Chan_Mike

I will try my best and walk everyone through on lowering your TLX with these RSR "Down" lowering springs. Feel free to comment and ask any question at the end of the installation.

RSR "Down" Lowering Springs
Fits ALL TLX model. (L4, V6, P-AWS and SH-AWD)
Test Vehicle: 2015 Acura TLX V6 Advance SH-AWD

Chan_Mike

Chan_Mike

Start by safely lifting/jacking vehicle up and remove all four wheels. Please support vehicle with jack stands for people using floor jack(s).

Chan_Mike

Pop open the hood and remove both front struts tower bolts (#1). 17mm head bolts, 2 on each side (front).

Chan_Mike

Front - Remove as follow:
#1 Sway bar 17mm head nut
#2 14mm bolt
#3 Cotton Pin then the 17mm head nut (outer tie rod end)
#4 Brake line hose/bracket 10mm head bolt
#5 Wheel speed sensor 10mm bolt ( then pull the sensor out)
#6 Wheel speed sensor harness clip

Chan_Mike

Front - Remove as follow:
#1 Brake caliper 17mm head bolts (2 on each side)
#2 Cotter Pin then 17mm head nut (Lower control arm)

Chan_Mike

Remove Hub Axle 36mm head nut

Chan_Mike

This special tool will help and make it easier to seperate the joint for Tie Rod End and Lower Control Arm.

Chan_Mike

Hub and spindle assembly should slide right out from the bottom of the front strut assembly

Chan_Mike

Move the front upper strut mounting (14mm) nuts. There will be 3 on each side. Hold front struts in place before removal of the 3 (14mm) mounting nuts. After removal of the 3 (14mm) mounting nuts on each side, you can remove the front strut assembly from the vehicle.

Chan_Mike

Rear - First by folding down both rear seat to get access to the rear strut upper mounting nuts

Chan_Mike

You will find the rear struts access cover after you fold the seat down on both driver and passenger side. Use a small flat head screw driver to pop out the cover.

Chan_Mike

Once you remove the cover, you will find the rear sturt upper mount (14mm) nuts. There should be 2 on each side, remove them.

Chan_Mike

From the bottom of the vehicle. Remove the lower struts mount 17mm head bolt (#1) and sway bar link 14mm head nut (#2).

Chan_Mike

The rear struts then should slide out like this

Chan_Mike

Quick look at both front and rear struts along with RSR "Down" Lowering Springs

Chan_Mike

This step will requires a Spring Compress tool. Please do NOT compromise, serious injury may occur.

Compress the spring with the tool, then remove the struts cover (only for the front, rear does not have them). Again, once the springs are safely compressed, then remove the holding 14mm nut.

Chan_Mike

Once you safely remove the 14mm holding nut, the strut will slide right out. Front and rear will be the same. Use caution PLEASE.

Chan_Mike

Safely remove the Spring Compress tool and separate the OEM upper mount and lower spring sit rubber (front only). Swap them over to the RSR "Down" lowering springs.

Chan_Mike

After the swap (front), make sure the New (lowering) front springs are sitting flush with the mounting points. Here are some photos for the front.

The rear is much easier and it is pretty much an in and out without any swap of hardware and rubber.

Chan_Mike

Final result should look like this.

Chan_Mike

Strut/Spring assembly mounted on vehicle.

Chan_Mike

Quick Tip: Before removing the OEM springs for the struts, you should marked them like this with a marker or WhiteOut. It will make it way easier when you reinstall everything.

Now just reinstall the 4 spring/strut assemblies back on the vehicle and follow all previous steps.

Chan_Mike

Final product will look something like this and do not forget to perform a 4 Wheel Alignment after any suspension work.

Let me know anyone have any question and concern. Hope this will help our community.

By the way, I love the drop, just enough. It is about an inch all around. Vehicle drove amazing with these RSR "Down" lowering springs. I welcome anyone to come to our dealership (if you are in South Florida, of course) to see it in person and go for a ride. More pictures will come.

Lastly, I will put a Group buy on these RSR "Down" Lowering Springs next week. Special Promo price will be offer. Limited to 10 sets at this point.

