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After looking around and reading several of the threads on Azurazine, I decided that FF1s would give me the ride and handling I was looking for.
After installing them, my wheel gap has gone from 2.5 ~ 3.0 inches to -1.0 inch! I've adjusted the coilovers to be a long possible and still feel safe. Even then, the fronts are three inches shorter than stock.
Wheels are stock with 215 tires.
I know many people are looking to really lower their ride. I'm just looking for a ride similar to stock with a slight lowering.
I have contacted F&F and they have been quite responsive, but have no solutions for me to raise the front end to a useable range.
I would appreciate any suggestions on how I can use the FF1s with my tires/wheels and not have them rub.
Thanks to everyone that contributes to this forum. It's a great resource for me and has saved me time and time again.
Yes, stock rims. I can't tell for sure where it's rubbing. I hear and feel the tires rubbing when I turn the steering wheel about a full turn in either direction. (Backing out, parking, etc.)
I have the fronts adjusted to where only about 3/4 of an inch of thread is remaining in the bottom mount of the coilover. F&F don't give a minimum, but I don't feel I can safely screw it out any further.
Here are some pics of how it looks and the installation. If you look closely, you will see that the tire is higher than the top of the fender. No wheel gap at all.
I am about 0.5cm lower than you are in the front and I dont rub on full lock....I am on stock 215 wide Type S wheels.
You can try modifying the wheel well a bit. Tuck the splash shield behind the tabs instead of in front of them.
Otherwise just deal with it A little rubbing is not a big deal. It might be a bit annoying but the tire is not really rotating very fast on very sharp turn angles so no serious damage is done.
You said you are in contact with FF. Did you ask them if you could raise it more?
F2's were made to aggressivley drop your car. If you wanted a slight drop you should've went a different route (ie. Tein). In fact, from what you said where you wanted a slight drop and keep factory ride, you should've gone with Tein's or even spring/shock combo.
You can try to mess with the preload to get a bit more range, but I wouldn't do that. Or you can get smaller profile tires, or lastly, just deal with it.
Maybe you can even trade with someone who wants your F2's..
you MAY have to mess with preload. Not to be a jerk but you may have been better served with Teins...they are not as aggressive of a drop, staightforward to adjust and drives like stock. Just food for thought if you can't find resolution.
something doesnt look right, that cant be all the way up... i dont think you should be tucking tire on the highest setting.
did you do the install yourself?
F2's raised up still looks slammed lol.. mine are set almost at the highest level and I'm a wee bit tucking still. I remember Slushhy had a thread with some pics of when he jacked his car up and even then, the front always sits lower.
Thanks to everyone for their input and replies. I just finished trying to reinstall the fronts again, just to see if I got a different result. I might have raised it 1/2 inch.
It seems clear now that I chose poorly in picking the FF1s and should have gone with Teins. Somehow I got that backwards. Everyone said they liked their FF1s and they road like stock. I just went for a drive around the block, and I have to say I don't ever remember my TL bouncing like that before. Maybe they settle down after a while.
My stock springs are good, so I might just get some stock shocks and be done with it.
I'll probably sell these FF1s. They only have about 5 miles on them!
I am about 0.5cm lower than you are in the front and I dont rub on full lock....I am on stock 215 wide Type S wheels.
You can try modifying the wheel well a bit. Tuck the splash shield behind the tabs instead of in front of them.
Otherwise just deal with it A little rubbing is not a big deal. It might be a bit annoying but the tire is not really rotating very fast on very sharp turn angles so no serious damage is done.
You said you are in contact with FF. Did you ask them if you could raise it more?
It turns out that I don't rub if I'm on level ground. My driveway slants down toward the alley and both are going at different angles. It rubs quite a bit there.
I did contact FF, and they were very responsive. But, told me that they had no way to raise it more. In their last message to me, they did say they might look into something in the future. If they made the lower mount longer, that would do the trick. It's only about 3.5 inches now. If it were about 6, then you would have more options on where you (I) wanted it.
Dude...this forum is FULL of people that want to be slammed, I can assure you you can find someone on Tein's that feel they're too "stock feeling" or dont' allow enough of a drop to trade with. I'm sure of it. If not, sell and buy some SS or even basics (save some scratch!).
