Rep Power: 241

hey guys some of u may know i just installed my tein. I have a few questions,
first one is i set my front to the lowest setting possbile and im getting a 2 fingers gap and one side is a tad higer then the other, does that sound right? And when i drive on a bumpy uneven road i can sometimes hear a sound coming from the front driver side coilover. Like something is moving around, but when i pick up speed it stops, then i wont hear it for the rest of the day. Unless i parked for some time and drive again. any input is appreciated.

 
Rep Power: 258

what is your wheel or tire size?
your front shouldnt be that low with 2 fingers left. i have like 7-8 threads left in the front and i have 1 finger gap in the front with 17s.
one side should be higher than the other due to weight of your engine and your body. So what I did was leave more threads in the driver side so its technically higher, but wieh the weight of the engine and your body, it should even out. you're just going to have to play around until you get it right.
the sound you might be hearing could be your loose springs... ive never heard mine make anynoise no matter how bumpy the road - but sometimes they pop when I turn the wheel for the first time in the morning.

 
Rep Power: 241

i have ls webs with 195/50/15 tires. today i just set both of the coilovers to the lowest setting and its giving me like 2 fingers gap. I didnt know about that weight thing, if i do wat u did its not oging to damage the coilovers right kus its uneven.

 
Rep Power: 258

im pretty sure you're not supposed to set the coilovers to their lowest and still have 2 fingers.. unless ur fingers are really skinny lol. are u sure you installed them right? when I had my rears lowered with only 2-3 threads left my tires were tucking like crazy.
The front for me always has more threads but can go lower than the rear.
and setting them unevenly is okay - infact its probably better.

 
Rep Power: 0

I think it's the overall diameter of your rims and tire give you the two finger gap. I used the tire calculater to make some calculations. Since your rocking 15" rims with a somewhat low profile tires, the total diameter would be 22.67 inches. Now compare that with 17" rims with 215/45/17 tires which gives an overall diameter of 24.61 inches. That's a difference in about 2 or more inches. So, if you would have gotten tires that had a much larger sidewall, you would decrease your gap. Does that make sense?

 
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Btw, can you post some pics of your car at the lowest setting in the front and give me some feedback on how they ride? I'm planning to get some tein basics as well.

 
Rep Power: 311

u need to post pics

 
Rep Power: 241

im at work but ill definitely post pic yeah im thinking its the wheel/tire size but its riding stiff but less bouncy than my skunk2 sleeves. for my rears i have like 5 threads and its no finger gap i had the rear lowered all the way down and it tucked like no other

 
Rep Power: 352

ur tires are just a bit small. thats why.

in ur car, oem spec would be 195/60/15 but if you dont want ur rims to look too fat, you can get 195/55/15...

 
Rep Power: 352

HAHAH.....i just got the significance of ur name... MR banh bao....AHAHAHAHAH assuming ur viet?

 
Rep Power: 259

wit ur tire size. u gona get that gap. the guy i sold my retrofit to had the same set up and he had it on the lowest and it still have 1.5-2 finger gap. tein basic doesnt let u go that low.

 
Rep Power: 352

read the thread dude....

 
Rep Power: 311

^^ read it again sleepy!

 
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He did read the thread.


He said WITH YOUR TIRE SIZE...

Not WHAT is your tire size...

you just owned yourself

 
Rep Power: 258

i dont think they were designed to be set that low!!!

 
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I know one guy that took out one of the spindles in the front, and it gave him about another 1/4" inch more drop. But, I'm not sure if that's safe.

 
Rep Power: 241

so you think they will blow out quicker if i keep them this low? because if i raise it there's going to be a huge gap and that looks retarded! = (


yes sleepyrice i am viet .. why are u

okay the gayest thing happened to me today when i parked. my front passenger wheel fell into a huge ditch/pothole on the side of the road when i tried to park. i was EFFING stuck my car wouldnt move, i tried to go forward and reverse and smoke would come out of my hood (bad sign) i dont know what part of my car was on concrete? but why did it smoke...

 
Rep Power: 311

definately bad, make sure you didn't crack your radiator.

I've been driving on the lowest setting for over 80K+ miles. it's still fine.

 
Rep Power: 811

maybe the smoke was from the tires?

 
Rep Power: 287

I think it needs to be clarified that the tein basic's don't go all that low in the front... I've had basics for three/four years now and have had them at the lowest setting for most of that time, no issues.

I think what people are suggesting, is that the basics don't go THAT low. and if you want to close the wheel well gap even more, then you can get tires with a larger sidewall to close it up. But if you plus size your wheels correctly, (if you don't know what that means, go look it up) and you put the tein's at their lowest setting in the front, you'll still have some gap. Although a million times less gap then stock.

I think I'm going to save up for Tanabe suspension and get that ish in there.

 
Rep Power: 241

im not sure where the smokes came from but i do hope its from the tires.


and for the wheel gap ill probably save up for 16in wheels. something from rota would be fine.

and a member mention that the front is lopsided kus of the weight of the engine, is that a fact or a personal thing..?

 
Rep Power: 352

x2 opps hahaaha

 
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sorry i havent posted pictures. defintely really soon. and about the sound coming from my front driver side coilover. What to do? i raised the front up and noticed the passenger the spring is tight in place i cant even move anything but the driver side the springs is sitting loose,i can move it up and down and all around. its not compressed together like the passenger. hope u guys know what i mean..

 
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anyone can help??

 
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my springs are loose when i jack the car up. they shouldnt be loose with the car on the ground.

 
Rep Power: 0

Well, set the preload tighter. In other words, shorten the stroke dampening rate for the springs. There should be two perches located on the bottom of where your spring sits. It may be making sound because when the spring fully decompresses, there's play around the spring, causing noise. If you bring the perch (the one that the spring is sitting on) up higher, not only will there be no more play within the springs, but you'll be able to lower your car even more.

Hopefully that'll kill two birds with one stone.

 
Rep Power: 258

if u bring the top perch up wont u have to bring the bottom one up too so they'll tighten and lock? but if u bring them up that means the car will be higher

 
Rep Power: 241

yeah i dont wanna do that... is this a common problem for our car, do u think a suspension shop can figure it out?

 
Rep Power: 0

Well, it barely brings it up, but the main point of that perch is to shorten the dampening stroke. The real height adjustment comes from the bottom perch. Because you'll essentially "add to the threads" for the bottom perch when bringing the top perch up, you can bring that bottom perch up to shorten the coilover even more.

Don't forget that the spring rate will stay the same no matter the size of the dampening stroke. So when your car rests on the spring, it will compress approximately the same way.

I had a similar problem in terms of noise, and I thought it was my suspension topping out. So I brought the top perches downward a little, and my ride height still remained, just the car had a little more rebound. Turns out it's my front LCA bushings making the noise.

Either way, when you jack your car up, there shouldn't be any play in the spring, but you should be able to twist the spring with a good amount of force. That's a good amount of preload.

 
Rep Power: 258

so what are the benefits of a shorten dampening stroke?
two of my friends and myself have loose coilover springs when our car is jacked up - i assumed this was just normal and with the car on the ground the weight of the engine and all that would keep the spring in place.

didnt you say you set your coilovers to the lowest settings?

I got a popping noise when i first turned the steering wheel in the morning sometimes, but i havent heard it in months. but your noise could be something unrelated to the coilovers like albertross said