Silvaccordex01

iTrader: (2)

Wow, that looks great. The front suspension looks a lot trickier than previous models, with having to remove the whole spindle assembly.

How did the alignment turn out with camber? Was it fully correctable without any camber kits? As far as I'm aware, no camber kits are available for the TLX as of now.

I'm in for the group buy. Are you going to be starting a new thread when you start that? Can you PM me when you do, I don't want to miss out on it

Vteck_10

Look great Mike. Any chance you can post picture of drop TLX next to a Stock TLX for reference. Thanks.

Chan_Mike

Top Before - Stock Height
Bottom After - RSR Down Lowering Spring (Fits L4, V6, P-AWS, and SH-AWD)
About 1 inch drop all around

Stew4HD

Mike, great write-up. Very detailed! Should be added to the DIY Garage

I will need to study this more to see if I think I can do this on jack stands in my garage or have it done by others

h_dawg

Mike you are the man! I didn't think these springs would provide an adequate drop, but it looks pretty good these. It's a good height to daily drive

h_dawg

Here's Mike's picture but just side-by-side in case anyone wants to look at it

Chan_Mike

Thanks for your compliment. Just want to do something to help our community.

I don't want to sound like an idoit. I am not sure how to add to the DIY Garage. Can you shine some light for me?

Chan_Mike

Here is a photo of the reading of the alignment prior to any adjustment, however TLXs has no camber adjustment for front and rear. Front still within factory spec, and the rear is a little over 2 degrees, more or less.

Stew4HD

Hi Mike, the mods will have to do the move to the garage area.

I do like the ride height/wheel gap with the springs. I think mine will look good with the slight drop.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Fantastic DIY. Great job, Mike...and the perfect drop. Not too much, not too little. Coilovers are overkill for a lot of people...this is a great option.

I wonder if spindle removal is the way to do it on previous models too...I've always gotten by with just jacking up front or rear (so not loaded) and then stepping on them to lower enough to get the top out. Got me thinkin...

TLX_DallasTX

Is it true RS-R springs are designed to be used with the factory shocks? I'm deciding between Eibach, H&R, and RS-R but I don't want to damage the factory shocks so I'm planning to get RS-R springs. I wish RS-R springs lower the car just little more like Eibach or H&R. I'm in a group buy.

h_dawg

Any lowering springs will cause the shocks to wear out faster. The larger the drop of the springs, the quicker they will wear out. 1" probably isn't that big of a deal, but once you get to 1.5-2" it will definitely make a difference. It has nothing to do with what company makes the springs, but depends on how much they lower the car

Treblig

So are there recommended shocks that would work better?

TLX_DallasTX

Thanks for your information. Do you think 1.3" will make a big difference compare to 1"?

h_dawg

Currently, I am not aware of any aftermarket shocks available for the TLX. Aftermarket shocks for the accord may/may not fit, but I think it's probably better to wait for TLX specific ones.

Past aftermarket shocks I have used on other cars are Tokico HTS (aka Tokico reds), and Koni Yellows. Both of these brands are well known, and these products are great. I have no idea if they will make aftermarket shocks for the TLX, and if they do they are likely not going to come out anytime soon.

The other thing is, if you decide to go with lowering springs and a quality aftermarket shock, this will easily run you $1,000+. If you have the money, I would highly recommend just going with a coilover setup which will give you the exact drop you desire, along with new dampers to go with it. In my opinion, lowering springs are worth the money if you aren't going to change the shocks, but if you want to change the shocks also then definitely consider coilovers. RSR coilovers should be coming out very soon now, and Mike will probably have more info on that. Hope this info helps

h_dawg

Since very few people currently have lowering springs and aftermarket suspensions for the TLX right now, it's kind of difficult to answer. In my personal opinion, since the shocks on your TLX are pretty much brand new I would just go with whichever drop you think looks better. 1.3" drop might cause the shocks to wear out a little faster, but it will more than likely be okay for at least a couple years. Personally, 1.4" is about as low as I would go on stock shocks