anyone with tein stechs...!

[yodaddyguido]

how big a difference in ride quality was there when you went from stock to tein stechs? im trying to figure out if my shocks are bad, and ive never dealt with lowering springs since the celica. and, i have no point of reference as none of my friends have a celica, AND the car was purchased already lowered. i suspect theyre all bad, but id love to hear if there was a dramatic drop in ride quality once you were lowered. thanks for input!

btw, i hear little 'knocks' when i drive over lumpy pavement, say with small potholes and such that i dont hear in any other car i drive around here. not sure if thats a sure sign as well.

guido

[jaxT-sport]

its gonna be alot stiffer in the turns.
And you'll def. feel the road more.
Bumps are gonna pull the car if they're big.
Speed bumps are gonna suck a$$ to go over.

[lilmexicanoboi]

its gonna be alot stiffer in the turns.
And you'll def. feel the road more.
Bumps are gonna pull the car if they're big.
Speed bumps are gonna suck a$$ to go over.

are u taking bumps/speed bumps at 50mph or something? theyre not THAT bad. yea u do feel the road a bit more, but thats when u know u have more control. but since the springs are only a 1.4" drop, u still have barely enough clearance to clear speed bumps at normal speeds and clear the cement blocks in parking spots (assuming u still have ur stock front bumper and all cement blocks are the same height everywhere).

im trying to figure out if my shocks are bad, and ive never dealt with lowering springs since the celica. and, i have no point of reference as none of my friends have a celica, AND the car was purchased already lowered.

this part confuses me... whats ur situation here? did u get a new car? not a celica? are u planning on putting the s-techs on stock shocks? :confused:

[yodaddyguido]

ok, i suppose i should clarify. ive had the car for 2 years now. ive been fixing all sorts of crap throughout the car over the past two years, and im just now getting to concentrate on the suspension, and im trying to figure out if my shocks/struts are shot, or if my stechs have always been this rough this whole time. lol i know how to drive with em :P the car was purchased in dec 07 and already had stechs on them...

so. im trying to figure out (since ive never felt stock springs before) whether the stechs are really THAT rough (which im having a hard time believing) or if my shocks are bad lol.

[lilmexicanoboi]

well its kinda hard to tell u via internet cuz idk if ur s-techs feel different then my s-techs. but if u wanna test ur shocks, then just do the simple shocks test. push the front end of ur car down hard once. if the car bounces back more than once (or twice... not sure), then ur shocks are bad. if not, i still wouldnt recommend running s-techs on stock springs for much longer cuz u wouldnt wanna get to the point where ur shocks give out and realize u cant replace the shocks right then and there. its all about preventive maintanace ;) id just get new shocks to be safe.

as for the "knocking" sound u hear, that MAY be because one or more of ur shocks is shot. that happened to my bro in his civic. he hit a huge dip on a dirt road going about 30mph and ever since then he was hearing a knocking noise that sounded like to pieces of metal hitting everytime he would take a turn. he took it to a mechanic a lil later and turns out he blew out one of his shocks cuz u could see the oil splashed everywhere. he had replace both the front ones cuz u cant just replace one at a time, u gotta replace them in pairs.

but again, that MAY be the cause of the noise. im not saying it IS. there may be some other issues. where do u think the sound is coming from? a specific side? specific spot?

[SmutasticGT]

your shocks are probably bad, I've had s-techs on stock shocks for over 4yrs now and the ride quality at first was noticably stiffer but still pretty comfortable but as the years went on it got rougher. It got worse with 18's on. With stock 16's they felt fine. I'm about to swap out my shocks here in the next month or so.

[blackdemon]

if shocks and struts are black, more than likely it's the shocks, and struts, since I also had this problem after installing the stech springs the rear shocks went out, making the ride really rough.

[Mtl_GT]

I switched from stock to S Techs and Tokico Blues and the only difference was the height and the handling... Apart from that, felt as confortable as stock and u barely feel the road more... I'd say shocks are bye bye :wiggle:

[horty222]

i have s techs on mine with stock shocks for a year now and yeah youre going to feel the diff no matter what you use to lower the car. Yet its not that its too bad or that rough. Id bet its your shocks.

