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I can't believe you need to go lower than a maxed Tein.
And you buy used tires on craiglist but you're gonna buy a 3rd set of rims?
I mean, I'm not poking fun, just wondering about the direction you're going in.
Also, you might rub less with 19's but you will not find the car more "driveable" than with 18's. I've had both...19's were rough.
I bought used winters - was trying to hunt for a deal and didn't feel like spending 1000$ on winter tires I use for maybe 3 months - either way, lesson learned, as I already said. Iunno why buying tires from craigs is such a shock though, considering plenty of people will buy them from the BM here etc.
By drivable I meant the height that I would have the car set at while achieving max tire tuck - With 18s I get the suspicion I won't be clearing speed bumps at the height I want, at least not as easily as I'd like.
And to me at least, the Teins REALLY don't go very low in the rear. There's still almost visible wheel gap in the rear and yet the coil is maxed out, so I'd like to move on to something that will get me to where I want the height to be, which just happens to be the BCs - If you're wondering what direction I'm going in, turtlecivic's car is a good indication, albeit I don't aspire to have nearly as an aggressive a setup as him
Height is also only part of the reason - To run as aggressive a setup as I'm planning, I'm going to need stiffer spring rates as well - BCs again are the perfect choice here.
You're all over the place, man...you wanted racecar with brakes and function, now you wanna go to the opposite extreme.
It's not craigslist that's shocking to me...it's buying used tires but I do understand that you'd only need them for 3 months so it was just a means to an end. I've found that I'll find used wheels for say $200-250 a set...then now I just bought brand new ones and waited for the rebates of Black Friday and ended up spending $270...so I guess it's kinda my own perspective that it's a waste to buy used. Also, obviously my tires go on and stay on.
Anyway...BC is a great coil...I'm at a point where I won't even consider anything with the separate preload and harsh spring rates. I don't know about wheel gap with Tein...I am sure you're familiar with my drop and that's WITH the camber brought back to -1 (which raises the car back up a little)...of course, I have the old SS...supposedly the new ones go 3/4" lower than mine even.
I thought you were buying a new set of Flex coils, were you not?
I didnt think you were selling them I thought I pmd you? and didnt hear back. maybe I didnt. But If your selling yours ill take them, if not ill buy new. Id love to save 500 bones lol However, the FLEX does look great.
Last edited by Oh Sickest TL; 12-05-2015 at 12:46 PM.
You're all over the place, man...you wanted racecar with brakes and function, now you wanna go to the opposite extreme.
It's not craigslist that's shocking to me...it's buying used tires but I do understand that you'd only need them for 3 months so it was just a means to an end. I've found that I'll find used wheels for say $200-250 a set...then now I just bought brand new ones and waited for the rebates of Black Friday and ended up spending $270...so I guess it's kinda my own perspective that it's a waste to buy used. Also, obviously my tires go on and stay on.
Anyway...BC is a great coil...I'm at a point where I won't even consider anything with the separate preload and harsh spring rates. I don't know about wheel gap with Tein...I am sure you're familiar with my drop and that's WITH the camber brought back to -1 (which raises the car back up a little)...of course, I have the old SS...supposedly the new ones go 3/4" lower than mine even.
I don't know what to tell you, other than that I've been moving away from going for performance for quite a bit now.
I don't really think I ever seriously thought I'd be able to drop the amount of money necessary to make the car "fast". Hell it's plenty fast for me already actually, as I said earlier, with HFPCs and pulley it'll be more than enough.
I like the fitment/stance TL stuff I've seen and I have a good idea of what I'd be able to do to keep me interested in the car within the realms of my realistic budget there, so that's what I'm moving towards I guess. I think this is once again akin to the case of everyone in ramblings bitching at me about the RL caliper swap, which I ended up doing and am incredibly happy with (I might add I tested the ABS / hard braking performance with the RL swap and don't have any concerns about it being "unsafe". Braking distance is more or less the same as it was before, if not better, with improved brake feel)
To each their own I guess. I'm going with what will make me happy (or more happy) with the car. I thought about going with an air setup, but that's outside of my budget right now. Maybe next year in the summer
Stance/fitment/stretched tires is whats in now for everything! and it looks cool on the TL not my cup of tea but I can appreciate it! Air setups are pretty sweet.. pricey as fuuuuck tho
The RL caliper swap looks great I plan on doing it! Why were you getting blasted about it? LOL. What do you think about gold? Like not a flat gold but a real mirror gold ?
