Adjusting Tein SS's . . .

[Mido]

Hey Guys,

So i'm trying to lower the front and the rear of the car, before i start playing around, i want to make sure i'd be doing things properly.

Firstly, how do you adjust them up or down, clockwise or anti clockwise?

do i loosen the small ( bottom ) plate and then adjust the upper 1?

i tried to play around with the rear, but looks hard to reach with the tein wrenches, and when i tried to lower it ( i tried anti-clockwise ) it was pretty hard to twist the plate when the car is jacked up and the tire removed .. is there a better / recommended way?

and lastly, how can you adjust the rear dampening?

Thanks in advance

[aprcelica]

to get to the rear dampening, you need to have the plastics off the rear interior... not the ones covering the speakers, but the ones between those and the rear centerpiece.

Next, yes it is a PITA to adjust the rear height. Jack it up, remove wheel. Loosen the bottom; thats counter clockwise when looking at it from underneath the car, up. then, do the same with the top one, as in the top will chase the bottom. When you get it to where you want it, tighten them together. The wrenches are designed so that you will be going counterclockwise with the TOP, and clockwise with the BOTTOM (again when looking at from underneath the vehicle). Note: it is easier to loosen them when going counterclockwise from the BOTTOM, and clockwise from the TOP. Dampening force is clockwise and soft is counter at the knob.

[Mido]

^ thanks Apr, but when i loosened the bottom 1, i can just spin it till the lowest part of the shock, that's how i adjusted the front, i losened it and spun it by hand till it reached to the bottom, and then adjusted the upper part, once i was done, i spun the bottom one opposite way untill they were both tight.

i'm going to go to a garage tomorrow and have it on a lift to install a front sway bar and want to adjust the height. to lower them, is it clock-wise or anti-clock wise?

sorry for the " lots " of questions, i'm new to coilovers :D

[Gootz311]

Here you go mido...

http://www.newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?t=115500

...i just ordered me some ss's as well. :gap:

[aprcelica]

:wtf: to adjust the rear, its the same as the front. if youve done the front, you should be able to do the rears. they spin in the same direction. When spinning towards the bottom, thats "counter-", and towards the top, thats "clockwise" (when looking at the struts from the bottom>up). Youve said youve loosend and tightened thim by hand... I dont recommend that. Use the tools. TEINs instructions state to tighten them with the tools to a certain torque rate; so they lock together.

[Mido]

Ok, i'll try that later on.

After installing them, my alignment is out of range, so i'll be getting another alignment, if i lower or raise the car without removing the coilovers, will i need to re-align it?

[aprcelica]

Ok, i'll try that later on.

After installing them, my alignment is out of range, so i'll be getting another alignment, if i lower or raise the car without removing the coilovers, will i need to re-align it?

Thats what is said. Depends on personal preference.

[Mido]

tried to adjust the rears again, phailed..

Ok, so i jacked up the car from 1 side on the rear, took the wheel off, apart from trying to find a way to reach with all the hardware in the way, it's very difficult to use the tein wrench on the rings to lower or raise the car, am i supposed to have both sides jacked up?

i noticed that there was alot of pressure on the springs and the springs would not losen up like the front one's would . . .

[lOST JOKKUR]

try using some wd-40?

its helped with mine.

[Mido]

i didn't want to use force to twist them, i was worried that i might be doing something wrong or it might not be the proper way to do that.

But is it better if i jack up the whole rear end, remove the tires and then i can loosen the bottom ring, and then adjust the top ring? and use WD-40 to make them a little lose?

[lOST JOKKUR]

yep wd-40 should help loosen them up.

are you having a hard time adjusting or unlocking them?

cause to adjust them you just either turn clockwise or counter clockwise.
seem like you're having a hard time unlocking them. just use some wd-40 and a bit of force and they should come loose.

are these new coilovers or used?

[Mido]

yep wd-40 should help loosen them up.

are you having a hard time adjusting or unlocking them?

cause to adjust them you just either turn clockwise or counter clockwise.
seem like you're having a hard time unlocking them. just use some wd-40 and a bit of force and they should come loose.

are these new coilovers or used?
well, both acually, its hard to unlock the bottom ring, but extremely hard to twist the upper wring clockwise or anti clockwise. i bought them used with only 25k miles on them. I would take them completely off and see what's what but that's a huge PITA.

[lOST JOKKUR]

you shouldn't have to take them off.

seem like they're just stuck. get a can of wd-40 and see if that helps.

[Mido]

will do ^ and will update !

[hombredelassrta]

i rarely adjust the rear as it is a pain. only get 1/8 of a turn before readjusting the spanner (worst tool ever)