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Sorry if this might be a Noob of a question but i just need some thoughts and advise on a small issue ....I recently purchase Teins Flex Z Coilovers had them installed and love the quality of the ride. My issue with them is that its a bit to low for my liking. Knowing how to raise and lower the car is not an issue at all.... my issue is that i don't wanna be messing with the stock Preload that was set by Tein. Having that said do i have to unbolt my bottom strut and spin it to raise or lower my car or could i adjust it by the collars without moving my preload set. I have searched on here and watched some videos online just not sure if it was right .. Please feel free to post your advise or thoughts i will be making a thread with my car as soon as i get the right height again please forgive for the noob of a question
The videos you posted are from Tein. They're correct.
To raise it without affecting spring preload, just spin the whole body out of the bottom bracket like its a screw spinning out of a nut.
Don't unlock the spring collars when you do that. Just unlock the bottom bracket collar.
I use a little paint marker dot to indicate when I've gone 1 full turn. That way you can raise each front or rear wheel equally. Like...2 turns per wheel or whatever.
See here.
Instead of threading INTO, thread OUT OF. Since you want to raise it.
Tips:
1 full turn is 2mm (0.08") of change at the shock.
Front suspension:
~0.63" of change at the shock = 1" of ride height.
So...1 turn of the shock body changes the ride height of the car by 1/8".
Rear suspension:
~0.9" of change at the shock is 1" of ride height change.
So each turn of the shock body changes ride height by ~0.09". Its almost 1:1 in back.
Finally got around to putting mine together. I bought them in December :/
Can anyone help me out on some of these questions?
How tight are the 14mm nuts? I stopped tightening once they were hand tight , I did not want the piston to rotate. Is this considered tight? or loose? I can't find torque specs anywhere in the manual. Also, are the springs meant to be loose even with the top hats fully tightened?
I was also wondering if this is a good method or not? I was thinking to install the coils at the highest setting on all 4 corners. Wait a week for them to settle a little and then lower it to the desired height.
Finally got around to putting mine together. I bought them in December :/
Can anyone help me out on some of these questions?
How tight are the 14mm nuts? I stopped tightening once they were hand tight , I did not want the piston to rotate. Is this considered tight? or loose? I can't find torque specs anywhere in the manual. Also, are the springs meant to be loose even with the top hats fully tightened?
I was also wondering if this is a good method or not? I was thinking to install the coils at the highest setting on all 4 corners. Wait a week for them to settle a little and then lower it to the desired height.
Thanks in advance!! Woohoo
Your upper washers are upside down.
The concavity should face up...so they should look like plates...not umbrellas.
The nuts should be tightened to like 25LB-FT. You'll have to hold the shaft from spinning with a 9 or 10mm wrench at the flat part of the threads. So I doubt you'll be able to get a torque wrench on it. Just estimate 25ish LB by hand. Get them tight!
The spring is loose because its all the way down on the shock. Tein has setup height recommendations in the manual. Check those out.
They shouldn't settle much...or at all. For a 2nd gen, the recommended height should be near the top of the thread anyway.
Most of the settling people see comes from their bushings slowly tearing/weakening if they weren't clocked properly. Make 100% sure you don't skip that step.
I will flip those upper washers.
The lower black washer, doesn't have a direction. correct?
The lower black washer is just flat, IIRC...so no direction.
The lower GOLD washer has a definite direction. The countersink should face downwars to mate/center itself with the shock shaft.
I made some edits to my post above, BTW.
Also, if it helps...you should ask a mod to move the last few posts here to your own thread. Adjusting and installing these will be different than the Flex described by the OP. So people reading this in the future may get confused.
The lower black washer is just flat, IIRC...so no direction.
The lower GOLD washer has a definite direction. The countersink should face downwars to mate/center itself with the shock shaft.
I made some edits to my post above, BTW.
Also, if it helps...you should ask a mod to move the last few posts here to your own thread. Adjusting and installing these will be different than the Flex described by the OP. So people reading this in the future may get confused.
You're correct, the black washer for the most part was flat, I was paranoid and double checking. The lower silver washer is directional and installed as you suggested.
The concavity should face up...so they should look like plates...not umbrellas.
The nuts should be tightened to like 25LB-FT. You'll have to hold the shaft from spinning with a 9 or 10mm wrench at the flat part of the threads. So I doubt you'll be able to get a torque wrench on it. Just estimate 25ish LB by hand. Get them tight!
The spring is loose because its all the way down on the shock. Tein has setup height recommendations in the manual. Check those out.
They shouldn't settle much...or at all. For a 2nd gen, the recommended height should be near the top of the thread anyway.