[yodaddyguido]

yea, as i said in the first post as well, im getting occassional 'knocks' throughout the suspension. sometimes up front, sometimes it almost sounds like the rear. since its been a slow deterioration, ive been wanting to catch up with a local who would give me a ride in their celi, just to have something to compare to. i recently went back to oem rims/tire size from the 17s that are in my sig. it was a big difference, but it also brought out the fact that it wasnt just the rims/tires that made the ride rough. so here i am with this thread :wiggle:

anyone have installation estimates? ive gotta gauge how much this is gonna run me to replace all four, since it sounds like all 4 corners need help. thanks

and btw, im thinking of going with kyb gr2's and sticking with the stechs. thats what im curious about installation costs since ill be buying the kybs someplace other than the local shops. or im just gonna buy a spring compressor and attempt it myself lol

[Mtl_GT]

I paid ~400$CAD in labor to have my 4 shocks and springs installed including alignment. I shopped for a shop and all of them agreed that it should be about 2-3hours worth of labor. Expensive but orth it...

[lilmexicanoboi]

yea, as i said in the first post as well, im getting occassional 'knocks' throughout the suspension. sometimes up front, sometimes it almost sounds like the rear. since its been a slow deterioration, ive been wanting to catch up with a local who would give me a ride in their celi, just to have something to compare to. i recently went back to oem rims/tire size from the 17s that are in my sig. it was a big difference, but it also brought out the fact that it wasnt just the rims/tires that made the ride rough. so here i am with this thread

anyone have installation estimates? ive gotta gauge how much this is gonna run me to replace all four, since it sounds like all 4 corners need help. thanks

and btw, im thinking of going with kyb gr2's and sticking with the stechs. thats what im curious about installation costs since ill be buying the kybs someplace other than the local shops. or im just gonna buy a spring compressor and attempt it myself lol

those are 17's in ur sig? i thought those were 18's.

im currently running KYB GR2's with S-Techs and i really recommend that setup :) as for estimates, i cant really help you there as i installed mine myself. although its better to do it urself cuz for one, u save money and two, u have the satisfaction in the end of knowing u installed something that hard urself. but i will admit, the front ones may be easier than the rears, but the rears are a b*tch to install. id say taking them out is the hardest part, but putting them back in is also hard cuz u need spring compressors and they get in the way at times. so yea... those are just some things to look out for, but overall, it was definately a great experience. my back and my legs were KILLING me by the next day tho.

[yodaddyguido]

how long did it take you mex? im just not sure if i should jump in on this at this time for personal reasons dealing with my job. i expend just about every ounce of patience ive got during my 8-10 hour work day, and im afraid if something doesnt go right with the car, im just gonna push it off a cliff lol. did you run into any major hiccups?

and yes theyre 17's. everyone seems to think theyre bigger for some reason :) not sure really

[lilmexicanoboi]

how long did it take you mex? im just not sure if i should jump in on this at this time for personal reasons dealing with my job. i expend just about every ounce of patience ive got during my 8-10 hour work day, and im afraid if something doesnt go right with the car, im just gonna push it off a cliff lol. did you run into any major hiccups?

and yes theyre 17's. everyone seems to think theyre bigger for some reason not sure really

well it probably shouldnt have taken me as long as it did considering the fact that my dad helped me out, but it took me around 7 hrs total including my lunch break, some moments where i was in deep thought of what i should do next, and a trip to Toyota to see if they had the dust cover sleeve things that go over the shocks. (if u plan on doing this on ur own, take a look at the sleeve things and see if theyre not torn like mine were. if they are, replace them. i didnt have a choice but to use my torn ones cuz this is my DD and if i ordered the sleeves then it would have taken about a week to get here... that was time i didnt have). that is also considering the fact that it was my first time working on the suspension so all i had to work with was the knowledge i got from these forums and the repair manual. there were quite a few hiccups that arose, but once i knew what i was doing wrong, getting around the problm was no big deal. finding out what ur doing wrong is the bad part. i did the fronts first so once i did the passenger side, i installed the driver side in like half the time it took me to install the first one. same deal with the rears. the rears are a PITA tho... just warning you.

if u dont have any patience left to work on this, then idk what to tell u other than either find some patience somewhere deep in ur pockets or take it to someone else to do it for u. try getting a friend to help you (whether they own a celica or not). itll help ALOT.

[lilmexicanoboi]

i always write such long msgs. i gotta cut back on that :faint:

[OMGwtfANDY]

I paid ~400$CAD in labor to have my 4 shocks and springs installed including alignment. I shopped for a shop and all of them agreed that it should be about 2-3hours worth of labor. Expensive but orth it...

I can change 1 shock in ~15 mins :D, took me about ~1 hour to change all four springs on my car.

