Tein Basic Coilover Installation

Does anyone have an installation manual for the Tein basic coilovers just got them delivered. Edited (found the manual was buried at the bottom of the box in the protective packing)

Pictures will follow as I go thru the install.

I am also installing the Cobb Sway Bar kit.

I have some preliminary pics that I will post once I get back to my PC I am posting on my New birthday present the iPod touch 32GB.

Thanks

DrCaveman

Here are some before and after pics.

I will have a few install pics tomorrow.

Sweet, hows it ride?

Missed the alignment shops got done to late, but so far it seems ok atleast for low speed driving around town.

Getting alignment done Monday, Tuesday I have a to drive upstate NY for work a perfect opportunity to open it up.

Not bad so far will keep you posted as I drive them more. The shop where I went for the alignment had four mega sized speed bumps the setup is by no means harsh. In fact the

suspension feels much better controlled over the rough stuff so the ride actually feels better so far.

I may raise ride height a little I am going to evaluate over the next several days.

Looks nice. I'm interested in getting some basics.

Apparently they are not carried in stock any where, not even by Tein so I had to wait for about a month for Tein to make them.

So far it was worth the wait.

The hardest part of the install was the rear left, the bolt was so freaking corroded that it required some incredible strength using my legs pushing and my arms pulling at full force all while lying under the car, even after spraying the WD40. Was a little scary, but the bolt did loosen.

My Brother in law and I did not have time to get to the rear sway bar, so thats next weekend.

PB blaster should work better than WD40 for corroded nuts. Good luck, thansk for pics!

Thanks I will keep this in mind when we do the rear sway bar.

It took some creative application of Caveman power to get the nut and bolt free.

Here are some more pics.

Only One install PIC was worthy of posting was so busy installing did not have time to take a lot of photos.

Took a ride today up to Woodbury Commons Outlets for work had to visit a customer. Had no problems driving into the very rough pot hole strewn roads around New York City my coworker commented on the smooth ride compared to his SUV.

The ride was smooth and comfortable on the NYS Thruway.

I have already tossed the stock suspension I am never putting it back on the car, and can't bring my self to sell such crap on Ebay to another person.

Checked the bolts today just to make sure everything was tight, it was, I realized I never posted any shots of the complete install.

How much did you change the ride height? And how do you like the ride height difference? I'm thinking of the Tein Basics also. Not looking for anything super stiff, just better damping with adjustable ride height.

tein basics are pretty soft and good for a daily driver. thats why i decided to move up into something stiffer.

The Basics sound pretty good to me. I'm not tracking or crossing the car, just doing some enthusiastic mountain and canyon driving at times and wanted better damping with the ability to change the ride height. What's the step up for you? Tein?

How much did you change the ride height? And how do you like the ride height difference? I'm thinking of the Tein Basics also. Not looking for anything super stiff, just better damping with adjustable ride height.

The basics are not soft at all they are perfect for road use and spirited track driving combined with the Cobb sway bars the cars is much better and is easier to drive fast.

I lowered the car about 2" so far no problems have to be careful with the front that's all.

Teins reference setting is 0.92" I set to 1-3/16" when you get the instructions you will see what I am talking about.

It took tein a month to make them and ship, but it was well worth it.

wait,why did they have to make them? can you not just buy a set?

No one had them in stock not even tein apparently they are not that popular for the LGT.

I'm doing some reading on the Tein Basic's and thought i'd ask you your thoughts on them now that you've had them for quite some time?

Really interested in how they've settled and how the ride quality /comfort is with them now?

Thanks

i also just recently purchased the tein basic coilovers. thought i would continue this thread instead of starting a new one.

my impressions are much the same as drcaveman, handling is excellent and ride comfort is firm but not harsh at all, the dampers are stiff but absorb road abnormalities very well. the only time it seems a little rough is when traversing uneven pavement like || where there is a sudden change in elevation but it's tough for any suspension to sufficiently dampen such a drastic change in the road surface. for a DD this is a great choice as an alternative to strut/spring combos as this gives you a damper with matched spring rates, also the basics are a economical choice for baseline performance, ride height adjustability is a plus (as i will mention later on). this setup is very plug and play with minimal settings that you need to alter to optimize it to your liking.

some of the cons of this setup is that it is a coilover that does not allow dampening adjustability, however if you had a strut/spring combo (ie. bilsteins/pinks) this would not be adjustable either. one more thing i would have to gripe about is that the weight of the suspension is quite heavy for a coilover setup, i would say the front coilover is really only lighter than stock front strut by several lbs only, maybe <5? shipping weight of the contents were 55lbs total, i don't recall what the stock weight is all together, but i would have expected a slightly lighter kit being a coilover.

but overall i am very pleased with these and would recommend them for anyone looking for a "light" performance coilover for DD/spirited driving/light track duty.

spring rates are (lb/in) 336 F // 392 R; 6kg/mm F // 7kg/mm R

here are some photos of the install:

box

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp181/katalyst112/susp/P1020456.jpg

components, excellent quality craftsmanship from tein

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp181/katalyst112/susp/P1020460.jpg

car up

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp181/katalyst112/susp/P1020462.jpg

assembled rear damper

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp181/katalyst112/susp/P1020466.jpg

rear in-

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp181/katalyst112/susp/P1020467.jpg

front in-

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp181/katalyst112/susp/P1020471.jpg

finished, settled x 6 days

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp181/katalyst112/susp/P1020603.jpg

currently i have 1.5" wheel gap in front, 1.2" in the rear. teins ref value of 25mm/0.92" sets the car down quite low, but i have a ramp to clear to enter my parking space so i set it a fair bit higher to 42mm/1.65" to give the current wheel gap. at this setting i do believe i have a touch more pre-load than optimal and so i will probably lower the front a bit. will update when changes have been made.

big thanks to GTTuner for helping with the install and fredbeansparts for supplying the goods; and of course LGT.com for this great network and community. hope this review helps anyone mulling a future purchase on this setup.

edit: i forgot to add this initially, but when assembling the rear damper the instructions indicate using double-sided tape on the spring seat adapter, which we believe is just to hold things in place while you put it together but it might be a good idea to use some sort of industrial adhesive and apply that to the spring seat adapter and place the spring on it, leave it upside down overnight to allow the adhesive to fasten, this should probably be a better hold than double-sided tape. that or i wish tein would just include pre-cut tape for that step cause it was tedious to cut the tape into the shape of the spring seat adapter

side note: it did take a couple weeks for tein to ship these out so order in advance and allow 3-4 weeks for arrival

Thanks for the post.

Get a really good alignment, if I can find my Alignment sheet I will post it. I recently went on a weekend cruise, up to Lime Rock for the Grand Am cup race, with my brother in law driving a 350Z and his father driving a Cayman S. I had no problem keeping up on the back roads.

yep, alignment is coming up this week.

def these coilovers make the car stick in the twisties, esp on long sweeping curves. it tracks beautifully.

Here is the specs and corner weights of my car after the alignment, Note the caster is out, but Subaru has no caster adjustment.

I am still looking for a set of caster adjustment plates. If you find them let me know.

20090108092859.pdf