What is Wrought Aluminum?

We have some literature about our products that explain the type of materials we use in our suspension kits. One of the terms we hear for our spring seats and seat locks (for adjusting ride height, for example) and upper spring seats/adaptors  is that they’re made from “wrought aluminum”.

If you’re like me, then maybe the first thing that comes to mind is wrought iron, as in wrought iron fences. Of course, this made me want to look up exactly what wrought aluminum is, since I couldn’t get the picture of fence materials being used on our suspension….

A quick look for the definition of “wrought” describes it as follows:

“Beaten out or shaped by hammering”

In manufacturing, that would be considered forging. However, they can also be roll formed. Sometimes rotary forging can be used. And, looking further into our spring seat and seat lock designs, we use A6061 aluminum forgings that are T6 tempered.

We use a few different grades of aluminum alloy for our suspension components (A2017, A6061, A7075).

 

Most of our aluminum comes in large bar stock. However, we have aluminum stock that comes in various shapes and sizes, depending on what we’ll machine them into.

We’ll cut the aluminum into smaller dimensions prior to milling the pieces we need.

This “T6” tempering is a precipitation hardening process that allows the aluminum alloy to increase its yield strength.

A6061 aluminum has become more commonplace in manufacturing. It is a lightweight and very strong aluminum alloy that is used in anything from aerospace industry to even the bicycle industry, and many other products are made with this material. As far as machining goes, it is a relatively easy material for us to work with.

So, after all that bit of research, I’m now more aware of what wrought aluminum is. And after looking up what we use for our spring seats and seat locks, it’s nice to know we’re using high quality components for our suspension kits (which I’m already aware of!!!).

“Yeah, I’ve got a set of TEIN Coils”

Whenever we hear that (blog title), we tend to understand that a customer has a set of our lowering springs. However, for some strange reason, people online or that call us are referring to our suspension kits as coils, whether it be a complete suspension kit like a STREET FLEX or STREET BASIS,  even a SUPER RACING setup.

We must ask- WHY ARE YOU REFERRING TO THEM AS “COILS”?!

We’re just as guilty, using different terminology than what some people may understand. For example, saying “coilover” implies simply that- a coil over a damper. This is how most people know of our product since our height adjustable setups are typically coilover, but is this a coilover?:

stfa z33

STREET FLEX for 2003-2009 Nissan 350Z

As pictured above, this “coilover” kit uses our Height Adjust System (H.A.S.) for the rear, as pictured on the left. So it is in fact not a “coilover” with exception of the fronts (pictured on the right). We’re wrong for ever referring to such kits as a coilover package. Instead, this is a suspension kit. But, for simplicity’s sake, and in acknowledging what are customers know us for, we continue to call them coilovers. It’s easy, and it won’t confuse our customers.

There are other things/terminology we may use that may be either incorrect to some, or just named differently. For example, the name “Shock Absorber”. It is in fact a “Damper”. Shock Absorber is incorrect because it isn’t absorbing shock. What it is doing is turning kinetic energy (the up and down motion of the vehicle and unsprung mass) and converting it into thermal (heat) energy. Nothing is really being absorbed. It is a transfer of energy from one form to another. However, most people understand them to be Shock Absorbers, so we just roll with it.

And yes, it is “Damper” and not “Dampener”. They may share some similarities in meaning, but they’re in fact used differently. Dampener is typically used to describe a wet or moist condition. But it can also be used to describe a deadening or depressing. Damper, on the other hand, is mainly used to describe a reduction in oscillation or amplitude of force.

We also hear people ask for “Pillar Ball Mounts”, which is easily understood to be (how we know it) Pillowball Mounts. Not a big deal.

Another one that we hear is when people refer to our Seat Locks and Spring Seats (where you can adjust a spring’s setting and vehicle ride height) simply as “rings”. Sometimes we hear them being called “collars”. We use collars, but they are usually much smaller and are used as a spacer in our upper mount assemblies.

