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I dropped the car 1.25" all around and after 10 days of installation the springs has settled 0.25" more for a total drop of 1.5". I am very happy with the outcome and how the car looks and handles. I will keep the settings at 4f / 4r.
Your car will drop to the numbers you are saying if you install then at Tein's recommendations.
Oh, actually the numbers I referenced were meant for the measurements on the coil threads.
Oh, actually the numbers I referenced were meant for the measurements on the coil threads.
That will be correct. However I recommend installing the closest you can to the recommendations, drive for a short time and then adjust/raise. Adjusting the height is cake, some people even do it without taking the wheels off.
So I installed the coilovers today with a friend. Here are my thoughts:
Fronts were a pain in the ass to remove because of that damn fork, and I totally forgot about turning the steering wheel towards you to help with the removal.
I almost gave up because I forgot that tip (steering wheel) but my friend was persistent and later mentioned that it might help turning the steering wheel.
Rears were the easiest part for us.
Having a friend is a must!
My back aches and my legs are shot from this
Breaker bar is a must.
I forgot the measurements on the coils themselves but I did a modest drop.
I'm gonna lower the fronts a little bit more.
Rears have a 1 finger gap, and fronts have 2 finger gap.
I also heard a clank as I was backing out of my driveway which scared me so I started driving gingerly, but all seems to be good now... I hope.
Dampers were set to 4/4 and it rides just like stock. I'm happy with these settings.
Thanks to LostProphet for his tips and part numbers!
So I installed the coilovers today with a friend. Here are my thoughts:
Fronts were a pain in the ass to remove because of that damn fork, and I totally forgot about turning the steering wheel towards you to help with the removal.
I almost gave up because I forgot that tip (steering wheel) but my friend was persistent and later mentioned that it might help turning the steering wheel.
Rears were the easiest part for us.
Having a friend is a must!
My back aches and my legs are shot from this
Breaker bar is a must.
I forgot the measurements on the coils themselves but I did a modest drop.
I'm gonna lower the fronts a little bit more.
Rears have a 1 finger gap, and fronts have 2 finger gap.
I also heard a clank as I was backing out of my driveway which scared me so I started driving gingerly, but all seems to be good now... I hope.
Dampers were set to 4/4 and it rides just like stock. I'm happy with these settings.
Thanks to LostProphet for his tips and part numbers!
Looks great man. Do you mind sharing info about your rims? They look super light and clean on a TL. Props for the coils install, I am sure you are more in love with your car now.
Thanks, I'll share my wheel information on the wheel sticky thread but they're Enkei TY-5 Pearl black finish, 19x9.5 +35.
I have 18x8.5 +35mm with 5mm spacers and at stock height it sits flush all around if i set the coils to your specs will it ruin how flush the wheels are at stock height?
Thanks to the OP on the installation advice. I'm new to this forum but I owned several Legends before I bought this 09 SH-AWD
I installed the Tein Street Basis this weekend. I have a 09 TL with over 160k on the clock. Buying all new rubber is the way to go. I completely lost my front right original OEM strut a few weeks ago....oil everywhere.
Installed new front rotors, and front upper control arms....my upper ball joints are were shot. 3" drop with no gap.....one other thing you should do is flush and bleed your your brake while you work yourself around. Buy a quart of dot 4 and work your way around.
I'm pleased with results, the car is now tight and handles better than new.
Things that were tough.
-Getting the new rubber parts, top hats and washers. (ordered from Acura Delray and they took 3 weeks to tell me that the rear top hats were back-ordered....(wtf??) had to buy them a my local dealer for $40.00 more.
-My sh*t is rusty as all F underneath..(Minnesota)...getting the rear linkage link to free was a pain in the ass....yest i removed the two nuts for the upper link bracket but they still didn't want to come out with prying, swearing and a BFH.
-Getting the back of the rear seat to pop/release....you have to use a quick hard upward jerk to get it to pop if it's never been removed before.
-Took me 7 hours working 100% by myself in 90 deg weather
I now need to install a camber kit on all four corners I'm probably -2 in the rear and -1.0 in the front now. My tires are due this fall so I'll be putting it in in the next few weeks.
One more thing....any interest in my old strut parts? I can pull the shocks and springs and send you everything else for a few bucks so you can pre-stage your install. If not I'll just throw them.
Just wanted to update my install. I did wind up with camber issues. As soon as I pulled out after 1/4 mile my computer went nutz. I had AWD system shutting down. I went to the alignment shop in Bloomington, MN called Twin Cites Tire.
