Hi everyone, I bought the Tein Street Advance Z coilovers to replace my failing shocks and struts on my 2012 TL Tech FWD. Instead of reusing the old top mounts (and run the risk of compressing the springs) or buying the whole kit, I wanted to build them myself.

So far from what I gathered via the diagrams for the front and rear top mounts and cross referencing the pics with Heeltoe's listing for the entire assembly, I have the following part numbers and quantities. If anyone has experience building them, could you double check what I have is correct?

Front:

• Front shock absorber mounting base - 51675-TK4-A01 - (2)
• Front upper seat (spring mount) - 51686-TA0-A01 (2)
• Front Bump Stop Plate - 51689-SH3-004 - (2) <-- Heeltoe has it but I don't see it as part of the assembly on Bernardi's parts diagram

Rear:

• Rear shock absorber mounting base - 52675-SEP-A02 - (2)
• Rear upper seat (spring mount) - 52686-SDA-A01 - (2)
• Rear bump stop plate - 52690-SG0-000 - (2)

Both:

• Rubber Shock Absorber - 51631-SV7-004 - (8)
• Dust Boot Plate - 51685-SR0-004 - (Heeltoe says 2, Parts Diagram says 4, AcuraPartsWarehouse says this is for the front??)
• Shock Absorber Mounting Collar - 51728-SR0-003 - (4)
• Shock Absorber Mounting Washer - 51621-S84-A01 - (4)
• Middle Self Lock Nut - 90364-SG0-004 - (2 to replace front, in case too rusty)

I couldn't find resources on this so hopefully this is pretty much all I need and serves as a guide for anyone else in the future.

 

Just curious and to clarify, your intention is to go Honda / Acura OEM with these components since you mentioned Bernardi's as a cross reference source?

 

Pretty much, I figured it would be a cheaper alternative than buying the whole assemblies

 

That's fine if you want OEM quality and expense over aftermarket; however, it won't be 'cheaper', lol.
If you 'cut & paste' all of those OEM strut components part #'s, with 34 indicated quantities, into Bernardi's the cost is $325.42 before taxes/handling/shipping.


If you 'cut & paste' all of those OEM strut components part #'s, with 34 indicated quantities, into acuraoempartsonline.com the cost is $241.66 before taxes/handling/shipping.


If you purchase Heeltoe's kit the cost is $266.64; however, you may not get all components as you questioned above?


However, you can find aftermarket alternatives to every part # on your compiled list, except for 52690-SG0-000 and 90364-SG0-004, on RockAuto's website and save the most $$$.

Give it a try, if interested?

 

Smh, I can’t believe I got so wrapped up in the fact that I could do this to save money and I never considered whether it would actually save me money.

I think I got wrapped up in wanting to learn to assemble the top mounts too lol.

I’ll probably just order off Heeltoe then, they’re some good guys. Thanks for pointing this out!

 

Instead of using AcuraOEMParts I used AcuraPartsWarehouse + HondaPartsNow and it came out to be slightly cheaper than what you have but with two different shipping prices, probably about the same.

Interestingly, in my document, I don’t have the price for 52675-SEP-A02 when I did this a month ago. It’s nearly $50 each so that’s why I guess I thought it would be cheaper if I did it myself at the time I was researching this.

 

^
I recently went through this same drill when considering a set of Tein street advance z's GSH94-9USS2 for my CL-S6 because the VSH94-CUSA3-C Flex Z's were not available.


However, I got lucky when the Tein Flex Z VSH94-CUSA3-C's became available again and for a difference of $46.01 in price, I did not have to 'dick' around with compiling / constructing / the expense of any other accessory strut components.


It's unfortunate that Tein does not yet make a Flex Z kit for your 4G TL so you could just remove the old factory assembly & replace it with a new 'ready to install' Flex Z.

 

When it comes time to put them all together, here is the assembly order for the front & rears.
Good Luck!
Front Damper/Spring Disassembly, Inspection, and Reassembly
Exploded View


Rear Damper/Spring Disassembly, Inspection, and Reassembly
Exploded View

 

You're lucky! I'm glad you didn't have to go through what I'm going through!

Preach it to the choir, I'm not sure how they don't have the Flex Z's already. Prior to purchasing my Advance Z's, I had to decide, cheap chinese brands (and regret it), Tein Advance Z's (and deal with the top mount BS), or go to BC (and overspend to have features I would probably never use).

 

Thank you so much!! You're a godsend!