That’s another one- upper mounts being referred to as “top hats”. Not really a big deal, and some upper mounts kind of look like top hats. So, [top] hats off to you for using that description!

Willy-Wonka

Willy Wonka wears a Top Hat. He can also be condescending sometimes.

There are some less obvious things that we cannot fault a person for. For example, our inverted dampers for strut type monotube setups, like our older MONO FLEX and our SUPER RACING. People will refer to the shiny part of the damper assembly as the piston or piston shaft. Again, although that is incorrect, we cannot fault the customer for that. Since the damper is inverted, the whole assembly is upside down. The piston shaft is now on the bottom side and inside of the threaded shell case.

mflp gdb

MONO FLEX for 2002-2007 Subaru WRX

In the above picture, the shiny rod coming out of the threaded shell case (black) is in fact the damper body and not the piston shaft. The piston shaft is itself inside the threaded shell case and completely out of view.

There’s also the use of the name “Serration Bolts” which we use for the studs in our upper mounts (that secure the upper mount assembly into the strut or shock tower). We realize that confuses a lot of people when they need replacements of these components. Sorry!

The use of “Strut” may also be confusing for some. The above picture of the MONO FLEX for Subaru WRX shows struts, which this chassis of Subaru uses for front and rear. When we say strut, we’re referring to the MacPherson Strut design, which other than being a damper, also serves as a structural member of the suspension by supporting the knuckle assembly. The knuckle assembly comprises of the wheel and brake components. Struts have to be a bit larger in size and be able to handle large side forces/loads.

In comparison, a “SA” type of damper (short for “Shock Absorber”), which is used in Double Wishbone or Multi-link type suspensions, doesn’t have to support such side loads. They are used strictly to control vehicle motion. This is also why we don’t make camber adjustable upper mounts for our SA dampers. It’s position or angle will have no affect on wheel camber.

img01img02   Can you see the difference between these two suspension designs?

 

 

 

 

 

For sure there are other things we hear from customers, but this covers a majority of terminology we hear.

Hopefully that helps break down some of our terminology for suspension components!

Wheel Fitment Complaint

It seems as though lately we’ve been having a high increase in complaints from consumers about tire rubbing.
Now this rubbing encountered is not necessarily coming from the original OE wheel and tires but rather aftermarket wheel and tire set ups.

Wheel Fitment 6

Wheel Fitment 4

 

 

With this in mind a common sense factor should be taken into consideration but is always thrown out the window as the car must look sweet with an aggressive offset. Bear in mind that not just any wheel and tire set up can be used on any vehicles.

Wheel Fitment 2

Many consumers that do achieve the desired fitment would also require further modifications to the wheel well and other suspension components. The rubbing has nothing to do with the lowering spring or coilover set up as it never was any type of issue upon the initial testing of the vehicle with the OE wheels. Now the lowering spring or coilover set up may not be to the consumers expectations, either allowing for too much travel when weight is placed on a particular corner of the vehicle causing the rubbing, or not enough to bring the wheel and fender clearance to the desired place.

Wheel Fitment 3

I, too, have ran across this dilemma thinking that the wheel and tire set up would be sufficient enough for the drop I was looking to maintain. With the same issue encountered, rather than blame others for my error, I decided to make further modifications as to allow for the fitment. Let’s just say that it still encountered rubbing at full suspension compression but worked well enough for me.

So, before you decide to lower your vehicle and get new wheels, consider certain factors such as wheel size (diameter, width, and offset) as well as tire size (width and outside diameter). These factors can affect overall wheel fitment and can cause problems with rubbing if not taken into consideration.

***Images shown above were those found on google search and I do not take any type of claim to them being images of my own.***

New Products from TEIN USA

It’s not uncommon for us to get calls from both dealers and customers regarding new products for specific vehicles. Typically, we make a new product guide every time we receive some new items from Japan. However, this information usually only goes direct to the dealers, and some dealers don’t necessarily release this information to their customers.

But, we still try to make new product announcements for the public to see right on our homepage at www.tein.com!