I didnt think you were selling them I thought I pmd you? and didnt hear back. maybe I didnt. But If your selling yours ill take them, if not ill buy new. Id love to save 500 bones lol However, the FLEX does look great.
Ah shit, you might have PMd me while I wasn't paying attention. I get a ludicrous amount of notifications on my email for different stuff so I could have missed it. I guess a little closer to spring I'll talk to everyone who is interested in the coils because I've gotten quite a bit of interest on the forum and off. As I told Polo, they're definitely going up for sale. I'm pretty firm in wanting to go lower and I don't want to resort to taking off the locking ring and bottoming out every dip with the SAs.
EDIT: sorry I'm on my phone so having a hard time using multiquote / catching up to posts.
Getting shit about the RL calipers because they alter the factory brake bias, which could potentially degrade factory stopping distance / alter and or screw with the ABS and electronic brake systems of the car.
As for gold calipers, I honestly don't think they go all that well with the ABP/RBP colors, but then gold anything on a car usually looks a little gaudy to me. I'd rather a bright fluorescent color than gold, but that's just my preference. Depending on how my Advans turn out, I might redo the calipers in the spring and try something different color wise - that will also depend on if I can maybe score a deal off someone for a rear Wilwood kit, which I would really like for the appearance aspect.
Hey man, all good...
I'm always just curious about why people do what they do. I never grew out of the 2 year old "why" stage.
Glad you're happy...the BBK is a formidable mod...I don't know the science behind better or worse performance but as someone who has BBK from factory, I can say that that clouds my judgement on whether or not someone should bother.
Anyway...about Ramblings, they were just giving you a hard time...that's the theme in there and people ask about you pretty regularly. Guess you got a little butt hurt. I will say though that IIRC you did leave there with an "I'll show you mother fuckers this car can be a performance beast" and now your focus is different. Anyway...at least we all have hypocrisy in common!
Stance, yeah...but I just want the car to look cool, but also drive nicely. I mean, don't expect to have anything more than placebo holy shit my car is fast from a couple of mods. Although I never think my car is very fast and people have visited (that own Type S) and they're like...yeah, your car fucking moves...
To me, it's all about enjoying rowing through the gears...and parking and looking back at my car and STILL getting wood nearly 7 years after buying it.
Oh I also added one more color combo to the powdercoating consideration - bronze lip and white faces. Saw some Work Meisters done that way and kind of fell in love, and I think both bronze and white work really well with ABP.
I've also been thinking about getting a second set of headlights in the spring to work on, or opening up mine again. I really want to paint the housing ABP - I've seen relatively few color matched heads on here and I think that's as far as I could take it with "custom" headlights short of getting Type S heads, which are still really expensive in good condition, and will require the additional expense of getting the updated smaller ballasts. As much as I'd like to I'm also not ready to drop the money to get the MDX teardrop projectors retrofit done.
for the RL swap.. does it require diff brake lines? I have the SS lines.
My buddy has a 03 TL Type-S A-Spec.. Aegan Blue Pearl and those cars came with factory paint matched headlight housings in both ABP and NBP and they look sick
Hey man, all good...
I'm always just curious about why people do what they do. I never grew out of the 2 year old "why" stage.
Glad you're happy...the BBK is a formidable mod...I don't know the science behind better or worse performance but as someone who has BBK from factory, I can say that that clouds my judgement on whether or not someone should bother.
Anyway...about Ramblings, they were just giving you a hard time...that's the theme in there and people ask about you pretty regularly. Guess you got a little butt hurt. I will say though that IIRC you did leave there with an "I'll show you mother fuckers this car can be a performance beast" and now your focus is different. Anyway...at least we all have hypocrisy in common!
Stance, yeah...but I just want the car to look cool, but also drive nicely. I mean, don't expect to have anything more than placebo holy shit my car is fast from a couple of mods. Although I never think my car is very fast and people have visited (that own Type S) and they're like...yeah, your car fucking moves...
