saucy

Alright. I forgot my camera during the install, so I took the time to go back and take all the pics. If I have missed anything or need any edits please let me know and I can update it. With that being said. I do not suggest anyone doing this for the first time without a second helping hand or at least someone that has done this type of install before. Here you go.


Step1: Open hood and remove plastics if you have not already done so. Note the blue hose attached to the sway bar. Do nothing with this now, will address this later. Be careful when removing clips not to yank on them. Just pull gently and they will release.


Step2: There is a white clip(one on both sides of sway bar that keep some plastics attached. Pull up gently on these or pull the black plastics toward the front of the car to release from the white tab. This will reveal six nuts holding the strut in place.


Step3: Underneath the plastics there will be 6 nuts on each side. The 3 yellow (12mm) nuts are holding the sway bar in place. The 3 reds (14mm) are holding the strut and spring in place. For now lets loosen all six of these nuts. Do NOT remove them yet, just loosen. We will return to this to remove them fully.


Step4: This picture is taken from the back side of the passenger side front wheel well. There are two bolts here that will need to be removed. The top red bolt is a 14mm bolt and the bottom circled in green is a 17mm bolt. Both will need to be removed.


Step5: Note that I already have my Tein coilover installed. So the green in this photo stock should be black. But in this step you need to remove the circled bolt (10mm) in order to relieve pressure off this line when you remove stock strut. Return to top of car where the six nuts are. Remove all six of the yellows, unclip the hose connected to the sway bar(noted in picture from step one), and remove sway bar, set to the side. In this picture you will see my horribly outlined horseshoe shaped piece. You will need to remove this from the bottom of the stock strut and replace on the front strut when you install coilovers.


Step6: There will also be a bolt attached to the stock strut, this will need to be removed and attached to coilover when you install.


Step7: Replace stock strut with coilover by putting all bolts through the top of the car and putting strut bar back on. Do not forget to put hose noted in step 1 (circled in blue) back on sway bar.

Step8: The Tein SS coilovers are height adjustable and have adjustable stiffness as well. In this photo shown, you see two arrows pointing to two gear shaped objects. The red arrow points to the one that raise and lowers your ride height. The blue is the locking gear. To turn, use the tool provided with your kit to adjust height. Once you have desired height you can finger turn the locking gear up to the height adjusting gear then use the provided tool to turn them in opposite directions to lock them together.


Step9: Once your ride height is adjusted to you preference, now time to adjust your ride stiffness. Return to your engine bay where you removed and replaced the six bolts, on top of your strut sticking up you will have a little black cap on top, remove that and you will see what I have circled.


Step10: The default setting out of box is at the hardest setting. The softest setting is 16 clicks counter clock wise. Insert the provided tool from coilover kit as shown into top of the strut bar and twist counterclockwise to soften your ride and then back clockwise if you want to stiffen the ride more. Note that it will continue to turn past the 16 clicks, but do not do this often for they state this may cause damage down the road.




Now on to the rears.

Step 11: The photo is taken from the backside of the passenger side rear tire. The circled bolt is a 17mm bolt. Remove this one first and then press down or have a friend stand on your rotor to release the strut from it.


Step12: Now inside your car, lower your back seats and you will see a plastic removable rectangle on both sides (shown removed). Remove this and look down inside you will see what two bolts and the center of the strut poking through with a black cap on it.


Step13: Sorry for this sloppy pic, it is difficult to get the camera in there. This has the black cap removed. Remove these two 14mm bolts circled (don’t drop them inside plastics, not fun to retrieve). Now with some wiggling, and some pushing down on rotor your strut should be released. Install backs and adjust ride height and ride stiffness there as well.



Ride height will lower over the period of a week. So adjust your height so that you can compensate for the settling that will occur.

Part numbers and quantities to fully put coilovers together without needing parts from stocks.
> 51686-TA0-A01---2
> 51631-SV7-004---8
> 51728-SR0-003---4
> 51675-TA0-A02---1
> 51676-TA0-A02---1
> 51621-S84-A01---8
> 51685-SH3-014---4
> 52675-TA0-A01---2
> 52686-SDA-A01—2
All parts ordered from www.hondapartsdeals.com


I have a few minor adjustments to make to my heights, will be doing this tomorrow, Will take finished photos then and then post them up. Let me know what you guys think.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

GJ brother!

