Shawn S

Here is the UGLY truth about the quality of these springs.


FRONT DRIVERS SIDE



FRONT PASSENGERS SIDE



REAR PASSENGER SIDE



REAR DRIVERS SIDE



A FEW CLOSE-UPS OF THE REAR DRIVERS SIDE

edgalang

Slimey

With rust like that (rear driver's side) it's inevitable that the spring will fail.

I'm anxious to hear what Comptech will say to this, especially if affects a lot of us. Has anyone done a similar poll on the TL board.

So far I'm OK, but this looks foreboding. I didn't lift the car when I peeked and it looks like most of Shawn's rust is at the bottom and top of the spring. I'm thinking that I should jack it up to get a closer look at the bottom of the spring.

I was going to change to the struts to Konis when my OEM set fails -- it looks like I'll have to budget in a new set of springs at the same install...

Shawn S

So how much will a complete Tein coilover setup run me ???
And can I run them with a drop setup like Comptech?
I’m not interested in “slamming” the car and I’d prefer the ride not to be any harsher then it currently is.

2003type-s6

I was JUST about to order some CT springs, but I don't think so now. I wanted a conservative drop w/out a camber kit but I think I will have to look elsewhere besides Comptech.

Red-CL

For all of you guys that are wondering Tanabe Springs (Sustec NF210) give the same drop as Comptech. Juniorbean has them.

Not sure if they're any better than the Comptechs though.

Red-CL

The part that sucks for me is that I already got Koni's. I really don't wanna spend a grand on a new suspension setup.

Red-CL

Oh' and I've only had my Comptechs on for about 10 months and this is my second car so my springs still look pretty good.

ChadT

The Tein SS with the pillow ball mount can be adjusted to about the same height as the Comptechs with them all the way up. However Tein also makes a set of springs they call "Luxury Sport" that have the 1.5 front and 1.0 rear drop for our cars. THey also have a different part # than their Accord set so they should be specifically made for the CL/TL. Don't know how corrosion resistant they are but I can't see how anything can rust as quickly as the comptechs. They must have recycled some old Pintos and Vegas to make their springs out of. I'd probably do the full Tein setup if I didn't already have Konis. Importhookup.com has the tein SS for %30 off plus free shipping. We might look into doing a group buy as well. Looks like their might be a few folks ditching these springs.

scalbert

As expected with living in a very low corrosive area, there is very little going on. I did have a few small rust spots the front springs but none on the rear. There was probably about five spots in total which I could see and all were pebble sized.

This is with about 1 year 3 months with the springs; about 12k miles.

CLASSYCLS

Shawn great pics......your driver rear is much more corrosive than mine, even do we get about the same amount of snow!!


Either way you go, people from up north, we will always feel the affect of salt & corrosion and considering the location of the springs they get all the wear from the salty roads and we cant really clean our springs, so they are left to just rust!! Even if we get eibach, you dont think they will rust??

blader

Damnit and I was just about to install a full stereo system .. might have to spring for TEINS

JZ

Climate differences cannot be the case because my fronts are perfectly fine and my rears are totally screwed. That cannot be explained by road salt etc. because in that case all of the springs would be corroded.

scalbert

Not without a problem from Comptech, but couldn't installation be part of this??

Could some shops not care about taking care of them during the installation and scratch them up pretty good from the beginning?? This opens the door to corrosion. Add to that living in regions where corrosion can occur easier and we have the current issue.

Just a thought, and if correct still doesn't releive Comptech as they should not scratch that easily to the power to where we have the current problems.

Maddawg03cls

Has anyone brought this to comptech's attention. A link to this thread might be worthwile so they can see the widespread nature of this problem. I'm really curious as to how they would address this.

Red-CL

If climate was the determining factor, wouldn't all springs (from stock to teins) be affected?
I've literally never seen springs corrode like that.