[hurryhurry12345]

its stiff, unless you drive on close to PERFECT roads, it can become irritating. if i could do it over again, i would just upgrade the struts and keep the stock springs.

[Kangaruu]

The Stechs are only a few tens of lb/ft stiffer than stock and you need to drive on perfect roads? :faint:

[Zero]

Stiff? Unless you've got a body made out of glass, I beg to differ.
It's a bit bouncy, but drive comfort is still close to stock.
My shocks are still in good condition, considering my car is now in the 125K+ miles and I had my S.techs installed at 45k.

Even if my shocks are blown now (and I can't tell), I really do not feel a strong difference between stock and Tein springs.

[SmutasticGT]

^^^I don't notice much of a difference at all either, esp when i running on stock 16in's. It only became rougher with 18ins but thats expected. I'm still on my stock shocks and still going strong.

['01gtcelica]

yea i just put mine in a couple days ago, defitelty better in the twisties, maybe just a tad bumpier than stock, but then again the stock suspension is pretty sporty and hard too if your comparing it to an accord or a civic.

[Zero]

^^^I don't notice much of a difference at all either, esp when i running on stock 16in's. It only became rougher with 18ins but thats expected. I'm still on my stock shocks and still going strong.
Coming from 16's to 18's, the harsher ride might be from the difference in tire sizes. You had meatier tires on the 16's, right?

[hurryhurry12345]

Stiff? Unless you've got a body made out of glass, I beg to differ.
It's a bit bouncy, but drive comfort is still close to stock.
My shocks are still in good condition, considering my car is now in the 125K+ miles and I had my S.techs installed at 45k.

Even if my shocks are blown now (and I can't tell), I really do not feel a strong difference between stock and Tein springs.


i guess this topic is subjective. the tein s-tech has been installed when my car was at 15K miles. immediately it was too stiff for ME because i do not live in california, i live in MA where the streets gets beaten up when being plowed in the winter.

performance wise they are awesome, but now looking back, the stock suspension are capable enough for the occasional spirited driving.

props for those that "feels" the stock comfort with the tein s-techs, i surely dont.

btw, i have KYB AGXs, inspected whenever i go for oil changes, still holding up great. i have my stock struts and springs sitting in my garage, ready to swap those back in when my KYB fails..

[lilmexicanoboi]

btw, i have KYB AGXs, inspected whenever i go for oil changes, still holding up great. i have my stock struts and springs sitting in my garage, ready to swap those back in when my KYB fails..

what are ur settings set to? maybe thats why the ride is so stiff for u...

[hurryhurry12345]

what are ur settings set to? maybe thats why the ride is so stiff for u...

tried all settings front and rear, barely makes a difference.

maybe since i've gotten older i prefer a softer ride now. sorry if i got some of you guys mad because i find them stiff.

imo, u'll never get the stock comfort from the s-techs. if u saying they can handle, comfort level got to be sacrificed. my car can take off-ramps at high speed with minimal bodyroll and superb stability. thats about the only time i feel delighted to have this setup. the rest of the time, i'm begging to go back to stock, i friggin hate lowered cars now b/c this is my daily driver.

cant u guys just accept a honest opinion? lol

[yodaddyguido]

lol this is where i wanted this thread to go. ive never experienced stock springs before, so i dont have a clue what the difference is, nor can i tell if my shocks are bad. i figure the springs may take away from some bouncing action the shocks might show if theyre shot.

[Zero]

cant u guys just accept a honest opinion? lol This has become a case of "the princess and the pea". :chuckles:

[lilmexicanoboi]

when i got my car, it had stock shocks and spring but they had like almost 98k miles on them so i couldnt tell if they were good or bad. i did the "shock" test where you push down on the front of the car to test for bounce and it didnt bounce more than once so i figured they were good, but then again, im not hulk hogan so i cant really push the car that far down since i dont weigh much lol. regardless, i swapped both the shocks and springs out with GR2 shocks and s techs and i honestly think the ride was smoother... stiffer, but i felt like i had more control and there was no bounce after i came to a stop so i fell in love after the first test drive :)

cant u guys just accept a honest opinion? lol

cant u? lol jk.

haha were not trying to be sassy, its just that ur probably one of the first people (at least that i know of) that doesnt like the feel of s-techs compared to stock. but since u havent felt stock shocks before, i guess u dont know how they really feel. it all really comes down to a matter of self opinion tho... some ppl like s-techs, some people dont, some people prefer riding theyre bicyles to work... were all have different taste in things :D

[Kangaruu]

lol this is where i wanted this thread to go. ive never experienced stock springs before, so i dont have a clue what the difference is, nor can i tell if my shocks are bad. i figure the springs may take away from some bouncing action the shocks might show if theyre shot.