Most of the settling people see comes from their bushings slowly tearing/weakening if they weren't clocked properly. Make 100% sure you don't skip that step.
THank you, very helpful. I attached the recommended ride height for my Tein SAZ coilovers. With regards to clocking the bushing, thats the step you referred to in your OWN installation thread. Correct?
Tips:
1 full turn is 2mm (0.08") of change at the shock.
Front suspension:
~0.63" of change at the shock = 1" of ride height.
So...1 turn of the shock body changes the ride height of the car by 1/8".
Rear suspension:
~0.9" of change at the shock is 1" of ride height change.
So each turn of the shock body changes ride height by ~0.09". Its almost 1:1 in back.
hope that helps.
Hmnn... Aren't there other variables such as spring rate/preload and distance from the coilover to the outside of the wheel? Is your "Tip" based on Tein Flex specifically? Sorry, I do not mean to come off rude, just questioning for the sake of discussion. There are a ton of variables depending on car and coilover brand + spring rate, so I wanted to clarify on what combo we're speaking to. + Leverage of the lower control arm being pushed by the vehicle weight which = compression. Am I missing something?
I'm installing my set of Flex Z tomorrow. Out of the box the coilovers are setup for the following drop: F1.6" and R1.2" - My intention was not to go this low so I've added .5" to the overall coilover length in the front and 5/8th" in rear. I'll post my results in this thread for the sake of discussion shortly after the install. The goal was to be ~1.2" drop in the front and ~1 in the rear. Based of the above ratios, I will be way off lol. We'll see.
Hmnn... Aren't there other variables such as spring rate/preload and distance from the coilover to the outside of the wheel? Is your "Tip" based on Tein Flex specifically? Sorry, I do not mean to come off rude, just questioning for the sake of discussion. There are a ton of variables depending on car and coilover brand + spring rate, so I wanted to clarify on what combo we're speaking to. + Leverage of the lower control arm being pushed by the vehicle weight which = compression. Am I missing something?
I'm installing my set of Flex Z tomorrow. Out of the box the coilovers are setup for the following drop: F1.6" and R1.2" - My intention was not to go this low so I've added .5" to the overall coilover length in the front and 5/8th" in rear. I'll post my results in this thread for the sake of discussion shortly after the install. The goal was to be ~1.2" drop in the front and ~1 in the rear. Based of the above ratios, I will be way off lol. We'll see.
Spring rate, preload, and type of shock isn't relevant.
The ratio is derived from the car's motion ratio. Its a non-variable ratio (as long as the control arms and chassis are not modified).
The front hub moves ~1.6" per 1" of shock movement.
The rear hub moves ~1.1" per 1" of shock movement.
Lengthening the shock body OR changing the spring perch height will change ride height. The rate of change is the ratios described above.
The only thing that will "appear" to change this is a non-linear spring rate change - like lowering the spring until the bumpstop is active. The motion ratio is still the same...but you perceive it as different because the spring rate is no longer linear.
I think your question stems from how much lower THAN STOCK the car will be, based on preload, rate, etc. I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about ride height adjustments with the coilover, after its already been lowered.
In your case...you want the coilover to lower your car 0.5" less up front and 0.2" less in back.
Set the front shock up 0.31" taller than tein recommends (gap between lower bracket and spring seat should be 0.31" longer).
Set the rear up 0.18" taller than tein recommends.
BEFORE installing the coilovers to the car...make sure you know how much preload is dialed in.
You can't reliably measure inital preload once the shocks are installed in the car. So if you DIDN'T measure it before installing them....you'll need to remove them again to measure your starting point.
You can use preload to tune the ride quality of the suspension later. So...make sure you know what you started with and write it down.
Spring rate, preload, and type of shock isn't relevant.
The ratio is derived from the car's motion ratio. Its a non-variable ratio (as long as the control arms and chassis are not modified).
The front hub moves ~1.6" per 1" of shock movement.
The rear hub moves ~1.1" per 1" of shock movement.
Lengthening the shock body OR changing the spring perch height will change ride height. The rate of change is the ratios described above.
The only thing that will "appear" to change this is a non-linear spring rate change - like lowering the spring until the bumpstop is active. The motion ratio is still the same...but you perceive it as different because the spring rate is no longer linear.
I think your question stems from how much lower THAN STOCK the car will be, based on preload, rate, etc. I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about ride height adjustments with the coilover, after its already been lowered.
In your case...you want the coilover to lower your car 0.5" less up front and 0.2" less in back.
Set the front shock up 0.31" taller than tein recommends (gap between lower bracket and spring seat should be 0.31" longer).
Set the rear up 0.18" taller than tein recommends.
07-19-2018, 05:58 PM