Jonesi

I've looked at mine and I can say as everyone here has that the rear springs are horrible.. Front drivers side isn't so bad, in fact that's the only one that doesn't have broken coils.. And front passenger side isn't as bad as the rears but it still bad..
Order from worst to best:
1) Rear Drivers Side
2) Rear Passenger Side
3) Front Passenger Side
4) Front Drivers side

MisterMehoff

how can you prevent the springs from rusting?

evilone

powdercoating

Shawn S

I had mine installed at Park Avenue Acura and I watched the entire process.
Even if someone DID get them scratched or chipped during install that would only cause sporadic rust in certain spots.
That couldn’t be responsible for what I’m seeing on my car.

Shawn S

I’ll be sending some E-Mails this coming week and making calls if I don’t get a response.

I’m also gonna contact Park Avenue to see if any other customers that don’t post here might have had issues.
I don’t feel they’re at fault here, but I might have to involve them if I push for a refund from Comptech.

Shawn S

ChadT

I installed my springs myself and they weren't scratched at all. The bottom coils on my rear springs are completely rusted. I've seen quite a few stock springs that have spent many (10+) years in this environment and none of them were rusted like these 1 year old springs are. The rust on these is extreme for how old they are and it looks like it will just keep eating the springs.

JaDia4

That's just awful. I would have to think Comptech didn't do too much of the R&D that we believe we're paying so much for . Perhaps someone with the capabilities and connections should look into a GB for Tien LS/SS, assuming they're not produced the same as the CT.

rbf351

i just checked mine today, have them on for about 7,000 miles

they still are all silver and look perfect

Slimey

FWIW, I had mine also installed at PAA by Jens -- I'm sure many of us have.

Shawn S

I think that sounds like a GREAT idea.

Amoeba

5,000 on h&r sports springs and tokico hp blues shocks, look brand new.

blader

I had mine installed also by Jens.
I don't think Jens would do anything to scrach them he's a smart guy and knows what hes doing. I'm sure he's installed like 50 or 60 sets of them.

nokio

the finish on the springs must be crappy and once it goes, the elements take their toll....maybe something can be sprayed on top of the current finish to keep it intact longer??

Jonesi

View at your own risk......

Rear Drivers Side:


Front Drivers Side - Only one without broken coils :


Rear Passenger:

Up High You Can See The Powdercoating Just Flaking Off:


Front Passenger Side, You can't really see it but I can read Comptech and the part number right above my finger..


The look of the car... Dirty as hell from just sitting there for a week..

Jonesi

Once again order from worst to best...
1) Rear Drivers Side
2) Rear Passenger Side
3) Front Passenger Side
4) Front Drivers Side

Shawn S

I think they must have contracted these suckers out to the place that was welding the OBX Headers.

Jonesi

This pissed me off looking at them.. Defintley 3 out of 4 are fvcked.. To be honest the front passenger side (bad pic) looks decent I can still see alot of silver and read comptech on them. But to my suprise after looking closer I see two break off points on the coils and one is still broke off around it..

Red-CL

I knew you would bring OBX into this.

Jonesi

All I know is this spring looks fine except looking up close when see the break off points.. This one really shocked me.. It worries me b/c this is what most probably see on there's..

runnerX

I was about to buy Comptech springs.. but I guess I will not going to buy anything from them anymore..

LatinSmoke 01CL

Damn, I juz bought the Comptech Springs bout 2 weeks ago.

donduncan

Dude, your springs look fucked up. your car looks clean, but its so dirty looking in the wheel well. You can't safely drive your car like that. Are you driving with the springs in this condition? I hope my springs never look like that, i'll be so pissed after spending the amount of money I put into this car After 2 years, my springs still have all powercoating with some scratches(installer did) but they don't look like yours. Good luck with a fix.

BlueCLS6

Mine look fine; installed 1/29/03, have ~3500 miles on them.
Car is garaged in Southern CA.

ChadT

Man that's scary. Seems like the only ones not rusted are from warmer climates. Think I'll be swaping mine out soon.