4th gen Illumina\Tien install completed

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11-08-2003, 09:55 PM

Big_Ham

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4th gen Illumina\Tien install completed

Welp, it's nice and late here in FL ... about 12:45 in the am and I just got home from a friend's house (thank you so much Aaron and Chris ... I still owe you another dinner or a coupla' six packs) where we installed the Tokico Illumina / Tien S Tech spring install. I was previously riding on blown Tokico Blues and Eibachs. The ride with the blown struts is nothing short of awful. Install was relatively uneventful aside from not torquing the piston nut enough on the driver's side, but that was solved with relative ease once all was said and done.

The Ride

The ride is damped, yet firm. The front spring rate is less than Eibach (201 vs. 320) but the adjustable struts (set on 2 out of 5) more than dampen the ride. Comfortable and handled pretty well in the twisties. I need an alignment big time so I will probably be even happier with it.

The Drop

With my previous combo my drop was relatively uneven. Many Maxima owners report an even drop with Eibach but I wasn't so lucky. The Tien's are a 2.2/1.8" drop F/R compared to 1.5/1.3 F/R (IIRC) on the Eibach's. My drop with the Tien's is almost dead even. The rear sits about 1/8" higher than the front right now and could settle down. Even if it doesn't it's close enough for me. My Eibach's were far too staggered - very noticable.

The Conclusion =

I'm very happy. Great drop, great ride and adjustability right on the strut piston.

And I know what you all are thinking ...

and you're right. Pics to come tomorrow morning - afternoon once I can wash all the grease off it and get it lookin pretty. I'll also be comparing to my Eibach drop with some recent pics of the old suspension setup. Should prove interesting ... stay tuned.

11-08-2003, 11:57 PM

I30tMikeD

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Great info. I am riding on eibachs and blown tokico blues and can't wait to see the comparison pics. Just off hand how much additional drop did you get? I have a 3 finger gap with the eibachs and would like to go down another 1/2 inch.
In my next spring and strut upgrade I am going to be more worried about comfort. How much smoother, if at all are the tiens?

11-09-2003, 12:28 AM

1FSTMAX

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Can't wait to see the pics.

11-09-2003, 05:38 AM

metallic97gxe

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this I gotta see...

11-09-2003, 12:30 PM

Big_Ham

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11-09-2003, 12:38 PM

Big_Ham

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Eibach / Tokico Blue

Tien S Tech / Tokico Illumina combination

I also made an animated gif that switches these two images superimposed on each other. It's not great, but if you look at the shift in the front end it's very obvious.

Quote:

Originally Posted by I30tMikeD

See the drop for yourself ... it's a solid one inch lower up front IMHO if not more. It's a tight two finger gap I'd say. The tiens are much smoother and will really take the twisties pretty well. I will have more accurate data after my alignment - but for now I'd say it holds as well as the Eibach's did when they had real struts in them.

11-09-2003, 01:19 PM

voltman

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Are you using camber bolts or plates or anything?

11-09-2003, 01:47 PM

Big_Ham

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Quote:

Originally Posted by voltman

Are you using camber bolts or plates or anything?

I was told I needed camber bolts the last time I went in for an alignment with my Eibach's. Not sure if they were 100% necessary, but I got them anyway. I'm a bad person to ask if they are needed with Tien's. 5th gen's don't typically need camber bolts but every car is different.

11-09-2003, 01:53 PM

max2max-98se

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i cant wait until get the teins s techs for my car, just need get some struts dont know what 2 get maybe agx?

11-09-2003, 01:54 PM

#10

nismology

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That looks like a Sprint drop to me without the raised rear...and you say they're smooth and handle well??

11-09-2003, 01:55 PM

#11

1FSTMAX

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The drop looks similar to sprint springs. I was expecting the drop to be something similar to my sig.

Here is a pic of my car on sprints.

http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...030_7_full.jpg

11-09-2003, 02:08 PM

#12

Big_Ham

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 1FSTMAX

The drop looks similar to sprint springs. I was expecting the drop to be something similar to my sig.

Here is a pic of my car on sprints.

http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...030_7_full.jpg

Your azz is sitting a little higher than the front in that pic. That's why I chose Tien and not Sprint for fear it would be too "raked" with Sprints. Also, as I said before, 5th gen's tended to have great, even drops with them.

11-09-2003, 02:15 PM

#13

costcowholesale

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are you bottoming out? with eibach & illuminas I bottom out A LOT(compare to AGX... but I slow down for everything wtih agx since they're so rough). I got modified rear strut mounts, kyb rear boots and front dust boots with 1/3 of the stock bumpstop.

11-09-2003, 03:54 PM

#14

Mad Dhan

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looks cool. nice bumper lights

11-09-2003, 04:00 PM

#15

Capital15

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Looks good! Good job.

11-09-2003, 04:05 PM

#16

SXN

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looks good, nice job making the gif for us, and the side by side comparison, very cool

11-09-2003, 04:18 PM

#17

Big_Ham

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Quote:

Originally Posted by costcowholesale

Haven't driven on them much since yesterday but I will let you know if I start bottoming out. I wouldn't think I would very often. Never really did with Eibach. Right now I have KYB dust boots, but no motivational mounts or anything. All the bumps I've gone over so far have not even come close to bottoming me out.

Thanks for all the nice comments.