New Announcements (Custom)

At the bottom left of this picture is our “New Announcements”, which we update with any new information we have. Whether it is TEIN product related or even Defi or Carbing, we post it right here, and we also link the information to the appropriate product page so that you can get more information on it.

New Announcements 2

Again, we update this whenever we get new product in with our shipments from Japan. As much as possible, we try to update this information well before we receive it, but we get 2 shipments per month and sometimes we just try to consolidate all new items for that month into one announcement. It’s kept us pretty busy, especially with multiple vehicle-specific applications being released for the new Street Flex and Mono Sport damper kits.

We certainly hope that helps you look for the product you need for your specific vehicle. That’s not to say that we don’t appreciate your calls. As always, you are definitely free to do so!!!

Overhaul Season

What’s up, all?!! Just a friendly reminder that the winter season is the ideal season to submit your dampers to us for an overhaul.  To those who don’t know what an overhaul means, basically we freshen up the dampers to a like new condition.

The standard turnaround time is between three to five weeks. The repair time frame depends on the condition of the dampers.  Dampers with less damage are typically overhauled under two weeks. However,  repairs to severely damaged dampers can be prolonged up to five weeks.  Unfortunately, we cannot confirm a repair time frame, nor exact overhaul total until the dampers are inspected.

OH

Before you submit your dampers to us, make sure fill out our overhaul agreement form. Please visit the link provided below to obtain this form.

OVERHAUL PAGE

Feel free to contact us should you have any other questions.

CUSTOMERS ALWAYS WELCOME!

I would like to thank Joe Monsalud from Chicago for stopping by and taking the time to visit us during his small vacation here in California.

He looked around our showroom and found the EDFC Active very interesting and will hope to add it soon to his ride. It’s always good to hear the customer’s feedback on our products on the vehicles and how they like the ride quality compared to other manufacturers, but of course everybody has there own liking for their car.  We informed him that we are always looking for customers’ pictures of their vehicles with TEIN Suspension that they can submit  so we can have their rides up on our blog and he was kind enough to send us the below images..

TEIN Super Street dampers on his car.

Rollin' Shot

dock shoot1

dock shoot2

dock shoot3

Thank you, Joe, for your constant support for our product and for stopping by and talking with us!

If you would like to stop by and check out our showroom and possibly get some replacement parts or some TEIN goods, feel free to stop on by TEIN USA.

Unfortunately we do not sell lowering springs or coil-overs directly to the public, but these can only be purchased through our Authorized Dealers.

A Hit or Miss Situation

During December 2012 we received a call from Bruce. He is the owner of  DeDona Tint & Sound, Inc. in Greensboro, NC. He had spoken to us during SEMA week and was interested in purchasing our Street Advance coilover kit. Now, the kit he was interested in is manufactured for the 2006-2012 Lexus Gs430. However, he wanted the kit for his 2008 GS460. We told him it may not fit, as there could be discrepancies in the vehicle weight , mounting points, etc. Plus, we have not tested that particular model.  Basically, it would be a hit or miss at his own discretion.  Nevertheless, he was determined and confident the kit would fit.

Flash forward to a month from December and Bruce calls confirming fitment. Now from our standpoint, we still can’t guarantee the fitment to consumers. Again, because our R&D team has not physically done the testing. He detailed to me that minor modifications had been done, and that the mounting points were identical to those of  the GS430.  He loves the drop, and ride quality all around. I was impressed and glad to hear that he was satisfied with our product as a TEIN customer and automotive enthusiast.

If you’re considering a aftermarket suspension for your GS460, I would recommend you give them a call to touch base on what exactly was done to make the kit work. Below is an image of this simple yet stunning 2008 Lexus GS 460.

http://dedona.com/

Wishing You A Happy New Year!!!

From all of us at TEIN USA, Inc., we wish you a Happy New Year!

We look forward to the 2013 season, as we have some new products to be released in January, some of which you’ve already either read about here on the TEIN USA Blog, or heard from your friends or local performance parts shop! We are quite excited for what the New Year will bring.  Likewise, we hope 2013 is just as exciting for you!

