Tein Super Street Re-adjustment

Previously, ER34 somehow handled a bit weird when it's flung around long sweeping bends. Somehow it felt a little bit unstable and not as planted as before. It has been a long while in that condition but the silly me just shrugged it off as perhaps due to my worn tyres.

However, after I changed to the new tyres, the problem still persists. There must be something wrong. What could it be? I decided to check my damping on the Tein Super Street as the first step.

Pic 1: Just a quick turn clockwise to set it to the hardest

Horrors that be, the front right side was set to the softest while the left side was set to the hardest. Some low-life idiot must have decided to tamper with my damping adjustment!!! Damn it, no wonder it felt weird. This must be the handiwork of some itchy hand fellows while the ER34 was at the workshop. &%$#@!*

Well, since I'm readjusting it, I set it all round to the hardest setting. I mean the current setting was perfect for me. A good trade off for daily normal commute and the occasional spirited drives. But I wanted to try something a little bit harder. Think of it as a prelude to see how I can take it if I decided to upgrade to something from the Tein catalogue.

The verdict? The ride now is very firm and bordering to being uncomfortable for daily usage but I'll stick to it now and see how it goes. I think it'll grow on me. :)

Height readjustment on the Tein Super Street

Pic 1: Adjusting the Tein Super Street

Many have commented that the ER34 rides a bit on the low side for the streets of Malaysia where there is an abundance of the road species called speed humpasaurus and parking rampasaurus. :P

Thus far I have managed to avoid damaging the IMPUL 534S front bumper from speed humps but that can't be said of parking ramps. The ER34 can only go to three shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur while any attempt to others will end up with a broken bumper. The worst part is I scrape the bumper ever so slightly everytime I leave the multi storey carpark where I reside.

With the impending full IMPUL 534S bodykit to be fitted to the ER34, I'm quite sure, the side skirts will pose an issue when it comes to speed humps. Thus I really really need to increase the ground clearance of the ER34, lest I'll end up breaking the side skirts.

Pic 2: The adjustments made

My main concern with any adjustments on the coilovers are to ensure that all four corners are adjusted equally, i.e. of equal height. Initially I wanted N1 Racing, the distributors of Tein products in Malaysia to re-adjust the coilovers since I'm sure they would know what they are doing and would get the measurements accurate. I changed my mind when I was quoted an exorbitant fee to get the job done. What a rip off!!

Thanks to bro Andrew's introduction, I got the same job done for 10% of the cost in another shop with vast experience to boot. Hey, as long as I have the Tein Height Adjustment Wrench and the mechanic has adequate experience, it shouldn't be that hard to ensure the accuracy of the adjustments yea? The pleasent surprise was the shop uses a manual allignment machine. Cool!

Pic 3: Manual allignment machine

The height were raised half an inch all round making it 23.5" up front and 23.7" at the rear measured from the base of the wheel to the wheel arch.

The ER34 doesn't look as good as before me think. Or it's relatively ok? What do you think?

Pic 4: 23.5" up front

Pic 5: 23.7" at the rear

Pic 6: Just managed to clear the parking ramp

Pic 7: Does the car looked too high??

Leaky Teins and new damping rates

Well well....so much for the infamous Teins. First it produces groaning sound over speed humps, now it leaked at the rear. Specifically, the rear right hand side of the vehicle.

Pic 1: Leaky Tein Super Street

I send it back to the distributor to take a look and they were quite surprised at it. They thought I abused it but I have never tracked the car (yet!) nor drifted in it (ho hum!). Well if I do, it's supposed to withstand the 'abuse' anyway.

But regardless, they took in my case. Got the leaked suspension removed, cleaned, o-rings changed, oil and gas replaced FOC. :P

Excellent!!

Pic 2: Squeaky clean and serviced Tein Super Street

New Damping Rates
Well, since I'm at it, I've decided to re-adjust the damping rates. The previous adjustment of 17 out of 26 clicks in front and 20 out of 30 clicks at the rear are totally WRONG!!!

The Tein Super Street should only have 16 point adjustments front and rear. Found out that the CORRECT way of adjustment is to dial it clockwise to the max, i.e the hardest setting and reduce the damping rate from there onwards to a minimum of 16 clicks. Anything more than 16 clicks does absolutely nothing!

So what’s the new rate? Decided to dial 6 clicks down, thus its 10 clicks out of 16 clicks all round. Initial impression is that it's a tad too stiff. Perhaps the rear should be 2 clicks softer else any passenger at the rear will bound to vomit after some enthusiastic driving. LOL :P

On the positive side of things, the ER34 corners much better now. There's noticeable improvement in roadholding now.

Cool, can't wait to take it up some touge roads....

Tein Super Street Damper Groans!!

My Teins are producing a groaning sound when it goes over "sleeping policemen" (speed humps/breakers). Darn it! It has only been 2 months old and it's making noises?? What the .....!!

This is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!

Did some asking around via Skyline owners in Australia and they suggested spraying WD-40 to rid of the sound. I tried that and it seems to work BUT only for a day or two. The sound re-appeared back soon after.

Initially, I noticed the sound comes from both the front and rear but after the WD-40 treatment, seem the sound has now been isolated to the rears only. Ok, I had enough and decided to lodge a complaint with the sole distributor of Teins in Malaysia. Hey afterall it comes with 1 year warranty.....

Pic 1: ER34 in a garage filled with mean cars. Two EK9 (one race and one street), an Evo 7 and a Toyota Aristo Twin Turbo. Gulp!