They hooked me up. I did want to replace the TPMS on all four wheels but they couldn't source the proper ones. I had to BYOB the sensors from TIRERACK. They locked in after a 1/4 mile with no OBDII reader and shut off the alarm.
Here is what I bought after the drop.....and the alignment specs.
Here is the SPC kit I purchased for the rear arms and the front ball joints......Installation was easy when I rented the Autozone ball-joint press kit....kind off an I.Q test to figure out what parts of the kit to use. (this is for the front upper ball-joints.)
After that was installed I took it in for an alignment.....here are the specs.
Sorry, I don't know hoe to rotate the pics... so turn your effin head.
Last was the TPMS system. This is my invoice on what works with a 2009 TL SH-AWD from Tirerack on all four sensors. NO COMPUTER IS NEED FOR THESE TO WORK!!!! Just have any shop install them while replacing your tires or just have them installed by breaking the tire bead. My system said in orange "TPMS SYSTEM FAULT" after driving 1/4 mile.....it said...all is well..psi on all four corners is 34!!"
Hey man whats up? I tried to msg you a while back but for some reason it wouldn't let me receive any replies because it was saying my inbox was full...which I don't understand because this is only my 2nd time messaging someone. Anyway Im stuck on which parts to get for my coilover install. When I cross reference this list with the list Acura has some of them arent on there due to being for the FWD version. Can you help me?
I dropped the car 1.25" all around and after 10 days of installation the springs has settled 0.25" more for a total drop of 1.5". I am very happy with the outcome and how the car looks and handles. I will keep the settings at 4f / 4r.
Your car will drop to the numbers you are saying if you install then at Tein's recommendations.
Can you guys help me out on what to set my dampers at? I counted 28 clicks from hardest to softest back and forth...I'm assuming 14 clicks is best right in the middle? Only asking because I see guys saying they set theirs to 4f/4r...is that 4 clicks front and rear?
Hey man whats up? I tried to msg you a while back but for some reason it wouldn't let me receive any replies because it was saying my inbox was full...which I don't understand because this is only my 2nd time messaging someone. Anyway Im stuck on which parts to get for my coilover install. When I cross reference this list with the list Acura has some of them arent on there due to being for the FWD version. Can you help me?
Hey, sorry for the late response I was crazy busy at work and I am mostly connected in the 4G TL facebook page. I do not have the necessary parts for FWD, you might find it on the tein website. but I remember there is a couple more rubber pieces for a not so sporty feel.
Can you guys help me out on what to set my dampers at? I counted 28 clicks from hardest to softest back and forth...I'm assuming 14 clicks is best right in the middle? Only asking because I see guys saying they set theirs to 4f/4r...is that 4 clicks front and rear?
The amount of clicks depends on the coils that you installed. In my case I installed Tein street advance which gives 16 levels/clicks of adjustability, turning the knob clock-wise for a firmer ride and turning counter clock-wise for a softer ride. We counted 4f/4r back from the firmest setting.
In the middle of my install on a 2010 SHAWD Auto and reviewed this thread.
- Installing Tein Street Advance Z Coilovers along with new Lower front Control Arms. Keeping stock hat on front (they were fine) Evaluating and installing rear today.
Found a few items of interest in above posts and the video:
a. one thing I am doing is making a reference to stock distance from center of axle/hub to fender lip to track drop and fine tuning of ride height after install.
- hoping that will allow me to more accuratly get the ride height where I want on the first re-adjustment instead of the second or third.
b. Obvious to me, but not for all - remove your sway bar during install. I remember a guy came to me once and asked why he could not get his shock off a civic. I asked if he had only one side jacked (knowing him...) and yes he was working one side at a time. Asked him if he knew what a sway bar is. He did not. He soon did.
- I am fortunate to have a lift with jack stands, And even with that - removing makes it easier.
c. Loosen Control Arms and Shock bolts when changing ride height: XLR8 mentioned loosening the upper control arm when installing and dropping ride height - IMO the Front lower control Arm rear bushing (not compliance bushing) and the shock fork needs to be loosened and re-tightened with load on the front spindle/wheel at full load
c. Shock Boots: In the video the one guy puts the boot under the tapered washer - probably ok, but not consistent with factory. Not a big deal, but the shock boot coulddrop below the upper part of the shaft and allow that portion to corrode.
I put mine on top of the washer consistent with the factory and the way my original ones came apart.
Shock fork clearance - Turning the wheel to make clearance for the shock fork - I have done front shocks/springs on so many Honda and Acura's over the years and getting that fork off can be tight. I'll try that on the next one. Bet it works now that I think about it. Learn something new every day.