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your continued support!

In observance of the New Year holiday, TEIN USA, Inc. Operations will be closed from December 31 through January 3rd and will resume normal business hours on January 4th.

 

 

 

Decisions Decisions Decisions

Maybe this post should be renamed as “I’d like to buy a Swiss Army Coilover kit, please?” Ha.

Adjustable suspension is tricky business. Not so much in how it operates, but more so in regards to what is really necessary to have. Many consumers have the understanding that adjustable suspension gives their car a certain duality, like going from Clark Kent to Superman, or Superman to Bizarro if that’s your thing. Please don’t take offense. I am very much the same way.

I know most car guys looking into adjustable suspension think that this is the key to having a nice, supple ride on the street while having the ability to change to a complete race setup with just a few clicks of the knob. But, what many fail to see is that it isn’t completely possible to have an “All-In-One” suspension set to do exactly what you want it to do when you want it to.

We’ve mentioned before about this. It’s nothing new, really. It’s just more of a follow-up from a previous post.

We do our best to work with the consumer to find the ideal kit for them. We ask a ton of questions ranging from what is the main use of the vehicle, and even what type of tire they use, or what other modifications to suspension and chassis they have made, and just about everything in between. We cannot automatically assume that the Super Racing dampers meet every customer’s criteria.

As a suspension manufacturer, we have to take into account many factors when it comes to producing suspension packages. Likewise, we have to consider the vehicle platform we are planning to make suspension for. Not all cars are destined for track duty only, and some are just not as tuner-friendly. Deciding on what suspension packages customers will most likely need is far from easy.

For example, some consumers have one car that serves strictly as a daily driver. Like many consumers, they are only looking to have a nice drop in ride height to reduce that unsightly fender-wheel gap. In many cases a lowering spring will suffice.

You can have a great street car like the Evo IX and still find S.Tech’s to meet your needs. It’s an affordable option to get the ride height you’re looking for.

But, some customers would rather avoid the hassle of using a lowering spring and just jump into a matched spring and damper set (coilovers, in our case). It’s not uncommon for salespeople to try and upsell customers to a coilover set, especially if they factor how many miles the customer has on their original struts and/or shocks- many vehicle manufacturers recommend inspecting/replacing struts and shocks after a certain amount of miles, such as 30,000 miles. So to get their customer to replace the shocks and struts by going with a coilover kit like our Street Basis dampers isn’t such a bad idea, again assuming that they NEED to lower their car.

Sometimes it goes up from there. Maybe the customer not only wants to lower their daily driver, and they want to be able to adjust it to their preference (a very subjective term, mind you). Or maybe it’s because the customer knows that adjusting ride height on coilovers will alter the ride feel (due to spring preload). Having an adjustable damper can help alleviate the issues with fast damper rebound because of higher ride height settings (again, because of spring preload). There are several benefits to why a customer might want to look into our Street Advance dampers.

The above examples really just apply to street-oriented cars. But, some customers may want even more. And yes, we have more! And of course, more damper features translates to higher costs, depending on what they’re looking for.

We know of many customers that use their car for both daily commute and also for occasional track use. Coilovers like the Type Flex are a good compromise between street compliance and entry-level track use. Keep that word in mind- compromise. Type Flex dampers are much more aggressive in spring rate and have dampers valved appropriately for those spring rates. But we also have to factor ideal damper stroke length. We’ve also designed the Type Flex to be full-length adjustable. This lets the customer alter ride height to their preference (again, subjectively speaking. We don’t recommend slamming your vehicle for daily use) without altering spring preload. This is possible because the full-length adjustable dampers use a separate lower mounting bracket, making the whole damper telescopic- you can lengthen and shorten the overall length of the dampers. The spring is still adjustable for preload using separate seat locks. For most cases, leaving the spring at zero preload provides the best ride quality. We’ve also included our own upper mounts for this application, some of which are like the OE mounts that use rubber isolator bushings and some that use spherical joints (pillowball).

