well, i bought type-s shocks with h&r springs from LostSol_FoundTL like....3 months ago, and sunday i installed them. overall, not many hang ups....but....

(fyi, you said 10 hours to install them iirc? took me 8.5, everything you complained about i had to deal with as well)

screw acura for designing that stupid little "cup" under the bolt on the rear shocks. it makes it damn near impossible to get the strut assembly out of the fender.

ended up bending the flange thingy on the drivers rear that also connects from spindle/hub to the sway bar links, which are also stupid looking, but straightened it out, and so far car drives GREAT.

my stock 150k mile shocks sucked compared to these 50k mile type-s shocks. i actually enjoy driving the car now. it feels less like an appliance to me. but w/e.

a few pictures


bad idea doing this in the sun when 89* out and zero clouds LOL










and then, with my wonderful luck, i tapped a concrete wall in the tiny little parking lot. i just replaced that bumper in march. DAMMIT


it won't buff out. so gay.

but yeah. i'm bored at work, PO gets props, whore some pics.

PS, i also sold the purple wheels friday night so those are no longer in the plans... for those who i discussed that with.

 

nice drop!
sorry bout the love tap!
any new wheels?

 

glad you finally got them in!

 

nicely done, sir! no purple wheels...WTF!?!?!
Dang...i HATE when I hit something...on one hand, it's my fault but damn I feel stupid. Backed into a steel parking support about a month ago. Luckily black hides a lot...but still.

 

thanks for the comments doods!

from friday, looks edited, since i've always had to edit to make them look true to life




no new wheel's yet justin. got a few things to clear up before i drop more coin on her. i am really considering getting another set of those rota's since i freaking LOVE the bbsRE design. but i'm contemplating those in 18" with proper offset/bolt pattern or 18" grid's, rotiform NUE's (if i decide to go to a 19") or good ol' LM reps.

various colors in mind, and some thoughts on simple alloy finishes. haven't fully decided a direction yet.

with the audi i planned oem+, but got bored, but now i'm bored of being flashy. and idk if i feel okay rocking blatant colors (like i love) when i don't have a high/mid 11 second car to back it up. nor is my car worthy of being a show car with all the little dings and 150k miles.

 

here's the NUE's, the wheel on the right would be the concavity they would have. god i love 5 spokes.


the front in this picture is the same as above btw




obviously it's pretty euro styled, and i'm not a fan of baggage. but it's a good gauge to how they would look.

it's just a matter of justifying the extra cost of those wheels over good 'ole rota's, not to mention the jump in price for 19" tires, or even the lack of ride quality. i do kind of live on the border of civilization, and would need to be ready to hit a gravel road or 2 if absolutely necessary. that's all playing heavily into my decision

 

fap fap fap idgaf if they ain't real.

$1,299 new & shipped, vs $2,500+(easily) used needing love....

 

So let me get this straight. You have stock TL-S shocks with H&R lowering springs? Aren't the spring rates to high for the shocks? If not I wouldn't mind dropping mine. What is the difference in ride height? For some reason pics are not coming through at work.

 

They look good!!! I Like em and do Remind me of the VS alot.... I say go for em

 

you do know that you dont have to quote the whole post!?

yes, a lot of folks pair up stock shocks with aftermarket springs. the ride height depends on which springs you go with.
I believe veggie went with H&R Sport springs which give a 1.4in drop in the front and 1.3 in the rear.

for a small drop like this, the stock shocks do fine.

 

yes sir i do. h&r sport springs to be more specific.

since they spent 3 months in my possession without being compressed, i'm still settling right now. idk how long PO had them before selling.

i just came from a very aggressive coil setup of 650/750 lb/in front/back respectively. as of right now, i think the springs are just a tad over the shocks dampening. i do get a little bit of float, but i can tell you the "float to bump" ratio is much, much, much improved compared to the base TL stuff. at least in my case, since i also had 150k miles on my stock stuff and having never felt a brand new TL, that may make a difference in the feel to me (no leaks or anything, they are actually in great condition)

as of yesterday, its an exact 2 finger gap in the rear, and a pretty tight 2 finger gap up front. i would prefer .5-1 fingers, but 3x the price for that wheel gap isn't happening just yet for me.




@ Jack dood, they are great reps of vs-xx or lm's, however you look at them. (i think only difference is the 3 piece lip bolts?) they do also look great in person, and have a great rep in the Euro community when compared to say, Rota which always has someone downplaying their product quality.