To me, it's all about enjoying rowing through the gears...and parking and looking back at my car and STILL getting wood nearly 7 years after buying it.
I suppose that was how I left it huh. I don't actually remember. I stopped posting in ramblings because I was more interested in car talk and its more a place for a lot of you guys to blow off steam and shoot the shit, which is totally cool but kinda not the reason I'm on the forum in the first place.
As far as performance, I actually believe that the car could be a performance beast, if I had started out with the 6 speed lol. I don't have the money or the technical know how to go beyond bolt ons and minor engine mods right now. Maybe in the future, who knows. I mean if anything, MAS's TL should be proof of concept enough. Making 380 at the wheels with the charger and meth properly tuned is no small amount of ponies, regardless of how you look at it lol
for the RL swap.. does it require diff brake lines? I have the SS lines.
My buddy has a 03 TL Type-S A-Spec.. Aegan Blue Pearl and those cars came with factory paint matched headlight housings in both ABP and NBP and they look sick
Same brake lines, they bolt right up. The swap is actually very simple to do - the labor aspect of it actually isn't all that crazy. It took me a bit of time because it was my first time doing anything brake related and I wanted to take my time and get shit right. Minor grinding to the inside edges of the calipers might be necessary for the rotors to clear 100% because the tolerances are really tight, at least with the 350z brembo stoptech rotors I got. A little nerve-wracking perhaps but its absolutely nothing to be worried about, you're taking material off areas that are nowhere near the brake fluid reservoir inside, nor structurally important to the caliper themselves. Also the amount of material coming off is really minor. Biggest thing I learned after doing the swap is test fit everything BEFORE you paint the calipers. This will save you a big big headache later on.
Pick a color for the wheels you can picture NOT being bored of in a year.
I don't think I'd get bored of either of the color combos I'm considering, I think its me figuring out which will look best with the combination of mods / colors I'm going for. Either way I think it will turn out pretty original and outside of what anyone on here has done with an ABP car which I can be proud of
I think my main issue with the Teins right now is that even if I wanted like... half an inch more low, it's not possible. I'm not going to slam it to the ground, because that's just not possible with where I drive and the clearance I need - at the same time, I'm 100% certain I could get away with half an inch more low in the rear to get that right amount of tucked tire I'm searching for and retain ride characteristics and handling similar to what I have now (beyond it being somewhat stiffer with 16/14 spring rate which is what I'll probably go with). The front I'm trying to explore getting air cups for, but there's almost no examples of TLs or TSXs on aircups that I've found, and turtlecivic suggested that the double wishbone suspension won't allow it.
Originally Posted by Oh Sickest TL
but if your buying them used off of someone that already did the swap all that should have already been completed I would assume
Maybe. It will depend on what rotors and which brackets they were using - the fastbrakes brackets for example are meant for 12.6 inch Maxima rotors, not 12.8 inch Brembo Z rotors. I just happened to read through what must be 20 threads on the swap and figured out which rotors would work and which wouldn't. Almost all the people who used 12.8 rotors with the Fastbrakes brackets seemed to have success, so I decided to take a chance and it paid off - however the person I bought the calipers and brackets off of used them with Sentra SE-R rotors which are 12.6 inch and 2-4 mm thinner than the 12.8 Brembo Z rotors. So he didn't have to worry about those extra mm and as a result I actually stumbled onto some minor interference between calipers and rotors (only one actually) when I installed them. I took them back off, and grinded/sanded to where I was comfortable with the clearances.
The best way to do this is like I said, test fit beforehand. You'll put on the rotors, use the lugs to torque them down so they sit how they will sit with the wheels holding them in, and then spin the rotor and see if you hear any "grinding" or feel any interference between rotor and caliper. Observe the rotor motion, figure out where its contacting the caliper (and it will be ever so slightly, likely not enough to impede the rotor's motion at all but enough to make a sound that's not particularly pleasant), take em off and dremel that shit.
Oh one nice discovery I made is that with the stoptech 350z brembo rotors at least, you still get enough of the wheel hub peaking past the rotor hat that you can use hub centric rings with whatever wheels you get. Some people that have done the RL swap mentioned that their rotor hats were thick enough that they didn't have enough of the wheel hub showing to use hub rings, which made them abandon the swap altogether. Its definitely a case of YMMV based on what rotors you're using. Mostly it just means you need to do a lot of reading and cross reference rotor spec diagrams to figure out what works and what doesn't.
