ProvidenceLeaf

In general how long does it take for springs to settle?

I had my TEIN H-Techs installed yesterday with new Tokico blues and the front is rediculously higher than the rear. I get alomst 3 fingers in the front and 1 finger in the back. I think the H-techs have been discussed before in here. I read that this has been a problem with H-Techs on a type-S. If this is the case I'm going to be very disappointed since I was debating on getting H&R Sports.

I know it's only been one day, but the back is already settled in and unless I lose another full finger in the front it's going to look stupid to me.

Any comments would be great.

JPTL-S

Sounds like something is wrong. It almost sounds like the springs for the front were placed in the rear and vice versa (if that is even possible). I know when I had my H&R Sport springs installed, there was a noticeable difference in height when I picked up my car. I could get about 2 fingers in between the tire and the wheel well all the way around. Even after a week, the change in the tire to wheel well gap measurement was negligible.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Do you have the typical 400 pound sub box in your trunk?

ProvidenceLeaf

No sub box. Actually nothing in the trunk. Does it matter that the bumpstops were not cut in the front? The bumpstops in the front are connected to the dust cover so the only way to cut it would be to take it apart. So instead of messing with it we left it as is. I didn't think bumpstops effected ride height...Is that true?

ProvidenceLeaf

Here are some pics. I made them much brighter so you can see where the tire ends much better.






Comments appreciated!

flydog

The rear on that car looks way too low almost like it would rub going over bumps. Tein says its supposed to be a 1" drop in the rear and that looks like 2" or more. Its as if you had cement bags in the trunk. I dont think its possible to switch the front springs for the rear but you may want to look into that. The springs should be labeled with an R or F.

Another possibility is the shocks for the rear are the wrong part # and the perch is too low.

Bump stops just keep the car from making metal to metal contact when bottoming out. It doesnt have anything to do with ride height.

This isnt a settling issue. Settling might lower the front 1/4".The fronts will not compress the 1" or more you need to get it to look right. The problem seems to be in the rear anyway. The front looks pretty close to where it need should be. Maybe a little low but that could be because of the sag in the rear.

xtltypesx

sup guys.. i have about 50000 miles on my car.. do you guys thing its ok if i just get the h&r springs with no shocks?

ProvidenceLeaf

Hmmm...this is quite a problem here. Thanks for the suggestion. You have a very good point about the back being way to low. I thought the same thing but the part numbers for the shocks are correct. I don't think it is even possible to confuse the front springs from the back.

But...The front used to be about 4 fingers and now it is about 3 (1" lower) and the back used to be about 3 fingers and now it's about 1 (1.5" lower)

IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?! From what I can remember the rear springs are larger so there is no way to confuse those. Plus I just don't think it would fit anyway if you did confuse them!

Maybe you are correct about the shock. Hmmmm....maybe they were not manufactured correct and the perch is too low on them. I guess the only solution would be to compare a stock shock to the Tokicos I put in my car.

One more thing...Is it possible that when the rears were being reassembled I might have forgot to install a piece to affect the ride height? Probably not, but I just wanted to cover all angles here...

I guess I'm going to have to redo this whole mess.

ANYONE PLEASE SOME SUGGESTIONS!!!

ayethetiense

Just make sure the spring is sitting properly. Take it out and turn it clockwise and counterclockwise to make sure its sitting in there right.

ProvidenceLeaf

Some more pics now that the springs have settled even more...


Anyway, I'm going to have them checked out soon. I don't think it was an install issue. I have a feeling it's the same complaint that other type-S owners have had with the TEIN H-Tech sagging in the rear. The fronts look just about right now, but the backs are too low. It makes the car look stupid IMO. I'll get back to everyone who has PMed me on this as soon as I figure this out!

flydog

Maybe the nut on top of the shock wasnt turned down all the way. That would easily give you half an inch extra drop depending on how much thread the Tokicos have.

There is no way to change ride height on the rears because the shock has the bottom mount built in and its fixed. On the fronts it may be possible to raise it a bit by jamming the yoke bolt in below the shock instead of through the recessed area but you would probably see a difference between the left and right sides.

It could also be the spring rotated wrong in the perch as the previous poster mentioned but that would raise the height not lower it so it doesnt address the issue in the rear although it would raise the front slightly.

I think it may be possible to put the fronts on the rears. Look at your old springs and see if the diameters are the same. If they are close they would probably fit ok if switched.

flydog

That rear is way saggy and the front almost looks stock. Switched springs would be the first thing to check.

ProvidenceLeaf

It's not the front and rears being switched. I checked it out. The diameters are different and the rear springs are taller than the front so you would notice the difference, and it wouldn't sit properly, and wouldn't have fit.