 

looks good veggiemonster! congrats on the drop

 

you are a quick one. this would all be correct.

also, he said he didn't see pics, so he had no idea he quoted 5 large images.

also, this guys needs a more obvious call out on selling a quality setup to me in great condition, and for being a nice gentlemen to do business with!

if i knew how to do trader rep i woulda....or did i already?

thanks man.

question for you, i was trying to search but having a hard time sifting through forum BS. your varrstoen's (sp?), do they come in different offsets compared to your +22? i want to keep a flushish look instead of the more poke style of things, and would love to have them in white, inversely compared to your gorgeous TL

 

They were about 1.5" lower or so, a nice drop without being so low you have to worry about every bump and ramp.

And the type-s shocks are pretty damn good with the springs, they handled at least as good as my coils do now.

less than 6 months!

haha thanks alot man. I left you trader rep, if you wanted to leave it for me just click on the number next to "trader rep" under my username

 

oh my bad, i meant off of the car prior to sale. i remembered that the springs were relatively brand new.

the iTrader thingy, i tried to give it to you, but i need the sale ad and i def didn't save the URL.


also, i can validate your claim on the handling. the turn in, steering sensitivity and response, and overall grip was massively improved. it completely changed my overall view on the car compared to before.

 

8.5 hours? wow thats still kind of a while. A tip that came in handy for the rears on mine was to drop the rear sway bar(mine is progress RSB). helped the damper assembly come out much easier.

car looks GREAT! I rode on those springs on 04 base shocks for about 10k. Perfect subtle drop IMO.

 

starting to wonder if i have a sway bar issue. getting a pretty loud clunk in the rear now. not a "thud" like it's fully connecting the bump to the frame/body...it sounds like there is a small space somewhere. but, i don't hear it every crack in the road, mostly some decent size bumps.

i'm gonna go over the rear's again with a wrench today/tomorrow to check things out.

 

so..... um ok.. on a scale of 1-10 how hard is doing this and what are the best springs to go with? I'm ready to do this but im kind of on the fence about it.

 

i like the h&r sports w/ the type-s shocks.

my former sti/current evo driving buddy with major suspension mods even enjoys driving the car. he left with my car sunday morning to go home and shower after a long night of drinking (actually that was the 3rd time this weekend) and texted my "god i fuckin love your car"

so he validates my views, but we are both comparing to 3 different 400+whp awd sedans with track coilovers. so neither of us mind harsh ride, speaking for myself i enjoy it. so, if you are like me...get shocks as well. otherwise you will have that boaty-floaty caddy feeling all day long. maybe even consider the "race" springs from H&R.


scale of 1-10 on how hard? hard to put a number to it not knowing your comfort/experience level. i would put it as a 6.5. but, i've pulled a fwd trans on jackstands before, and i did this with hand tools only. it's not exactly hard, just requires a LOT of patience, and a decent amount of strength to muscle the stock shocks out of the back..(i didn't feel like undoing my rusty sway bar bolts which would make a difference) and i would recommend a buddy to help out. more hands+experience the better.

in all honesty, its about 20 bolts minus the lugs, but depending on rust, hiccups that it causes, you could end up in a nightmarish situation. so don't exactly quote me on the difficulty

 

Thanks man. Im planning on doing this within the next few weeks or so, after JNC fixes my headlights. You have a link to the website you used.. if you used one ?

 

from right here actually. in the BM. THe second poster up top sold them to me.

 

Did you tighten the shock mounts to spec with the suspension loaded?

What RSB and bushings?





As mentioned, lots of people run this set-up. It's a decent drop and good ride.

 

rear sway bar is stock same with the bushings (150k miles). when putting one side on we ended up bending the plate that mounts sway bar end link with the hub/spindle w/e you call it on the drivers rear. it had snapped off the end link and i hooked those plastic pieces back together as best i could, but it's def not fully even on bumps in the rear now.

my bushings were already cracked pretty heavily, i didn't load anything down before tightening, yeah i know it's a no-no. at the time i was in a rush, and needed to just get the car bolted up before work the next AM(found that out 2 minutes after bending the bracket), and honestly needed to get to bed. i'll pay for that laziness later.

i wanted to get new control arms all around anyways. just bumped that up in front of some other things on my mental to-do list.