Hi guys. I'm in need of some advice regarding my TEIN Control Master Type Flex coilovers with the EDFC.

I bought these from a friend used but low mileage. They sat in my garage for quite a while before being fitted to my 98 JDM DC2 ITR a few months ago. We placed the EDFC stepper motors, but didn't hook them up

Subsequent to the installation I noticed two issues.

The first is that the stepper motor seems to be rotating on the right shock, by between a quarter to a half turn. I adjust it easily with a spanner, because it won't move by hand, and a few days later including possibly some hard driving, it's moved again. Obvioulsly its turning on the shsft. The left doesn't do this, but it takes the same amount of force with a spanner to move it, as it does on the right. I haven't checked the rears.

The second issue is some clattering clunking noise exoecially over rough pieces of road. I had assumed it was rack ends or tierod ends. I cannot remember if the noise was there prior to the coilover install, but they had been on my list of repairs prior to the coilover installation so I'd have to presume they were.

So I sent the car in for the rack ends and tierod ends, and to have the BuddyClub lower extended balljoints fitted. The mech says the rack ends and tierod ends are fine.

Now I'm stumped and don't know the next step to take. It had been a simple issue of tightening a nut the prevent the rotation, and eliminating the noise by changing the rack ends and tierod ends. Not so simple it seems.

Please assist with advice or constructive suggestions.

 

Check your pillowball mount nut on each shock and make sure its tight. You'll probably need a 14mm wrench and I think a 8mm wrench to hold the shock piston rod.

 

I've done a fair amount of research, & yes I will definitely do that, thanks.

I was told by the local TEIN agent that the body of the EDFC motor does rotate a bit. It does in his own car, so that shouldn't be an issue.

We're changing everything on the suspension. If the noise still persists, I'll try to get some of those spring insulators.

 

Pillowball top-hats are probably gone if your top-hat nut is on snug. It happens. I hate Tein stuff after switching to German stuff.

 

^German stuff? I thought you were on Koni/GC?

 

Koni is made by ITT Engineering which I believe is German.

Bilstein and Ohlins are also great.

I said German stuff, but really Americans assemble some good products.

Edit: *great* products

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITT_Corporation

Wow, nevermind. Lol

 

Lol. You already know. But Koni is Dutch. GC is American. Eibach is American.

Also....Bilstein, Sachs, and KW are German. Öhlins is Swedish.

They're all great companies.

For street use, I've been happier with my Tein setups than I have with Koni Yellow based setups. I actually like my Tein SA more than I did my KW ST ST-X as well.

And Tein does make very high quality products. The Flex and other older systems did leave something to be desired in terms of how the dampers were tuned. But...the quality is undeniably there. If OP has actual Type Flexes...they're probably as old as the Dinosaurs.

I am pretty amazed by my Öhlins. But their price reflects that.

 

Lol, I was definitely just being a stereotypical American and lumping European countries together as Germany

For street use I've been wayyy happier with my Koni Yellows than my Teins. This was on my RSX. The Teins were really soft for being "performance coilovers" and the locking collars on the fronts kept loosening up because heavy mac-strut car.

I don't run koni/gc on my rsx...only Koni dampers with stock springs. I dropped a second at my local track with only Konis and stock springs.

My friend has Ohlins single adjustables and they adjust both bound and rebound at the same time, which really surprised me, but he said they're amazing and his autocross results really show it. He drives a BRZ in STX.

KWs are overrated from what I hear. The ones sold for the E36 M3 were progressive springs from V1 all the way to V3 (I may be wrong). My old boss also dropped a second in his M3 race car switching from KW V3s to BC Racing BRs, most likely because of the stiffer springs and the fact that they were linear.

In the end, I suppose it makes a difference when you consider the definition of "quality."

I'm willing to sacrifice some reliability or construction robustness for a well-tuned dampe. I imagine the Teins are more rugged than a Koni/GC setup.

 

I've never used Teins for track or autocross use. The obvious low budget choice for that type of use is Koni yellows...and dealing with getting kicked in the back on every bump and having relatively high ride height. Or re-valving koni yellows to handle tougher spring rates.

Teins OLDER stuff was damped in a weird way. Their newer stuff is more or less on point. Their lower end stuff lacks low speed damping. KW's lower end stuff has more low speed damping....but ends up being a bit harsh....and is more expensive.

The reason I prefer Tein as a *street* use suspension as compared to Koni yellows and GC is because of the WAY better powder coat finish for adverse weather, full length dust boots, better comfort, better damping range because the dampers are made to match the springs, etc.

Konis are fantastic shocks that last longer than about anything else. But...they have limitations. On a 88-00 civic/90-01 integra, Konis yellows are comfortable until about 250-300 LB rear springs. And then it begins: The bounce to the moon. They're also ride-height limited. With their intended spring rates...figure about a 1.25 or so drop. People are out there slamming their cars 8" into the earth and using 17,000LB springs claiming "it rides soo good". Yeah right. Put the crack pipe down.

So if you need something outside those parameters, or need something whose spring rates are pre-engineered, I think Tein is a reputable source.

As far as single-double adjustment of shocks goes: Its not uncommon or surprising. If Öhlins DFV's only adjusted rebound...I wouldn't have bought them. The key to this type of design is the engineering. If a reputable company makes a single-double shock that's designed around a pre-set spring rate, it usually works very very well.

Koni yellows being rebound adjustable is only an advantage because they are not designed for a specific spring. You can vary the spring rate to tune them.

Your situation with lower collars coming loose on your RSX is weird. I never had that in 6 years of Tein Flex use on my S13. My friend has Tein SB's on his EP3...and in 2 or 3 years, they've never come loose. The stock RSX/EP3 upper mount has a bearing in it.

And your RSX probably lost time on stock springs because you raised it up.

I had great luck with my KW V3's. But like any setup, it may just have been tuned very well for the S2000 chassis. Maybe V3's on other cars are nothing to write home about. But...their build quality is high. I wouldn't say they're over rated at all. Stainless steel bodies, excellent welding, solid damping that lasts a long time even with abuse, independent double adjustments, etc.

KW's ST line is less comfortable overall than Tein. But also offers more body control. But...the bodies are zinc plated instead of organic coated :'(

Sorry in advance to the OP for ruining his thread lol. But he's not coming back anyway.

 

I gained time when I went from Teins, 255-wide RS3 tires, K-Pro, and long-tube header to stock shocks, 225-wide DZ102s, with stock header and no k-pro.

I lost time when I went from the second-mentioned setup to Konis. Everything was the same from the first track day to the next except for the Konis. Then, I got instruction and I dropped more time, but I am not counting that to the Konis' credit.

Good points on all of the other stuff. I didn't like my Teins. I'm sure people with different cars have different experiences. People I know use Teins on all of their cars and praise them while other people I know have used them and despised them.

At the end of the day this is all subjectivity, anyway.