11-09-2003, 06:35 PM

#18

DoGGy

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i saw 1fastmax's car last night at meeting and i can tell ya that those sprints do sit alot higher in the back than front. i hated sprints cuz of that but now im considering teins. bad *** even drop. BIG HAM, if u add the stillen kit, how much the gap between the kit and ground would be? any estimates?

I was also thinking about progress untill now but i see that teins are bad *$$. how much are they and where can i get them?

aslo, can u tell me the current gap in inches please? im really considering teins now!

11-09-2003, 07:01 PM

#19

DoGGy

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Ham

those r teins or ebiach?

11-09-2003, 07:05 PM

#20

99Maxima5sp

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Quote:

Originally Posted by DoGGy

those r teins or ebiach?

obviously teins...

Cant wait to get my ride in that new setup joel. Will make me very jealous! Now all you need is that turbo kit youve been talking about

11-09-2003, 07:16 PM

#21

SXN

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yea, those are the teins, but i didnt think it was that obvious (well, he put all those pics for the reason of showing the new set up, so that element was obvious, but just by look it wasnt to me) also doggy, dont quote ALL the pics next time, just one might do

11-09-2003, 07:19 PM

#22

DoGGy

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im seriously considering teins now. F progress. if the gap with stillen lip is more than 2 inches, then im down for teins s tech. awesome looking. i hope the ride quality is good too!

11-09-2003, 07:25 PM

#23

99maxse5-speed

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THATS A SICK LOOKING DROP. i got eibach`s and i want to get a little more agressive stance to the max.(eliminate wheel gap a little more) the teins are it ! i gonna go and get them. your pics just made my decision.

11-10-2003, 09:12 AM

#24

kirzan

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Wow, Joel! Looks like it's dropped even a bit more since Saturday. How'd those rear strut bolts look on Sunday? Tighter than the front left was I hope!

11-10-2003, 07:07 PM

#25

Y2KSESteve

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Looks awesome Joel! If I'm not mistaken yours is the first 4th gen with the Teins?

11-10-2003, 07:55 PM

#26

Big_Ham

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Y2KSESteve

Looks awesome Joel! If I'm not mistaken yours is the first 4th gen with the Teins?

That's what I'm thinkin'

But I'm really not sure.

Thanks again for your help Steve, I'm very appreciative. I'm actually about to email you about the brake pads and how we can get the OEM ones ...

11-10-2003, 08:20 PM

#27

1FSTMAX

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Ham

Ok i see.

11-10-2003, 10:49 PM

#28

Y2KSESteve

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Ham

That's what I'm thinkin'

But I'm really not sure.

Thanks again for your help Steve, I'm very appreciative. I'm actually about to email you about the brake pads and how we can get the OEM ones ...

We'll get it taken care of for ya.

11-11-2003, 12:57 AM

#29

Ludacris

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Perfect drop....how much did it set you back?

11-11-2003, 04:23 PM

#30

aznsap

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awesome, i want this setup also

11-11-2003, 05:47 PM

#31

ch13f

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Yeah, thats looking sweet. I want my car a bit lower (on Intrax with AGX's right now) I guess I'll see if I have some extra cash this spring, I very well may get those springs

11-11-2003, 05:52 PM

#32

1FSTMAX

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Can you take a picture of the compressed spring, and strut?

12-10-2003, 01:08 AM

#33

PeTeRtheEaTeR

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hey big_ham...are ur springs settled in yet? how's the ride after settling in?

12-10-2003, 07:36 AM

#34

Big_Ham

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Quote:

Originally Posted by PeTeRtheEaTeR

hey big_ham...are ur springs settled in yet? how's the ride after settling in?

The springs are settled and the ride is great. It's definitely FAR from stock and definitely a little stiff, but more than tolerable for passengers .. much more so than my Eibach/Tokico Blue combo was. I have the fronts and rears set at 3 and it is the perfect balance between performance and comfort. The 2 setting was also good, but I didn't get the handling I wanted. The car now will scoot down the highway at 100+ MPH without any problems. I feel very in control whereas before (and I attribute this to the struts) the car felt very floaty - like a Lincoln Towncar.

The one problem I do have is that I have some unidentified suspension noise, but I haven't taken the time to diagnose it yet, so it could just be a loose top hat or something similar that is easily remedied.

12-10-2003, 02:11 PM

#35

PeTeRtheEaTeR

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that's good news...i just purchased a set of illuminas and i'm currently riding on maxspeeds with stock struts but even with maxspeeds it doesn't look dropped compared to stock so i was considering the teins. So maybe somewhere in the middle of January i'll probably have the same setup as you do. Thanx for the info.

01-07-2004, 02:42 PM

#36

MaXAnDy

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what do you guys think?

Will KYB GR-s's be able to handle these springs?

01-07-2004, 07:49 PM

#37

PeTeRtheEaTeR

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no way~!

01-08-2004, 09:25 AM

#38

BP2K2Max

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i just got in on a group deal for these springs, can you still use the nissan jack to lift the car or do you need a floor jack on rollers?

01-08-2004, 10:04 AM

#39

Vyrus

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Looks good Big_Ham! Very similar to my drop of Sprint springs with 1 coil cut in the rear. Handling will be great due to the lower COG. Sprints also ride very rough, but I love that feeling. Unfortunatley with my new b-pipe I am scraping on my driveway, so I decided to go with Tein H-Techs. They will be here soon and I hope I am as happy with those as you are happy with yours!
-Cyrus