OE upper mounts are usually a stamped steel item that uses rubber bushings and pads to help isolate road and suspension noise. Although great at reducing NVH (Noise, Vibriation, & Harshness) to some degree, some people will say that it reduces steering feel and response.

 

 

 

 

We have optional pillowball upper mounts (standard on a few applications such as SS-P, Type Flex, Mono Flex, Super Drift, and Super Racing dampers. These units have spherical joints with teflon lining on the inner race to allow for smooth articulation of the suspension at different angles of deflection. The drawback is increased NVH, but the payoff is much more direct steering feedback and response. This picture shows an application for strut type suspension, allowing camber adjustment.

 

Again, the Type Flex is designed with a completely different mindset. Customers that utilize this setup for the street will find it to be stiff when compared to Street Basis or Street Advance dampers. But the setup has many more merits on the track.

But how is the Type Flex an “occasional track use” type of kit? Well, that’s also subjective as any of our kits are a good starting point into high performance handling (we can revalve all of our dampers to use different spring rates). The Type Flex is just a better out-of-the-box setup in bridging the gap from street car to track car. “Occasional track use” can mean many things for consumers. Maybe they still feel that this suspension is not as aggressive for their needs. Knowing what modifications the customer has done to their car helps us in deciding what will best fit them. Again, we also have a revalving service available if they need it.

I personally really like the Type Flex dampers because of their versatility and cost to maintain being pretty affordable. Just my preference. I don’t have a ton of money to shell out for car parts. So, I really put thought into what I need before I buy.  I probably account for only a small percentage of car enthusiast. I’m sure other guys purchase and change out parts quite frequently for this to matter to them.

Who says you can’t use a twin tube damper for racing? TEIN Japan had a custom valved Type Flex damper kit in use during a Nurburgring 24 Hour Race as shown in the above picture.

But guess what, it goes up from there. Super Drift, Mono Flex, N1, HG, Group N, and Super Racing dampers are some of the other offerings we have designed for customers that need more. It just depends on what you will be using the car for.

If you called saying you absolutely must have our Group N. dampers for your daily commuter, I’d actually think you’re pretty awesome. But seriously, putting big money down on a set of these for street driving is rather pointless. Plus, the price tag is not for the faint of heart. This kind of product is aimed towards motorsport teams and privateers that have the type of funding to keep a rally car running.

Most aftermarket performance suspension is viewed as a customizable platform. Changes can be made to accommodate the customer’s needs. We have the benefit of providing stateside service for our products. Other manufacturers may not. It doesn’t make them a terrible company. In their own right, they’ve created a package that meets their customers’ needs. We feel the same way. We just want to be able to have  a product that the customer can be satisfied with while keeping their costs down to a minimum. Of course, we try to make a mass produced kit that has all the features a customer may need.  But what works for some may not work for others.

What was once a Grocery Getter is now a track dedicated car. Bobby Lane Racing’s Time Attack Honda Accord, still lovingly called a “Grocery Getter”

How about making your Acura RSX into a Dirt Trial car? Not unheard of, just not as common a request.

So, before you decide to go through with your suspension purchase, please outweigh the pros and cons of each package and really think about what it is you need (NOT WANT). As always, you’re more than welcome to give us a call or shoot us an email to discuss your options. The saying “you get what you pay for” isn’t exactly a negative thing. You want to get what you need and not have to pay more for something you can do without.

And if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, we can always consider custom one-off suspension through our Specialized Damper Program. Just sayin’…..

 

Happy Holidays From TEIN USA!

From all of us at TEIN USA, Inc., Merry Christmas!

We put some Group N dampers on Santa’s Sleigh, hoping that he’ll get to your house faster. But, it looks like he’ll need more reindeer power to put it to good use.

Oh, and TEIN USA Operations will be closed from December 24-25th and resume normal business hours on the 26-28th.

We hope you all have a great holiday this year with family and friends!