I just put in my Tein SS coilovers off of my 95 and put them into my 99 (yes, they are the same part, i checked!), and they ride HORRIBLY. It is absolutely awful.

I'm kinda unaware of what to do. The ride itself is very, very firm, like the road is constantly felt. But the main thing of concern is that the car feels like it is "slamming," especially in the rear section. It is very abrupt. The best comparision is like a wooden roller coaster.

Is that something to do with the dampening you think? Or just "that's the way it is." The 95 rode BETTER with the Teins than the stock suspension. The car is lowered, but not really low. I'd say maybe 1.5 inches front and rear, 2 inches max. Stock tires/wheels, not low profile ones.

I'm kinda in a bind here. Anybody else with Teins on if you know what to do your advice would be appreciated. Is there a specific dampening level it should be set to? I'm not sure what it is at right now. I'll try and check in the morning, if I can see.

 

what is the setting on? (clockwise = stiff & counter-clockwise = soft)

 

I dunno. I gotta check in the morning.

It's upstate NY and we've had 11 inches of rain. I can't use the garage cause the 'rents car are using it. I'm gonna evict them soon though so I can park my cars there.

 

and when you set your settings, make sure you start from the stiffest and work your way to the soft...meaning, turn the dial all the way (clockwise), then adjust the level by turning the dial counter-clockwise.

 

Think that it will lean more towards the "soft" setting? I mean...I'll hit a bump, like a sewer drain, and then BOOM feels like your *** hit the pavement. Gets worse with two other people in the car.

And I lost the damn dampening tool. Will the tool from another set of coilovers work ya think? Or is that Tein SS specific?

 

if you hit a bump and you feel it...it's at a stiff setting...there should be 16 levels of adjustment. If you lost the tool you may use an allenwrench of the same size...be careful not to overturn or put excess force on the dial when you adjust it, you may damage it...

 

Okay I'll give it a shot in the morning and see if it does any better.

It's so bad though, I almost feel like it's so soft that the wheel is slamming against the car. Or it could be so stiff that the tire is leaving the ground. And I'm not kidding - it is that bad.

Think the dampening will make that much of a difference? Or is that more for fine tuning it? I've never dicked around with it before.

 

from level 1 to level 16 there is a BIG difference...moving between levels is only a little noticeable. however, it does help in cornering or when you really push your car. when it is soft, it should feel like you ran over a pillow...when it's stiff...it feels like you ran over a rock.

 

Damn I hope it's that easy...

 

How low is the car? If you're riding on bump stops like a lot of people do it'll ride like complete and utter crap. While the shock settings will help, it shouldn't make THAT big of a difference as going in a straight line on a relatively smooth road it won't make any.

 

I'd say it's lowered about 1.5 inches, maybe 2, front and rear.

There's plenty of ground clearance. My 95 was lower, and that was the exact same suspension, and I never had problems with that.


BUT I just adjusted the front (rear = taking out subs), and that made quite a difference. So hopefully doing the same with the rear will help out.

 

Yeah so I just adjusted it...it was all the way to the stiffest setting lol.

I adjusted it five clicks stiffer of the softest setting up front and as soft as it will go in the rear, but it still feels like it's slapping. Basically the only real problem is potholes, sticks, stuff like that. I dunno I'm probably going to have it looked at. It could be that it is excessively low.

And does anybody know if they make just rear coilovers, in case these were damaged when the 95 was rear ended? That is the other thing I'm thinking, that the spring or w/e was actually damaged and that is causing this to happen.

I really don't wanna buy a whole new set, because they are expensive.

 

You can probably order just that one part from TEIN themselves...

 

I'll have to have somebody look at it and see if there is something wrong with it, or if it's just not installed right.

It rides quite a bit better though so maybe that's just how it's supposed to be.

 

You can send it into TEIN and have them look at it...they also rebuild their coil sets.

 

I dunno it seems a lot better now. I guess it's just supposed to be set really soft.

I have no idea what it was set at when it was on my 95. Probably softer because I definitely don't remember that riding hard. Well, THAT hard lol.

 

Yeah okay so I got it checked out by a performance shop, and they said I should remove the dust covers and the bump stop because that is what it is hitting. It's not because it's too low, according to them, it's just in the way with my car I guess. I dunno w/e I don't need the dust covers b/c this car will never see snow.