2888Si

Hey those look familiar. If anyone has ever done a older 92-95 Civic. The fronts are just the same. Very easy.

defconskylude

now thats what i call a DIY. CIRCLES!!!

pbhak002

wow impressive job man

ed_423

great diy!

saucy

Thanks guys, was a very easy install. Hope this helps people in the future. Weather is not all that great, so no comments on the dirtyness of the car, but I will try and snap some finished pics today. SRI intake is def going in today as well. I will put together a DIY for this too even though it looks extremely easy too. Thanks again for all the comments guys. Oh yea and thanks to 2888Si for the help with the install.

magicfan3

Quick question did you use a spring compressor on the install or any other random tools?

its rayden

does anyone have the torque specs for all the bolts that had to be removed?

saucy

Yes, Sorry, guess I should have included that. I used a spring compressor, also used an impact wrench, and if brut force and man muscle is considered a special tool.....that too.

Ahh man, didn't think of that. I used an impact wrench though so didn't even think of torque specs. Would be nice to know though.

its rayden

you used an impact wrench to tighten your bolts?!

how much are you planning to lower the ride height? is it easy to get to the shock settings on the rear coilover?

saucy

Yes, Im not cranking them too far, just enough to get tight fitment and done.

I am as low as i want to get with it, dont have exact measurements on height. I just put it at height desired and check ride capabilities.

As far as easy to get to shock settings, i think it is pretty easy, just need to pull back seats down, pop off the plastic covers and twist.

GBMTSX

Great pix and thread for a DIY suspension setup!

tsxpharoh1

iTrader: (1)

excellent job, i was told to spin the bottom piece to raise/lower your car (not the locking circle)but the whole bottom piece?

saucy

Thanks man, Well the top will actually higher and lower the vehicle and the two circles need to twist against each other to lock the coil in place.

Mr. NC

DIY done proper

Sticky Status

Euronoob

I just got my coilovers in yesterday and I was wondering if the 4 cylinder install would still follow these steps. Is there anything else that needs to be done differently?

Thank you.

ed_423

^ alright go euro!

TSXy Luster

very nice DIY thread! thanks!


Does anyone know how the 16 clicks stiff/soft are compared to stock, as in where would the stock ride place among those clicks?

MrOtocinclus

I recently worked on my suspension and from the pics it looks like the only thing different is that you won't be removing any covers. Also, remember to put the car's weight on the suspension before you tighten the bolts.

SaberSaint

Great DIY!!

Will consider it in my 2nd wave of mods.

Thanks for making it so easy.

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

Good DIY thread. Also I would add that for those who do purchase the Super Streets you should go full clockwise first. The stiffest setting needs to be your starting point. If you go counterclockwise and go past 16 clicks it can damage the damper.

javspo0lin

Good write up

jordanbedural

yoo saucy how long did it take you to install these?

SinCityTLX

took me 5 hours taking my time and doing a good job. I also installed the 6 arm alignment kit in the rear as well which added about 30 minutes. They are a good setup. My only complaint is they need longer springs because you have very little adjustment range and if you drop the collars more than half way down the threads, you will not have any preload on the coil and it could be very bad.

I do like the adjustment range and how they are well built. I have owned teins, Bilstein, KW coilovers before and Tein is certainly a great coilover considering the price of the others.

saucy

Took aprox. 2.5-3 hours to do. I had all tophats and everything though, so I did not need to take apart the stock set for this. That saved me a little time. I found the rears to be more difficult to install than the fronts. Just my on that though.

breezy217

thanks for the thread dude it really helped out just installed my coils today im just still a little confused on messing with the knobs for stiffness or soft. can anyone explain that for me and any opinions of what i should do

saucy

Did you buy these new or used? There is almost a whole page in the book it comes with about this. I cannot fully remember the direction in which you spin it but it is typically comes set in its stiffest position. It is best to know what spot it is in. It will continuously turn in both directions but really only makes changes on approx 16 clicks I think. If you have the book it came with, look through that and just follow what it says there. Not a big deal. If not I will try and find mine tonight and post all the info up tonight.