Why would springs reduce the bounce? You'll have to change out the shocks if you're trying to get rid of that problem.

[Kangaruu]

i'm begging to go back to stock

but since u havent felt stock shocks before, i guess u dont know how they really feel.

He did have stock suspension at one time. It was the OP who bought the Celica with already modified suspension.

[lilmexicanoboi]

He did have stock suspension at one time. It was the OP who bought the Celica with already modified suspension.

yea i know. but since the OP bought the car already lowered, i dont think he knows what stock shocks with stock springs feel like on his car since HE has never had them. the previous owner might have had them, but not the OP. at least i dont think so...

[Kangaruu]

The person you quoted (hurryhurry) is not the OP. That was all I was pointing out.

[lilmexicanoboi]

The person you quoted (hurryhurry) is not the OP. That was all I was pointing out.

oh sh!t i didnt even notice that! haha my bad. ignore what i said then. thnx for catching that ;)

[yodaddyguido]

i guess that did sound stupid thinking the springs were taking away from the 'bounce' of bad shocks. lol. do struts just randomly come loose over time? maybe thats my issue. over short, quick sets of bumps i hear knocks from all over... ill have to really listen as to where theyre coming from, but it def sounds like metal to metal contact. say a loose bolt in a bolt hole or something.

[Kangaruu]

Knocking? You only get them on big bumps or small bumps as well? If it only occurs as you drive over big bumps then you must be bottoming out.

Otherwise I dunno. Check your suspension I guess. Maybe your endlinks are going bad. I think bad endlinks start knocking.

[lilmexicanoboi]

i guess that did sound stupid thinking the springs were taking away from the 'bounce' of bad shocks. lol. do struts just randomly come loose over time? maybe thats my issue. over short, quick sets of bumps i hear knocks from all over... ill have to really listen as to where theyre coming from, but it def sounds like metal to metal contact. say a loose bolt in a bolt hole or something.

check for leakages around the shock/struts. one/some might be blown. that happened to my bro (as i already mentione in post #5).

[yodaddyguido]

i dont see any leaks, of course right now with all the slushy garbage on the road, its tough to discern a leak from slush. anyways, what are these end links you speak of?

and its small bumps. my car is definitely far from bottoming out. but theres quite a bit of quiet knocking over most abrubt bumps, like small potholes, adjoining blocks of asphalt, etc. i was really listening tonight. are endlinks on all 4 points?

[Kangaruu]

Endlinks are the little arms that connect your sway bars to the front struts, and connect them to the rear lower control arms. There's one on each corner.

[yodaddyguido]

hmm. are they a fish-eye type bolt or a bushing type attachment? do they wear out im assuming? or can they simply be re-tightened. got a part number or reference image? im pretty sure theres a good chance they need replaced anyways.

[Kangaruu]

What's a fish eye bolt? :laugh:

They look like this:

http://www.altspace.com/rx8/rb_endlink2.jpg

Maybe the nut is broken loose, or maybe the ball joint is worn out. I don't know how to check the joint for wear though so I can't tell you anything about that.

[yodaddyguido]

hahahaha! i meant eye bolt... ah man, its late i need some sleep

thanks for the endlink pics. ill have to take a look under the suspension and see whats up with those parts.

btw, watch out for fish eye bolts... they shouldnt be under your car.

[ikhaffaji]

Here's some advice if you decide you want to do the install yourself: go to home depot and buy a long ass piece of piping if you don't have a long enough breaker bar. It will make a worlds difference when you get to the rear and you can't break open the nut holding the strut to the lower control arm. I went at it for about an hour... using all of my weight, and even an electric impact wrench to no avail. When I bought the pipe and used it, it took me 3 minutes to completely loosen up that nut!

[Kangaruu]

I didn't think anyone would have a Celica rustier than mine :laugh:

[2KGTrd]

Google search how to test for blown shocks.
I thought that blown shocks would make you're car drive like a boat.
The ride wouldn't be accurate and like ridin on pins and needles on rough sections.

tokiko blues are a good shock and ut wouldn't be that hard to do it yourself.
I did a lot of planning before i replaced my clutch and it ended up taking 2 days.
Plan in advance get everything ready before hand. That will make it a lot easier durring install.