Personally I'm starting to think it's the H-tech problem of the rear being much lower than stated. There have been other people on here with this problem after installing the H-techs. It sounds very similar to when people were having issues with the old H&R O.E. springs with the rears sagging.

optomos

Do a cali lowering job. Take a torch to the front springs untill they sag to the height you want em.

JPTL-S

Damn bro, looks like you're not the only one:

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/mini-gang-134052/

mr.motoring

Also, the rear springs are progressive rate while the fronts are constant, and not to mention a helluva lot stiffer.

slice

From the most recent pics you posted the front looks like mine but the ass end looks way too low. I've noticed with my H-techs that there is a slight (1/4"-1/2") difference between the front and the back but your's is ridiculous! Maybe you got a bad set? Good luck!

ProvidenceLeaf

What year is your TL? Also, are you on stock shocks, or did you do aftermarket like Tokicos?

flydog

Well then it could be what the other poster's issue was in the other thread. The front shocks are sitting on top of the bolt in the yoke instead of the shock being seated all the way and the bolt running through the notch in the shock. Hard to believe they would make the same exact mistake on both sides. That about an inch right there.

ProvidenceLeaf

Nope...already checked that. it's sitting all the way in.

I heard from another member that Tokico blues will lower the car a bit anyway and with the combo of the sagging H-techs that everyone else has is why my car looks like that.

I think I'm going to have to start a poll.

phipark

Measure the jack points to the ground for thr front and the rear. If they are equal, then the springs aren't the problem. The Tein H-Techs lower the front and rear 1.2". A lot of people don't notice the the wheel wells in the front are higher than the rear.

slice

I have a 02 Type-S still on stock shocks. I did a quick finger measurment this morning and the front is three fingers, back is two. Like phipark said, the wheel wells in the front could just be higher than those in the rear. A guy in my parking lot has a 03 TL-P with stock springs and shocks (I think) so I'm gonna pull a and measure the difference between front and rear on his.

fsttyms1

mr.motoring

You're referring to the CL lowering by 1.2", not the TL.

Yes, the stock front wheel well gap is larger due to it being higher than the rear. However the H-Tech's lower the front 1.5" and the back 1.0" which would give an even wheel well gap between the front and rear.

JPTL-S

Yet another one: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135008

Timslunch2

Even though mine sits higher in the front i did measure form the jacking points and sure enough the front is 1/2 lower than the back. Leason learned with TEIN springs. Next year I'll just do it right and get the coilovers

ProvidenceLeaf

I needed to respond because I solved this issue...

I installed H&R sports instead.

There is a definite sagging problem with the H-techs in the rear and not enough of a drop in the front for 02-03.

To refresh everyone the H-techs are supposed to lower the car -1.5 Front/-1.0 Rear. I still had a huge 3 finger gap in the front and almost NO gap at all in the back (see previous pics in the thread)

As everyone knows the H&R sports are supposed to lower the car -1.75 Front/-1.5 Rear. After I installed the H&R sports I have about a little over 1 finger gap in the front and about the same in the back.

Kind of strange when I got rid of almost 2 fingers in the front and the H&Rs are only supposed to lower the car .25" more then the H-techs. My car actually was raised up about 1 finger in the rear which is ridiculous since the H&Rs are supposed to lower the car .5" more than the H-techs.

So anyway the fact that TEIN drop figures are dead wrong with the H-techs. As you can see from this thread that many people have had issues with these springs. BTW...this is not something that you want to do twice. It was a lot of work and I wish I had installed H&Rs like most of you said to begin with (lesson learned) Anyway here are some new pics after I installed the H&R sports...See the difference?

c0v3rr1d3

iTrader: (4)

lookin much better!

ProvidenceLeaf

Thanks!

Here are some better pics to see the difference. I didn't realize the shadows were so bad in the first pics.

mr.motoring

Looks good. So time for camber kits?

JPTL-S

Now that looks good bro! Glad to see you decided to go with H&R's

ProvidenceLeaf

Not sure yet. I'm going to have it aligned this week. I hope not...We'll see!

TLTYPES03

definetely a better choice goin with the H & R springs...i was pretty set on getting these ones myself....hows the ride and handling now with these rather than the stock ones?

ProvidenceLeaf

The ride is just a bit stiffer than usual. It's not bad at all. The roads in RI are awful and l don't regret doing this mod.

Handling is MUCH improved, but I also installed Eibach sway bars at the same time when I changed the springs from the H-techs to H&R Sports.

You're helping the handling just by lowering the car so even without the sways there should be some improvement.

I hope this helps.

JMAL

looks good. i wanna see if you needed a camber kit, if not... thats the next mod for me.

ProvidenceLeaf

Yeah I needed a camber kit. It was much better spending the $120 on a camber kit now, than the $$$ I would have to spend on new tires in the future because of premature inside tire wear! The install was very easy...It took me about 45 min. total to install the kit. Here is a seperate thread that I posted about this...

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/5th-gear-top-gear-downloads-136927/