[Racin-Jason]

Ok gang so I had the S-Techs installed over the weekend. They look friggin great! I slight rake still but man they are low.

Driving impressions. On smooth roads they are a bit stiffer than stock but very liveable. The bodyroll is all but gone and the car is more responsive. It dives right into turns now.

My issue lies in sharpish dips and bumps especially, I was getting of the freeway and went over an expansion at around 60mph. Not a big bump but kinda sharp. The front hit so hard i though I damaged my rims possibly! So i went testing. Anytime I hit any kind of bump that isnt very gradual...especially at 50+mph...the front sounds/feels like its bottoming out HARD! It jolts the car smartly and sounds like it could do some damage over time (shocks blowing at a minimum).

My setup so far is the Tein S-Tech springs, bumpstos NOT cut as recommended, stock shocks and endlinks. I have not had the car aligned or adjusted. Ill wait for the springs to settle. Stock 04 rims and tires. No strut braces or sway bars...all stock except springs.

So why is the car so violent over bumps? It feels like its slamming the bumpstops. All the reading I did before choosing these springs didnt sound to be NEAR this rough. Im assuming the alignment/camber couldnt make that much a difference in stiffness...? Are these springs going to soften up much when they settle/break in?

I would love some educated answers to this because I dont think i can keep driving the car on these springs with this much stiffness.

Thanks for any input and i'll be glad to answer any questions you may have.
Jason

 

[tom6433]

sounds to me like the struts are bottoming out. i had that problem but i forgot to put the bumpstops on the new struts when i did my install. might want to make sure the front springs have an "F" in the part number to make sure you have them on the right way. should be able to read the white writing on all four springs when installed right.

here was my story http://www.srtforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63697&highlight=tein+tech+hittin+hard

 

[Racin-Jason]

Thanks for the input. After driving the car some more today Im still thinking Im hitting the bumpstops in the front. I can't imagine they forgot to put the bumpstops on my car tho. Reason being is today I verified that the car bottoms out at less than 5mph coming off a speedbump! If the bumpstops werent there it would have MUCH more travel to go through before the strut would bottom out. Theres no way Im absorbing all that travel creeping over a damn speedbump.

So I called TEIN today. Spoke to Anthony and he was very helpful. He covered the 'installed backwards' thing and the 'added excess weight to the front' thing. The car sits damn near level so im assuming they arent backwards..and i didnt add any weight. He didnt have any answers but is going to ask some other folks at Tein and get back to me. Hopefully today.

I may go out and see if I can spot the F and R in the writing on the coils. I would think if they were backwards it would obvious (major rake), but i should verify it for Tein to eliminate that from a possible cause.

I must say tho, when the roads are fairly smooth and I am going freeway speed..the car feels as good as stock comfort wise. But the sudden violent bottom out has gotto GO.

After dealing with Tein on the phone I feel pretty confident they will figure it out and help me to get it corrected. I'll let everyone know what happens.

Jason

 

[danifilth]

If you installed them on the stock struts chances are your struts are gone.

 

[Racin-Jason]

They have been on for 24 hours. I highly doubt that

Input?

 

[PRODIGI]

You will need to adjust your driving style. I have the same problem with eibachs. You will learn to remember where all those sharp edged bumps and dips are real fast, and slow down for them or hit them at an angle. Oh and sorry but it will only get worse. Save yourself some bent rims and invest in shocks now since you will need them soon anyway.. My Tokicos are going on tomorrow- thank god!

 

[Racin-Jason]

No way...I'm not buying that.

I understand the struts will bottom out more frequently because i have removed 2" of travel. But they shouldnt be bottoming out when creeping over a friggin speedbump. Something is wrong.

They bottom out way to easily and way to frequently with minimal impact load on the suspension. Tein should be cointacting me today regarding this matter and even they said its definately not normal from my description.

I plan on eventually getting non adjustable performance shocks to better deal with the lowered ride height and stiffer spring rate. I'll also be doing swaybars and 7.5-8" wide wheels and 235s.

Im wondering if the place put them in backwards and it just isnt that obvious with the Stechs -or- they didnt put the spring ends in the stock pockets at the top of the strut.

One other thing i noticed today is it sounds like there is some freeplay in the back struts. When i hit mild sweeping dips Im hearing what I believe to be rear spring movement. Like maybe when the suspension is unloaded the top of the springs leave contact with the top of the strut.

Im sure I will figure it out and get it fixed. If I have to i'll cut the damn bumpstops in the front if they are indeed installed correctly. But I know this isnt normal from reading ALL the other posts from Stech users.