- One trick I do for install is a small metal chisel spreading the fork just slightly to make it easy to slide up onto the shock and rotate freely. using a light - make sure it is aligned with the little tab on the backside, take out the chisel and locate and thread the bolt while holding it in place to keep it in there.
Lastly and goes without saying - Wire wheel all the threaded bolts if reusing to me sure they go in right and torque properly. The purist will replace bolts and nuts per the Factory Service Manual. I also ran a tap through the shift fork threads as they had some crud in em (some others I have done are perfectly clean - no need.
So I installed the coilovers today with a friend. Here are my thoughts:
Fronts were a pain in the ass to remove because of that damn fork, and I totally forgot about turning the steering wheel towards you to help with the removal.
I almost gave up because I forgot that tip (steering wheel) but my friend was persistent and later mentioned that it might help turning the steering wheel.
Rears were the easiest part for us.
Having a friend is a must!
My back aches and my legs are shot from this
Breaker bar is a must.
I forgot the measurements on the coils themselves but I did a modest drop.
I'm gonna lower the fronts a little bit more.
Rears have a 1 finger gap, and fronts have 2 finger gap.
I also heard a clank as I was backing out of my driveway which scared me so I started driving gingerly, but all seems to be good now... I hope.
Dampers were set to 4/4 and it rides just like stock. I'm happy with these settings.
Thanks to LostProphet for his tips and part numbers!
Just something about the love and dislikes for the 4G TL makes me wanna come back and join the family again. For me it’s that SH-AWD system.
I just put bc coils on mine and we also but bc coils on my brothers g37 s coupe manual, It is way harder on the TL, but its so worth it the handling is so crazy!
**EDIT - I didn't realize this is an ancient thread.
The anti rust coating on Tein is ridiculously good.
Providing you do not scratch them to death while installing, there shouldn't be concerns.
Besides...its not like you're going to uninstall them for future winters.
1.5" is considered an agressive drop. Its going to require some geometry fixing, which is incredibly difficult to do properly on the rear suspension; if you are concerned with properly doing it.
If all you want is to fix the camber...well...that's fairly easy using a camber kit. You'll also need adjustable toe arms at the least. SPC makes a decent product.
I hate to kill anyone's joy....but I've always been very leary about lowering a 4G. The front control arm compliance bushings are fluid filled and there is no way to clock them after the LCA is installed. You would need to remove the LCA, do the math, and clock the bushing accordingly.
At a 1.5" drop...without clocking, I'd assume that bushing is gonna explode in like...a few months or so? Has anyone who's lowered their 4G checked on this?
**EDIT - I didn't realize this is an ancient thread.
The anti rust coating on Tein is ridiculously good. Providing you do not scratch them to death while installing, there shouldn't be concerns. Besides...its not like you're going to uninstall them for future winters.
1.5" is considered an agressive drop. Its going to require some geometry fixing, which is incredibly difficult to do properly on the rear suspension; if you are concerned with properly doing it.
If all you want is to fix the camber...well...that's fairly easy using a camber kit. You'll also need adjustable toe arms at the least. SPC makes a decent product.
I hate to kill anyone's joy....but I've always been very leary about lowering a 4G. The front control arm compliance bushings are fluid filled and there is no way to clock them after the LCA is installed. You would need to remove the LCA, do the math, and clock the bushing accordingly.
At a 1.5" drop...without clocking, I'd assume that bushing is gonna explode in like...a few months or so? Has anyone who's lowered their 4G checked on this?
Good timing for me on pulling this thread back up.
Installed mine nearly 4 years ago per post above and I have been considering a few changes to my setup
- Compliance bushings... have not noticed issues... yet ... but will check when I have it on the lift next time
- Camber Kit for the rear: I (unfortunately) did not install one. but am considering doing so. I had a 4 wheel alignment and camber was adjusted as much as possible. Toe was way out and wore through a half life set of tires that was on in no time before I got it aligned... and that was more important at the time to me...
Rear Camber looked about like my BMW's so let it ride. in all honesty, it looks more negative though and does wear the inside of the tires - just like my 745Li did but more than my M5 does..
SO I'm considering a kit, or raise the car some and re-align before my next set of tires next year (don't drive it too much in the last 4 years).
One kit I have looked at that is actually pretty low price has all three arms with adjustment and I thought to myself my alignment guy may tell me to pound sand, he's not going to adjust that mess...
- or just raise it about 3/4 inch and realign
- It would make my wife happier, she reminds me how low it is every time she gets in...
At one time I considered raising it back to stock height as I do feel like I have the dampers adjusted to a really good balance for back roads, highway ramps as well as highway cruising and did not find a need to get the motor/controller for on top of them.
04-12-2017, 06:21 PM