I wasn't crazy, it's definitely messed up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RudeLude95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah okay so I got it checked out by a performance shop, and they said I should remove the dust covers and the bump stop because that is what it is hitting. It's not because it's too low, according to them, it's just in the way with my car I guess. I dunno w/e I don't need the dust covers b/c this car will never see snow.

I wasn't crazy, it's definitely messed up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

do NOT remove the bumpstops unless you want to blow the shocks.

it sounds like you're hitting the bumpstops, which means you don't have enough travel for whatever reason. i'm not sure what tein's bumpstop policy is: do you use your stock bumpstops that are cut in half or do they supply bumpstops?

the dustcovers are nice to have but not necessary. however, i don't think the dust cover is what's causing the abrupt jolt--that sounds like bumpstop all the way...

 

Yeah I think that shop was kinda dumb. I just asked my mechanic more about it and he says that removing the bumpstops may give me about a half inch more travel, but when they DO hit, that it will be metal on metal, and it will be a lot worse than it is now.

He said I can just raise up the rear a little bit, which is all find and dandy except that the strut is seized: It can't be lowered or raised for w/e reason. So I can either deal with it the way it is, or I can have them removed and fixed. But I don't even know where to start with having them fixed...

Is there any danger in leaving them the way they are? Will I wear out other suspension parts? And the other thing is I set this up for a better handling car, but with the rear as soft as it can be, will that still make the car handle better? I'd feel like a complete jackass having a tein-equipped car that handles worse than stock lol.

Would a new set of sway bars counter the softness of the shocks in the rear? That was the other thing I was considering.

Uggggh sorry about the long post. I'm paranoid about my cars.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bad-monkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do you use your stock bumpstops that are cut in half or do they supply bumpstops?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, the TEINs set comes with bumpstops already equipped.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RudeLude95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> So I can either deal with it the way it is, or I can have them removed and fixed. But I don't even know where to start with having them fixed...</TD></TR></TABLE>

As mentioned earlier, you can send them to TEIN and they can rebuild that one strut...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RudeLude95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is there any danger in leaving them the way they are? Will I wear out other suspension parts? And the other thing is I set this up for a better handling car, but with the rear as soft as it can be, will that still make the car handle better? I'd feel like a complete jackass having a tein-equipped car that handles worse than stock lol.

Would a new set of sway bars counter the softness of the shocks in the rear? That was the other thing I was considering.

Uggggh sorry about the long post. I'm paranoid about my cars.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wouldn't leave it the way it is, especially the way you described the situation. It is possible to wear other suspension parts if the problem is not fixed. If you want the car to improve in handling, you need to improve stability and stiffen the rear (although too stiff is sometimes a disadvantage). Having a soft setting in the rear will cause your car to lean and lose momentum in a turn. You can get a new set of sway bars, however your car will still lean if your rear is soft. The sway bars prevent your chassis from flexing so much in a turn, the stiffness of the struts help stabilize and rebound the car from cornering.

 

OK well it looks like I'll take them out, send them back to tein, and have them repaired while the car is in storage.

 

They didn't come with their own bumpstops for mine. Actually, on the 95, I had the bumpstops removed. I never had a problem with the teins on that car. They never bottomed out, and only occasionally, over extremely harsh roads, were they uncomfortable.

I'm going to remove them, and if that doesn't alliviate the problem, then I will have the rear coilovers sent to tein and have them repaired over the winter. Hopefully it won't cost me an arm and a leg.

 

before you remove them, tell me this much:

how long/tall are the bumpstops? if you just used unmodified OEM bumpstops, that's your problem, which is fixed by cutting the bumpstops in half (a little more than half, usually at the first "groove" from the top of the stop)--this is fairly easy since the bumpstops are made of foam.

removing them on the 5th gen is a bad idea, because there's obv a problem with limited travel for whatever reason. all it will take is 1 pot hole or unseen dip and you can kiss the SS's goodbye w/o B-stops--bumpstops are the suspension equivalent to covering your ***.

 

I believe they were cut at about the halfway mark. My mechanic said there is about an inch remaining on the bumpstop.

 

ok just to make sure, you have the TEIN Super Street Coilovers right?
If so, I have the same exact thing and mine came with them already in there...they are white.