Last edited by Steven Bell; 12-17-2015 at 06:16 PM.
Reason: Merge Posts-please try out the Multi-Quote button in the lower right hand corner of each post (middle icon).
Thanks man I wasn't aware. Ill have to look into all that and ask the guy what size rotors he was running. And you dont think this looks good? Im talking a shinier gold but you get the picture lol
Thanks man I wasn't aware. Ill have to look into all that and ask the guy what size rotors he was running. And you dont think this looks good? Im talking a shinier gold but you get the picture lol
I'd say don't be discouraged regardless of what he was running. The work you'd need to do on the calipers is super minor - its not really anything to worry about. I think its worthwhile to get the 12.8 stoptechs to work, especially since 1) you're getting fairly quality rotors that aren't terribly expensive and 2) you already know, at least from my experience, that they work and you won't need to send them back lol, which is something I was sorta terrified of when I ordered them, especially since I had to order them stateside, and they had been sitting in my US mailbox for months before I picked them up, which meant there was no way I could return them - taking a major chance there.
As far as the pic goes, iunno, like I said I think a brighter color would work better with ABP/RBP (I also think the chrome a specs really dont work here but thats another story altogether). At the same time, I also think a bright silver with the Acura logo in black on the RL calipers would work well with our cars, or white, or black like I did, but for some reason gold just really doesn't do it for me, especially that shade of gold. I think if anything an anodized bronze or dark copper color would work much better.
I hear ya. I was thinking bright silver with black letters actually lol
Personally I think that would look much better - a lot more fitting to RBP or ABP too. Then again I'm biased, I love silver with those 2 colors - I did decide to work the aesthetic of my car around the stock silver grille after all
Come spring I'm going to peel the black dip on the inner grille trim piece (the one that's grey and matches the front lip lower valence from the factory) and get it painted ABP so that the front is a uniform ABP accented by the silver of the grille. I'm trying to decide what to do with that lower lip valence though. I really like it black, and dipping it over and over would be both cheap (it takes half a can to dip it with 4 layers) and convenient, so it might just stay that way indefinitely. I definitely like it black waaaaaay more than the stock grey. It makes the front end look that much more mean imo.
yea man I had to do something with the front end for sure lol but I love how it turned out.. that inner mouth part looks like its a bitch to paint which is why I elected to paint the grille and wrap the mouth, interested to see what you do.
yea man I had to do something with the front end for sure lol but I love how it turned out.. that inner mouth part looks like its a bitch to paint which is why I elected to paint the grille and wrap the mouth, interested to see what you do.
Ironically enough I think the opposite - Its easy to paint that part because of the way the plastic is finished not to mention it already flows into the factory color paint, while the way the plastic is finished on the grille means additional prep to make sure the paint holds. The one downside to painting that inner part is that the entire bumper needs to be at the shop for it to happen, but since I'm planning on getting the bumper resprayed in the spring, it'll be killing 2 birds with 1 stone
Got bored, decided to test fit the wheels. Holy shit these are wide. I didn't even realize quite HOW wide until I looked at the ridiculous amount of brake clearance I now have and chuckled nervously to myself about fitting all that wheel under my poor fenders. Guessing I'm going to have to run at LEAST -2 degrees in the back, maybe more in the front. But hot damn do they look good. Made my head go wild with color considerations all over again.
if they are as wide as you describe, you're in for a harsh reality check if you're expecting to be good with -2 camber. That's less camber than natural camber if lowered conservatively (like mine).
Gonna be fun, but you ventured into waters I steer clear of! What were the stats on them again? 10" wide? +15 offset?
if they are as wide as you describe, you're in for a harsh reality check if you're expecting to be good with -2 camber. That's less camber than natural camber if lowered conservatively (like mine).
Gonna be fun, but you ventured into waters I steer clear of! What were the stats on them again? 10" wide? +15 offset?
