this helps a lot i just installed my new flex z’s on my 86 and i put them on straight from the box and the left side sits lower than the right 🤣 now i just gotta wait till they settle so i can lower the right side! thanks for making it easy to understand on how to adjust these 😭
Remember to start with the damping set in the MIDDLE of the range. Especially if you can't reach the top adjustment knob (e.g. on the rear) once it's installed. I started at the lowest of the range; what a mistake. 😅
Because where you measure your ride height (e.g. hub to fender) is usually not a 1:1 ratio, to where the coilover is located. If changing the coilover 10mm means that change turns out to be a 13mm change at the hub-to-fender... Hope this makes sense. Some folks do not like to measure vs fender, because fender is really arbitrary (think "fender bender"), and instead choose to measure under the car, between the chassis frame to the ground. That's fine, but that turns Tein's "lever ratio" meaningless. So in that case you'll have to figure out on your own, how many mm to adjust at the coilover. Another limitation to measuring at the chassis frame, is the frame/rail is closer towards the roll center of the car. So any mm change is harder to measure. When the car's roll changes 1-degree, that's a lot more distance changed the further away from the car where you measure it.
"pre-load" is a very 'loaded' terminology... (pardon the pun) 😅😅 Tein installation manual (came with your coilovers) has the proper initial dimension setup. You should be able to use that, to "reset" to what it was at when fresh from the factory. What you messed up when you touch that spring perch/lock in this Flex Z system, is you changed where in the suspension cylinder the piston sits (when the car is "at rest" on the tires). In other words, you changed the droop/compression ratio. By changing ONLY the bottom mount, and leave the spring perch/lock untouched, you maintain the droop/compression ratio the same, and just move the entire system up/down relative to the lower mount knuckle. I was told by Tein, to "not touch" the spring perch or the spring. How it arrives from-factory, that pre-set is ready for installation. The only drawback to this, is that I cannot physically check the full-compression position, whether my tires rub against the car. So even if/when I use the lower mount adjustment to lower the ride height, I don't really get the opportunity to check for potential rubbing in the full-compression position. Good thing I'm not looking to lower the ride really; I just wanted a better performing set of spring/strut - being the reason I bought Tein coilovers.
Mine don't work like this. The second collar is used to raise and the top collar is used to lower. As shown in this video the second collar is the locking collar for preload, spinning it clockwise will unlock it, spinning counter clockwise raises the thread body, the preload collar lowers it.
You probably could (just use hand). There's just not a lot of area for the hand/fingers to grab onto. Using the tool is simply "easier effort" as it has a place in the spring perch to "bite" into.
you only need to use the one wrench? im asking because I lost one of my wrenches, and wanted to know if i can still adjust my ride hight with only the one wrench, or do i need to go buy a new replacement set of wrenches from Tein? please let me know, thanks. also great video!
Tein makes their seat locks sosososo tight! Destroyed mine right out of the box. Used a breaker bar and everything. That thing would not give me any movement
@@raressarachie8233 Treat it like any other seized nuts: Give it penetrating oil, and allow time for the oil to get-in. Both the 1) ring-to-threads, and also the 2) ring-to-washer, and 3) washer-to-knuckle. That's 3 interfaces that needs oil, to help free it up.
It seems like Tein is not completely instructing people how to properly adjust these coilovers in the rear, I understand it may differ from the type of vehicle, I recently bought these for my 03 rsx type s. I've done plenty research and I am unable to find any info on this topic. I see for most cars, the front coils are adjusted as shown in the video, but the rears seem like they're not, ( at least not for my car) When I loosened the bottom ring to adjust my ride height, the threaded part of the shock does not turn "thread" into the body of the shock. So in my opinion it defeats the entire "pre load" purpose, cause the only way i was able to adjust my height was turning the top 2 rings. I spent hours trying to figure it out and search for answers but couldn't find anything. Anyone with similar issues have an answer?
I don't work for Tein. I'm just another person who's recently installed Tein Flex Z and still in the initial "checking out the ride feel / did I install correctly" process... On your question, I'm not fully understanding the components you're talking about. Assuming you meant: On the rear, the threaded black tube (which *IS* the shock body) cannot thread further into the lower mount knuckle (green painted portion)... In that case, I think your lower mount may have hit rock-bottom. Meaning, you're at the lowest ride height the rear coilover is designed to go. You can test my hypothesis by turning the black threaded tube the other way: raise it up and out from the lower mount knuckle. Just a few turns, and you should have your answer. If it turns up and outward just fine, then you know the entire threading & going in/out works fine. Then try turn it down and inward again. If you hit a dead stop, then you know it's gone all the way in. If you turned the top two rings as the way to drop your ride height, then what you've done is you moved the piston position further down into the shock body (when car is at-rest on wheel/tire). Meaning, that ride height reduction all came from sacrificing shock travel/stroke's compression-side, putting that into the droop-side. That said, if you bought your coilovers 2nd-hand, or basically if anyone has messed with the setting of your coilovers after they left Tein factory, then that's your other answer. Tein's installation manual has critical dimensions A, B, C, D. We're suppose to check them before installing. What I found out when measuring them: they were already at those measurement; factory set & shipped them that way.
Do you have any idea what could be causing my springs to sound “springy” on any uneven surface? I’ve adjusted ride height to recommended level and have been trying to adjust the preload back to spec and have checked to make sure all bolts were not loose and it hasn’t fixed anything.
@@Swayy_dT By “sounding springy”, do you mean the sound of: Seems like the spring was bound up somewhere, and then suddenly let-go/let-loose, giving a high-pitched “bing” (or “boing”) sound.(?) If so, yes, 90% chance this is coming from: The top side of the front coilovers that are suppose to rotate freely vs the top mounting plates, not rotating freely enough. Spray some WD-40 into that area and see if it improves the situation. If you’re not sure what I mean, then take a look at the knuckles of the front coilover in two positions: Steering turned all the way to left. Steering turned all the way to right. Once you see that, you’ll understand what I mean. Knuckle turns with your steering wheel. But top camber plate etc doesn’t turn. So SOMEWHERE the coil spring is turning against a stationary surface. That’s where the coil spring is binding just a little bit.
For the front, try a little big of WD40 spray in two areas: 1) on the top-side of the spring, between the spring and the retainer. (You can reach this from the wheel well.) 2) From engine bay, in the middle of the "ball socket" thing (inside the camber plate). I did that on mine, and the occasional binding/release noise went away. This basically makes sure the spring column can rotate freely, when you steer. Otherwise the spring doesn't slip/slide, and the rotational energy (from steering) gets "locked" in. When it slips/releases, you hear the spring going "boing".
Did you try writing to Tein directly? Tein USA and Tein Japan websites, inquiries reach their Tein Japan office. I've gotten response on avg 1~3 days after my inquiry. (This is in 2022)
