was looking for anything that might be loose. I've been hearing a clunking noise from the passenger side rear for the last thousand miles or so (after periodic checking of trunk components and such I finally decided to make a real effort). Sure enough, as I was looking for things I noticed a single drop of oil on the garage floor. Checking further, I noticed the bottom of the shock was wet with oil. My car is a 2004 with about 20,600 miles on it. I'll be taking it in to see what their diagnosis is. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to tell them what I think is wrong or let them tell me what they've found. For the time being, I'm going to let them replace them with the stock shocks. Thought I'd pass this along for the rest of the group to be aware of the history.

 

My shocks are holding up just fine. But I dont do a lot of track, do you?

 

KW suspension is the best for the track.