Btw, glad your install went well. Was not tough at all as long as you know your way around a car at least a little......and if you have a friend to help you.

araaadi

Thanks for the great write up, going to use this when I finally decide between the SS or basics

breezy217

I bought them new I'm not gonna buy someone's used soxs lol but they are comfortable it's like I'm riding on a cloud. Your thread def helped out alot the only difficult part in my opinion was installing the back getting out bolts out the back set hole and bending the axle in order to remove the stock strut but other then that they are def easy to install save money and it only took about 4hrs. Will if I set it to zero will it stop clicking or keep going and thanks again for your help

robpp

iTrader: (2)

HEY

i bought a used set tein SS.

does anyone have the instruction sheet they could post or link

08r3308

Do you guys know if its safe to adjust higher than recommended height?

whiting

Great DIY, I found the parts list an awesome option and for a decent price to not having to break apart the factory strut

Cu2Suspect

Nice write up

xtcnrice

I think this part is replaced by 51685-SR0-004. I don't know if this means that the part number I just posted is better in any way, but they are I guess interchangeable. See here.

Great write up nonetheless! I'll be using these instructions for the Street Basis install (I'm sure they'll be similar/exactly the same, minus the stiffness adjustments).

EDIT: hondapartsdeals.com also sells 51685-SR0-004. They're the exact same price so I think we should be good with either or.

EDIT2: Is there a reason why you needed to use spring compressors? If we're not taking apart the OEM top hats and using the new items we just bought from Honda, why do we need to compress the springs?

xtcnrice

^ Hmm.. it might be because those parts are specific for the V6 model. I'm not entirely sure anymore. For example... 51631-SV7-004 is applicable for the V6 model. However, the equivalent I'm finding online for the I4 is 51631-SL0-003, which is like $7 more EACH (and we need 8 of these!). Maybe I'm being overly OCD, but does anyone know if these are interchangeable?

robpp

iTrader: (2)

use a place like dch where you pick the parts from the picture for YOUR EXACT MODEL.

no mistakes that way. plus they are 30% cheaper than any dealer you walk in.

here is my list. i dont think i had anything left over.


RUBBER, FR. SPRING MOUNT
51686-TA0-A01$2.11
Tax Amount : 0.00%2$4.22
RUBBER, SHOCK ABSORBER MOUNTING
51631-SL0-003$7.66
Tax Amount : 0.00%8$61.28
COLLAR, SHOCK ABSORBER MOUNTING (DUFFY STEEL PARTS)
51728-SR0-003$0.59
Tax Amount : 0.00%4$2.36
BASE, R. FR. SHOCK ABSORBER MOUNTING
51675-TA0-A02$5.94
Tax Amount : 0.00%1$5.94
BASE, L. FR. SHOCK ABSORBER MOUNTING
51676-TA0-A02$5.94
Tax Amount : 0.00%1$5.94
WASHER, SHOCK ABSORBER MOUNTING
51621-S84-A01$0.36
Tax Amount : 0.00%4$1.44
BASE, RR. SHOCK ABSORBER MOUNTING
52675-TA0-A01$4.82
Tax Amount : 0.00%2$9.64
RUBBER, RR. SPRING MOUNTING
52686-SDA-A01$4.33
Tax Amount : 0.00%2$8.66
NUT, SHOCK ABSORBER FLANGE (10MM)
90300-S84-A00$0.33
Tax Amount : 0.00%10$3.30
PLATE, DUST COVER (SHOWA)
51685-SH3-014$2.02
Tax Amount : 0.00%4$8.08BOLT, DAMPER FORK (12X98)
90121-S0A-000$3.85
Tax Amount : 0.00%2$7.70

xtcnrice

I used estore.honda.com to find the exact parts for my model (2013 TSX I4 TECH), and some of the parts are more much expensive than the ones I'm hearing about (from robpp and OP).

For example, BASE, RR. SHOCK ABSORBER MOUNTING part is 52675-TL1-E01 for my car. $13.55 each at acuraexpressparts.com. Whereas the one you posted (52675-TA0-A01) is $4.82!



EDIT: Oh well, better safe than sorry.

xtcnrice

robpp, I don't see the following in the OP's list, but I'm sure are listed at dch:

NUT, SHOCK ABSORBER FLANGE (10MM)
90300-S84-A00

BOLT, DAMPER FORK (12X98)
90121-S0A-000

Were those used/needed? Thanks

EDIT: Nevermind, I guess some of these parts are debatable on whether they're "necessary" to be part of the "full top hat kit". To answer this for anyone else, NUT, SHOCK ABSORBER FLANGE (10MM) are the nuts you see holding the shock in place from inside the engine bay. BOLT, DAMPER FORK (12X98) are the bolts holding the bottom of the shocks to the fork looking piece.

robpp

iTrader: (2)

I bought them but they were not necessary. 10mm nut is for the top of the shock should come in your kit.

the bolts were overkill too. not necessary but if you have mileage and live near salt roads you may want to replace.