18x10 +25. Actually less aggressive than the 18x9.75 +20 XXRs, and right now I can't even get -2 front camber because of the stupid un-hellaflushed Skunk2 arms. I need to get a balljoint puller so that I can take them out and cut them for max camber. I max out at like -1.75 right now
I think they'll look great though - I keep coming back to that bronze and silver combo I posted earlier with the Work CR2Ps, so I'll probably do that. Its just flashy enough without going overboard. Its going to be a long winter waiting to put them on though lol.
Never ending OCD paid off - was checking my Skunk2 control arms and noticed my passenger side balljoint has some play in it, likely from bottoming it out on a speed bump some time ago - not surprising given I bought the control arms used, so I have no idea how much abuse they took on before I got a hold of them. Ordered a new balljoint, 60 bucks shipped, not as bad as I suspected. Will install it when I take the arms out to modify them for additional camber.
I've been thinking - I recall one of the bushings on one of the Skunk2 control arms being slightly torn when I got them, yet I have no play in the arms (aside from the aforementioned bad balljoint) or vibrations, so I'm thinking I will be putting off getting a new bushing pressed in until the summer, as Skunk2 told me its 85 bucks usd + shipping to get a new one out to me. Not exactly cheap...
I hate torn balljoint boots. I have one on my lower front control arm and both of my camber arms too...I wrapped another rubber over them and pumped full of grease to keep protected. I tried having that swapped out once but the dealer mech couldn't get it out.
I hate torn balljoint boots. I have one on my lower front control arm and both of my camber arms too...I wrapped another rubber over them and pumped full of grease to keep protected. I tried having that swapped out once but the dealer mech couldn't get it out.
Well this is definitely not a result of the balljoint boot, the arms had OEM boots on them when I got them. I suspect this is from bottoming out and making the top of the control arm hit my upper frame, which provably unseated the balljoint. Either way, replacement will be here Tuesday, will remove, hellaflush and swap balljoint then reinstall.
CSL spoiler shipped out yesterday. At this rate I'll have the spoiler before I have my damn wheels - its been more than a week and the powdercoat shop still isn't done with them lol. In the meantime I've been eyeing some Enkei Koijins in 18x9.5 +15 to replace my XXRs in the future.
Wheels back from powdercoating, spoiler somewhere in transit (hopefully here by Christmas ), balljoint to be delivered tomorrow *(maybe?). She drives fine, but I'll probably work on the arms on Wednesday and then take her for an alignment for the winter.
Pics:
Not quite as "loud" as the plasti-dip was, and truth be told I'm not terribly impressed with the workmanship, but the color is definitely a close match to my front grille like I wanted it, and honestly, for winter wheels this will be more than enough.
Looks great, man...almost thought it was white too!
Hmmm...you need to match the center caps. They stick out like a sore thumb and the color is a little off IMO.
Looks great, man...almost thought it was white too!
Hmmm...you need to match the center caps. They stick out like a sore thumb and the color is a little off IMO.
Balljoint got swapped, currently resealing my passenger side headlight because it's leaking horribly, but the funniest part of this whole thing?
MY DAMN PASSENGER SIDE WHEEL WON'T HOLD AIR LOL. Even after the powdercoat, and the remount. I'm at a loss here. Now, I'm wondering what else could it be? The wheel itself is bent and won't hold air? The alignment is off and is causing the tire mounted on my front right to debead? Like... I'm at a loss here.
fuck that sucks man, hope you get that resolved promptly. My pass headlight leaks too. Luckily I only summer drive it but on the colder September nights id come out to some condensation in the morning.
Car looks great dude! At first I thought the wheels were white as well....but look good nonetheless. Are those the red stripe tails? They look lighter just like the wheels so it's hard to tell from the pics.
I also agree with the center caps, looks out of place on the other hand the navy with the orange is a good looking color combo.
12-05-2015, 12:46 AM
- was trying to hunt for a deal and didn't feel like spending 1000$ on winter tires I use for maybe 3 months - either way, lesson learned, as I already said. Iunno why buying tires from craigs is such a shock though, considering plenty of people will buy them from the BM here etc.
But If your selling yours ill take them, if not ill buy new. Id love to save 500 bones lol 
), balljoint to be delivered tomorrow *(maybe?). She drives fine, but I'll probably work on the arms on Wednesday and then take her for an alignment for the winter.
on the other hand the navy with the orange is a good looking color combo.