Tein ss coilovers-- A few questions
07-19-2011, 08:14 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Posts: 53
Tein ss coilovers-- A few questions
Hey guys, I know there have probably been a bunch of topics regarding these coilovers but, I just want to cover all my bases before I decide to purchase the coilovers.
My questions are as follows:
1. I've heard a lot of talk on the forums from more experienced members mentioning the difficulties of getting a strut/spring combo "right?" Is there like certain combinations that work better/worse together?
2. What advantages are there with going with coilovers rather than a spring/strut combo? I want to know because I am replacing both the springs and the struts on my car and I figured i would look into all options including coilovers.
3. I cant seem to find on the tein website or anywhere really, specifically how much the tein ss' can drop..
4. Ive read plenty of reviews so im not hear to ask your opinions haha ive got my mind made up to invest in these puppies. But my final question is how difficult is it to adjust the ride height of your car, and by difficulty I mean time it takes to accomplish the task.
Thanks guys.
My questions are as follows:
1. I've heard a lot of talk on the forums from more experienced members mentioning the difficulties of getting a strut/spring combo "right?" Is there like certain combinations that work better/worse together?
2. What advantages are there with going with coilovers rather than a spring/strut combo? I want to know because I am replacing both the springs and the struts on my car and I figured i would look into all options including coilovers.
3. I cant seem to find on the tein website or anywhere really, specifically how much the tein ss' can drop..
4. Ive read plenty of reviews so im not hear to ask your opinions haha ive got my mind made up to invest in these puppies. But my final question is how difficult is it to adjust the ride height of your car, and by difficulty I mean time it takes to accomplish the task.
Thanks guys.
07-19-2011, 08:40 PM
#2
TIme to change ride height is about 1 hour for all 4 corners. You just need to pull the wheels you're adjusting and adjust them.
Don't question the purchase, I have them, they are worth every penny. If your bearings/mounts are worn though, it may be worth investigating other replacements, the Tein SS requires you to reuse the stock mounts. If you need new mounts you'll have to factor that into the price.
IIRC the specs for lowering are 0-3.0" in the rear and .5-3.2" in the front, but the specs are on the Tein website, if you look harder you'll find them it's a big chart, a little tough to read though. I will post it for you later I'm going to bed now
Don't question the purchase, I have them, they are worth every penny. If your bearings/mounts are worn though, it may be worth investigating other replacements, the Tein SS requires you to reuse the stock mounts. If you need new mounts you'll have to factor that into the price.
IIRC the specs for lowering are 0-3.0" in the rear and .5-3.2" in the front, but the specs are on the Tein website, if you look harder you'll find them it's a big chart, a little tough to read though. I will post it for you later I'm going to bed now
07-19-2011, 09:43 PM
#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Posts: 53
Haha I spoke to soon, I have continued to read reviews on coilovers and I seemed to overlook the bc racing coilovers. I have concluded that eithe of these would be a great choice it's just which one would be better for my application. I'm not planning on auto-x most I just **** around with my friends and stuff on the street. Does anyone know how low the bc's can be dropped to? And I know they come with camber plates and pillowball mounts where as the teins do not. Can I buy this upgrade for the teins? And is it truly necessary? Feel free to chime in on either side regarding preference to a certain brand, I need all angles on the subject. Thanks again
07-20-2011, 04:30 AM
#4
BC coilovers come fully assembled...only thing is that the BC coilover is 'screwed up' on...is that the right belong on the left and vice versa, because of the camber plates on them.
if i were you, i'd get the BCs...because if i got new Tein SS...i would also buy new oem top hats, etc and whatever else would be needed off of my oem suspension..which = more money..out the box, BCs you can install, just adjust your height
and BCs go pretty damn low, check my thread in the members ride, i'm tired of posting pics of my car all around..but where it sits right now..i have at least an inch worth of thread to go down
if i were you, i'd get the BCs...because if i got new Tein SS...i would also buy new oem top hats, etc and whatever else would be needed off of my oem suspension..which = more money..out the box, BCs you can install, just adjust your height
and BCs go pretty damn low, check my thread in the members ride, i'm tired of posting pics of my car all around..but where it sits right now..i have at least an inch worth of thread to go down
07-20-2011, 05:05 AM
#5
BC Racing coilovers are supposed drop lower than the Tein SS, if you don't care about suspension geometry and proper handling characteristics. The BC are more convenient for sure, and cheaper, so that's always a factor. Feedback has been that they ride nicely though and this is from many other sites, not just here, which is a pretty small group. The Teins ride really nice from personal experience because they reuse stock rubber mounts and not pillowballs. You can get pillowballs from Tein as a custom order, but I'm not sure how long that takes for an application like the Maxima since it isn't something with a huge market, so I doubt they stock them readily. Your best bet would be to call them and find out.
As for height adjustment, as long as you have a tape measure, good jack (ie. a big one or a race jack), and logical approach, it shouldn't take you more than an hour as posted above. What I did was to do two sides at once by jacking the entire rear (or front) end and count the number of threads from the end of the threading to the adjustment collar, equalize them, put the wheels back on, lower, and measure. Keep repeating that until the ride height is equal, and is what you want. The one thing that I and several others ran into is that the rear driver side wheel tucks a little more than the passenger side, so on the coilover, the driver side is "less dropped", ie. greater distance from bottom thread to collar, than the passenger side to make the fender to ground measurements on both sides equal. This was the case even after recentering the beam.
Anyway, all the best with the decision and post back any updates.
As for height adjustment, as long as you have a tape measure, good jack (ie. a big one or a race jack), and logical approach, it shouldn't take you more than an hour as posted above. What I did was to do two sides at once by jacking the entire rear (or front) end and count the number of threads from the end of the threading to the adjustment collar, equalize them, put the wheels back on, lower, and measure. Keep repeating that until the ride height is equal, and is what you want. The one thing that I and several others ran into is that the rear driver side wheel tucks a little more than the passenger side, so on the coilover, the driver side is "less dropped", ie. greater distance from bottom thread to collar, than the passenger side to make the fender to ground measurements on both sides equal. This was the case even after recentering the beam.
Anyway, all the best with the decision and post back any updates.
07-20-2011, 05:18 AM
#6
here is the thread showing the right way and the wrong way (in regards to the camber plates on the front)
http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...installed.html
http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...installed.html
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