Just as a reference for you, this is Tein SS...my camber is corrected and I'm at about 1/2" left to go totally down on the front and 3/4" on the back (from the bottom of the assembly, where they tell you to measure)...so pretty much as low as they go. I can raise it up to about stock height so that's the amount of room you'd have to play with to get what you are looking for.
on 19" works
on 18" aspecs
same height setting
Dude...this forum is FULL of people that want to be slammed, I can assure you you can find someone on Tein's that feel they're too "stock feeling" or dont' allow enough of a drop to trade with. I'm sure of it. If not, sell and buy some SS or even basics (save some scratch!).
Just as a reference for you, this is Tein SS...my camber is corrected and I'm at about 1/2" left to go totally down on the front and 3/4" on the back (from the bottom of the assembly, where they tell you to measure)...so pretty much as low as they go. I can raise it up to about stock height so that's the amount of room you'd have to play with to get what you are looking for.
on 19" works
on 18" aspecs
same height setting
I know I'm bucking the trend. Sorry. But I'm an old guy and I've done the "low and hard" thing before. Now, I quiet smooth ride is what I'm after. However, I'm NOT after something super soft.
Well, the Basics are supposed to be super soft.
The SS gives you the ability to make it as stiff as you want (no offense, since you're an "old" guy...lol)...I have it set to almost all the way soft and it rides as smoothly as it did on the stock aspec setup with 2 inches of gap all around.
I dont think you changed the preloads to a proper setting. When mines came, the preload was not set at all, and it slammed down. I adjusted the preloads and it was fine.
I dont think you changed the preloads to a proper setting. When mines came, the preload was not set at all, and it slammed down. I adjusted the preloads and it was fine.
The instructions said not to touch the top two rings, so I didn't. I adjusted the length with the bottom tube with the struts off of the car. It's a good thought on changing the preload.
hey if your looking towards buying some teins in the near future i have a set of teins super streets setting in my garage collecting dust. That were mounted on my car for only about 2 months. Ohh and just to let you know i'm dropped on ff2's and im lower than you are definetly by an inch or more and i have no problems, plus i have 3g tl wheels on which poke out more than our 2g wheels. I live in the DFW area.
hey if your looking towards buying some teins in the near future i have a set of teins super streets setting in my garage collecting dust. That were mounted on my car for only about 2 months. Ohh and just to let you know i'm dropped on ff2's and im lower than you are definetly by an inch and i have no problems. I live in the DFW area.
Does this looks like a manifactural defect or all FF type 1s sit low like that even on the highest setting ? I wanna get them but I need to know if I can jack it up back for the winter cuz at that height shown above, my car ain't going nowhere in snow...
Does this looks like a manifactural defect or all FF type 1s sit low like that even on the highest setting ? I wanna get them but I need to know if I can jack it up back for the winter cuz at that height shown above, my car ain't going nowhere in snow...
I sent pics to F&F and they said that they appeared to be installed correctly. They are really easy to install. Not much to go wrong. I did not change the preload since they suggested not to.
It might have to do with your wheels and tires. I'm running stock wheels (16") and 215 tires.
Plus, it's personal taste. As I've said, I'm an old guy and have had my days of low, hard riding cars. I need something easy to get out of and a bit softer ride.
Going by the Pic its look like you are at 3 1/2 gap between the ring. im running 3 3/4 on my Mine and still have more room to go. Dont know if its a big different or not but mine was made for the Accord.
i drive a 03 acura tl and im on tein springs i want to go lower just for the look and to see if i enjoy it if not il go back to my springs its has a nice look and very smooth ride but i just wanted to know if 04-and up tl coilovers would fit on mine. those are the most common so lm just trying to look at a craigslist pick up
Post some pics of how your car looked before and after you put each kit. I'm interested in finding out which route I should go, as it is my daily and I drive around with a 9 month old baby.
I only have one photo with the coilovers on it. Funny, now it does not look that low. But, it did rub quite badly in the front. I ended up taking them off and going with the Eibach Pro kit. It has worked very nicely for me. I think it's a better ride than coilovers give. Your milage may vary...
2003 TL with coilovers.
03-21-2011, 03:49 PM
A little rubbing is not a big deal. It might be a bit annoying but the tire is not really rotating very fast on very sharp turn angles so no serious damage is done. 
Post some pictures of how it looks dropped.