Jason

 

[Dslick68]

dude, check the install, because i've had my s-techs for a few months and my ride isn't anywhere NEAR that harsh.

 

[tom6433]

you might have the front springs installed on the wrong sides. that was another issue with mine. rear was fine but my left front was on the right and the right front was on the left. after the switch the car sat a lil bit higher and i had to get it re-aligned. so the first thing i would do would be to check to make sure you can read the part numbers on the front springs.

on a side note, if your dishin out $$ for new struts why not get adjustable struts? i have the tokico illuminas and they are a good buy for the price IMO. but i only paid $599 w/ free shipping, i think they are going for a lil bit more now, but not sure.

 

[lgsrt4]

Tom6433, what's the difference in the part # from the front right and left springs?... i've been having the same problem for about a month now, i don't think it's getting any better. i'm thinking of going with the tokicos...

 

[robino]

no man, nothing wrong...
that's what it does...you'll get that hard "bang" even on smallish bumps that are sharp edged...meaning not smooth transition bumps.

you'll get the bang, it's how all springs sound once you go to shorter springs. It ain't bottoming out, don't worry...you're not going over huge potholes.

what you hear is the lower control arm doing its thing in there...unfortunatelly that's how it's gonna sound...unless you get them PsiFi solid lower control arm bushings which will not let the control arm move the way it is now, making for a much quieter ride and a lot less jarring every time you hit a bump.

search for PsiFi's thread on solid lower control arm bushings and you'll read about everyother guy with shorter springs who was getting the same harsh ride, now gone once they installed the solid bushings.

I am guessing here...as i didn't install your springs...so take it for what it is.

 

[turbojack]

I have the Eibach's and now wish had waited for the hotchkiss TVS setup. Anyway the ride quality after the lowered springs was pretty bad when pot holes and such were involved. It seems to me that either go with a nice coil over setup or spend money on Tokicko Illuminas and springs of your liking. The PSI-FI kit was installed last Friday, BIG improvement in ride quality. By the way the ride quality improvement from installing the PSI-FI bushings was not expected, the elimination of wheel hop was and thats why they were purchased. Get the PSI-FI bushings installed and then go with struts if the ride quality is still not up to your liking.

 

[A853]

I have s-techs as well and the ride sucks. Waiting to get adjustable tokico or koni struts. The stock struts cant handle the sharp bumps.

 

[tom6433]

Tom6433, what's the difference in the part # from the front right and left springs?... i've been having the same problem for about a month now, i don't think it's getting any better. i'm thinking of going with the tokicos...

i don't know the specific part numbers, all i remember is that the part number is facing out and right side up if you installed them correctly. i had the fronts switched and the part numbers were facing inward. i put the s techs and tokicos on at the same time so i cannot vouch that the ride will be much better. all i know is that i am satisfied with the s tech/tokico illumina combo.

 

[robino]

I have the Eibach's and now wish had waited for the hotchkiss TVS setup

i'm selling mine as soon as i do the IPP coilovers.
just had them on for a couple hundred miles, need the coilovers...but i do like the drop with the Hotchkis better than the drop on most anyother lowering spring i've seen...it's not as drastic.

As for the "hearing the rear spring do its thing" that's a pretty common problem too...with lowering springs/stock struts = clunking noise in the back. There is a cure for it, but ya' gotta search...i forget where they had the fix.

 

[evo77]

I highly suggest that you check the fronts to make sure that in fact your bumpstops were not cut.

I had this exact issue with my Goldlines when I trimmed the front bumpstops in half. The front would hit dips and bumps in the road HARD as hell and violently shake my whole front end. It was terrible.

Lucky me I kept the other half of the cut bumpstops. I reinstalled them and the problem went away. The bumpstops should take most of the impact when the strut compresses to its limit. But when the bumpstop is trimmed it doesn't have enough material to dampen the impact and the foam just squishes and BOOM you bottom out.

Check those struts!!!

 

[LIL'HEMI]

I had the same problem with the Aerospeed coilovers. I went back to stock after about 1 1/2 months. Too late though, right front strut blew out. The struts are bottoming out.

 

[nd4spd 4 a srt4]

Mine are really hard.

The front is alot softer then the back. I hit bumpstops in the front all the time.

The front is lower then the rear so your going to hit the stops in the front.
There not going to get softer only harder.
I've had mine on for about 5 months and it's harsh. It hurts and i can't have more then 2 people in the car but it handles great and looks sick so i'm going to leave them and get struts.