miamirice

I just got H&R OE Sport springs (51858-55) and Tokico HP (the blues) put in, and I'm a bit concerned...the drop in the back - which is supposed to be only 0.5 inches - seems like a lot more. The front looks pretty good - it's like I expected...but b/c the rear drop is so big, it looks almost a bit saggy in the back. Could the installer have made a mistake? Could he have over-compressed the rear springs or something?

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

^ should've searched because that model # has that issue with the rear sagging..

you should've gotten the H&R sport 50103.

then again.. looks like you got the OE springs..

fsttyms1

OE spring or the Sport spring? Which do you have?

miamirice

I have the OE Sport Springs model #51858-55. the specs say 0.5" drop in rear, 0.75" in front.

I realized after my post that the OEM rear shocks would not fit into the box the Tokico HPs came in..they were like two or three inches too long (just the rears, tho). This means the Tokico rears are shorter than OEM by a lot. I asked the installer if this could have contributed to the rear drop being off spec and he said yes. I am totally bummed. is there any solution?

fsttyms1

It shouldnt. The shock itself doesnt lower the car. Ive installed that shock before without having that issue. If it was that every one with them would have the rear sitting lower.

miamirice

In an old thread, Pure Adrenaline mentions that while installing in his coilovers, he realized that his shocks hadn't been "seated all the way into the fork by about half an inch or so. If it had been seated all the way, it would've been an even drop front to back." This is after he talks about how his 50103 H&R Sports had sagged in the back. I'm going to ask the mechanic to check on this...not sure if it will help but this is all I can think of. Either this or my H&R's are defective...

fsttyms1

The 50103 is the spring that doesnt sag. The 51858 is the one it replaced because of the saging.

Your shocks may be defective, and not the springs, that and the install may not be correct. Also Measure from the ground to the lift point on the bottom of the car. Dont go by the wheel well as the Front wheel arch is higher than the rear

miamirice

Interesting. I just got off the phone with H&R tech support...and incidentally it was with Steve, the general manager of H&R Special Springs. He says that they didn't come out with 50103 because of a sagging issue - they created the hybrid because the 02-03 TLs' suspensions are different from 99-01's. The length of the OEM shock from the mounting bolt to the spring perch changed (or something like this) and so they employed the 51858-55 OE Sports on the rear, but 51858 Sports on the front, in order to achieve the same drop on the updated Sports (50103). It was not, he says, because of sagging.

In the beginning of the call, I thought he was just a really good tech support guy. When he very confidently told me that he hadn't had *anyone* return the model springs because of a sagging problem, I asked him, "So how long have you worked there?" He said, "[pause] I'm the GM."
"The GM of tech support?"
"No, the general manager here."

Well, maybe that's even more incentive to BS me who knows... But he did give me a few things to check on in terms of the install:

1. Confirm part # on spring
2. Were the bump stops trimmed or altered?
3. Measure the length of new shock from spring perch to mounting bolt, and compare to stock.
4. Are the spring rubber/rubber isolators still in place?

Any one of these things above can significantly alter the ride height, he says.