Anyway, took the car in for inspection and to my surprise, they took off both rear shocks and pry it open to bits, literally! Everything was dismantled to pieces!

Pic 2: The dampers were separated from the springs and pillow ball mounts.

Firstly, the springs and pillow ball mounts were separated from the dampers. The dampers were then taken apart piece by piece. Every bolt, nut, washer, etc.... was cleaned via "Motul Parts Cleaner". This means in the process, the gas in the tubes will be released and the 'damping liquid' will have to be poured out.

All parts were cleaned and re-used except for the pistons where new units were replaced. The whole procedure of 'servicing' the dampers were no less impressive. It's done in a clean room, torque wrenches were used, and the 'damping liquid/oil' were measured and topped up before putting it back in. Oh yes, so were the gas of course.

Pic 3: The dampers were take apart to bits!

After all the parts were put back together, it's installed back into the ER34 and my setting of 20 clicks at the rear were dialed in. A drive over a couple of speed breakers around the block confirms that all are A-Ok.

Woohoo. The Teins no longer groans!! (Fingers crossed my fronts stay quiet else will have to go through the whole process again!)

Side note: While servicing me dampers, there were a Toyota Vios in the same garage with an impressive array of interior gadgets. It has 6 HKS meters, an Apexi RSM, Apexi Turbo Timer, an air-fuel controller and Tein EDFC controller. Wow, that's a lot of meters for a Vios.

I asked the owner aren't he afraid that someone will flick his meters??
The reply was kinda funny......

He mentioned he doesn't drive the car to work and only used it occasionally. He would ride a motorcycle to work everyday and if he were to use the car, he's even prepared to pay RM50.00 (USD 14.00) for an extremely safe parking lot. Slavery to the car? Hehehehehe

Tein Super Street Damper Review

Well, it's almost a week that I had the Tein Super Street Damper with Pillowball Uppermounts installed into the ER34. The specification says 16 point adjustments but when I tried it out, it has 26 clicks in front and 30 clicks at the rear. Shrugs....

Pic 1: Stock dampers with HKS Lowering Springs

Upon removal of the stock UNISIA JECS dampers and HKS springs, it's apparent how bad the right rear damper is. It has practically leaked dry and the shaft boot had multiple torn on it due to the severe beating it had to endure. Hitting the bump stop day in day out is not too healthy you see.

Pic 2: Torn rubber boot

After installation of the Teins, I tried 15 clicks up front and 17 clicks at the rear. Went into KESAS highway with it and felt quite comfy. It's probably felt slightly uprated as compare to the stock suspension.

Pic 3: Teins installed in front

Pic 4: Teins installed in front

After a couple of rounds, decided to swing into a rest area of the highway and adjusted it firmer to 17 clicks in front and 20 clicks at the rear. This is probably 2/3 of the stiffest setting on the coilovers. Now this is a better setting. The ride is firm and the damping is just slightly on the stiff side. Perfect for daily driving and the occasional enthusiastic driving.

Pic 5: The rear Teins waiting to be installed.

As for ride height, it's now sits just a tad bit higher than before. Those darn HKS Lowering springs it had before the Teins were really low. Scraped some sleeping policeman (speed humps/breakers) with it. This setting is just nice!

Pic 6: Teins installed at the rear

Pic 7: Teins installed at the rear

I'm beginning to grow on these set of Teins. Very appropriate for street use. No wonder it's called Super Street!!! Hehehe

Anyone wanna purchase my used HKS Springs??

Tein Super Street Damper with Pillowball Uppermounts

Yup. Got hold of the Tein Super Street Damper with Pillowball Uppermounts. Opened out the package like a 5 year old tearing apart the wrappers of a Christmas present. :D

Pic 1: Nicely packed in a box

Pic 2: Part Number on box ID

It comes nicely packed in a box with the coilovers carefully separated inside the box via dividers. The box comes with the below:-

1) Front upper mount x2

2) Rear upper mount x2

3) Front shock absorber x2

4) Rear shock absorber x2

5) Main spring x4

6) Wrench x2 (For height adjustment)

7) Damper force adjustment tool X1

8) Rust-proofing (50ml) x1

9) Installation instruction manual x1

10) Feedback form X1

11) Novelty kit x1 (Tein stickers and emblem)

Pic 3: The contents of the box

Pic 4: Pillowball uppermounts (note rubber lining)

The good thing about getting the GSN62-B1SS3 model instead of GSN62-A1SS2 is the inclusion of the pillowball mounts. Initially I was actually looking for the one without in fear of noise intrusion into the cabin. But after learning that this model comes with a rubber ring on top of the metal mount, noise shouldn't be a problem.

The other bonus is that it is compatible with EDFC (Part No. EDK05-12120) in case I wanted to add that in the future. With the EDFC, I'll be able to adjust damping rates on the fly inside the car!

Pic 5: Front damper

Pic 6: Rear damper

The springs on both front and rear has an ID of 7.0 with spring rates of 5.0kg/mm in front and 4.0kg/mm at the rear. It'll drop the ride height to -45mm up front and -35mm at the rear.

Pic 7: Front Spring (C050-GJC1)

Pic 8: Rear Spring (D040-GIC)

I have yet to install the coilover yet but will most probably use the factory setting first to gauge how it feels like. The recommended ride height adjustment range is -65 to -24mm for the front and -55 to -17mm for the rear.

Will provide a review once I install it into the ER34.............

Can't wait for it!!! (Rubbing hands in glee.)