Tag Archives: Monotube

New Products and Developments

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With this COVID-19 pandemic throwing us all a helluva curveball, we find ourselves in a very fortunate position to continue our pursuit in bringing some of the best products we can for a wide variety of vehicle applications! We’re continuing to grow, and we couldn’t be happier!

As mentioned, the pandemic wasn’t what we were expecting. In fact, it was quite the opposite of what we were expecting- low to no business, extended lock downs, as well as possibly having to temporarily shut down our operations if things really got worse for all of us.

But, being an automotive parts manufacturer and distributor kept us fully operational ever since we had our lock downs. We have just been very fortunate that COVID-19 has not affected our staff directly. However, the same cannot be said for our parent company and our two factories. Our manufacturing facility in China had to shut down relatively early on in the pandemic. Japan is facing new lock downs due to the spread of the Delta variant. We’re only hoping that, with everyone doing their part, we won’t be faced with harsher lock downs and restrictions.

With that, we’re still facing some struggles. The supply chain has been greatly affected in all aspects and in all industries, and we’re just now catching up on a lot of backordered items for our customers. Freight costs have soared tremendously, not to mention extended transit times or delays for shipments. But yet, we still are trying our best to continue with product development while still being able to service our customers.

So, while we’re still technically trying to catch up, we’ve worked hard to come out with new vehicle applications and broadening our ENDURAPRO & ENDURAPRO PLUS line to reach the European vehicle market, and to-date we’re proud to see this line flourishing. But of course, our coilover lines, our bread and butter if you will, continues to grow as well, with new vehicle applications being added on nearly a monthly basis.

ENDURAPRO Shock Absorbers for BMW X3 and X4 now in stock.
ENDURAPRO Shock Absorbers for Toyota RAV-4 and Lexus NX200t now available.
ENDURAPRO Shock Absorbers for Tesla Model 3 AWD now available (different part numbers RWD Model 3’s also available)

S.TECH Lowering Springs for Tesla Model 3 RWD and AWD available (AWD springs shown.
MONO RACING Coilovers for Nissan GT-R (R35) arriving soon.

Unfortunately posting all the new vehicle and product applications we now have would make this post long-winded and quite boring. So we ask that you please check out our website and search around for what’s new from us!

Also, if it’s more convenient for you, you’re also free to email us at tus_sales@tein.com, or give us a call at 562-861-9161, and we would be glad to assist you in finding products for your vehicle.


TEIN MONO RACING Coilovers

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While we still sell plenty of our FLEX Z and MONO SPORT coilover kits, and since they fit the bill for most consumer’s needs, we feel and also see the need for more race-oriented suspension setups. To date, we still produce our SUPER RACING coilover line for those needing a setup to match more aggressive chassis and tire setups people use for road racing and the ever-so-popular Time Attack races. However, for some, there is no necessity of 2-way damping adjustability. In fact, for some consumers, having that extra adjustment (separate compression and rebound damping), might be confusing. Again, probably why we still sell plenty of FLEX Z and MONO SPORT coilover. There’s a certain simplicity to these coilovers.

But, in between a MONO SPORT or SUPER RACING coilovers is a bit of a gap. This led to our development and release of the new MONO RACING coilover line.

MONO RACING coilovers take all of the features of the MONO SPORT line- monotube construction (with our proprietary “Strong Upright Tube” setup for strut suspensions), threaded shock body (for separate spring preload and ride height adjustments, and use of our Micro Speed Valve (M.S.V.) for improved low-speed damping control. With that, we add some features of the Super Racing line, mainly items for strut type applications, such as camber/caster adjustable front upper mounts and extra camber adjustment at the lower bracket (camber washer). Along with those features, we valve the MONO RACING dampers far more aggressive and include stiffer springs, making the package a much more race oriented feel. Damping adjustment is rebound only (16-click, like our typical coilovers), and is of course compatible with our EDFC systems. Like all TEIN coilovers, we still treat the MONO RACING coilovers to our proprietary ZT and powdercoating for long-lasting durability. MONO RACING coilovers are also serviceable (rebuild and valving) and customizable.

Camber Washer for Strut Type Suspensio
TEIN developed Micro Speed Valve

Again, the setup is aimed towards consumers who done vehicle modifications that are complimentary to a track setup. Typically a very good summer tire or even R-compound will work well with this suspension package, but also other additions like small aero upgrades can take good advantage of the more aggressive damper and spring setup.

Most importantly, we wanted to bring this user-friendly race coilover kit at a reasonable price point, starting at $1800 and going up to $2220, all depending on the vehicle application (strut type or independent spring/shock type suspensions are more expensive).

Now available for the following applications:

Honda Civic Type R (FK8) *includes Error Canceller Units

Toyota 86 (Scion FRS)/Subaru BRZ

Mazda Miata (NA6C/NA8C/NB8C/NDERC)

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions VII/VIII/IX (CT9A) and X (CZ4A)

Subaru WRX/STI (GDBE/GRF/GVF/VA

and more applications to come.

What is a Triple Tube Damper?

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As a suspension manufacturer, we’re proud to be able to offer both monotube and twin tube dampers to the market. Both of which offer their own merits in terms of performance.

It is typically viewed that monotube dampers offer the best in performance. They tend to have the most damper oil capacity which reduces damper fade. It also uses a much larger piston which allows us to tune compression and rebound better. It also separates the damper oil from the nitrogen gas charge, eliminating any chance of aeration (mixing of oil and gas, creating bubbles; decreasing damping effectiveness).

In short, monotube dampers sound like the best all-around choice when it comes to performance. However, one area it lacks in is structural rigidity. On strut suspensions, the damper is integral to the knuckle assembly. So that means that the damper must take lateral loads (side forces).strut

 

In the drawing above, you can see how this side loading affects the damper. 1) when the tire exhibits lateral loading (in this case, pushing the bottom of the tire towards the center of the car), its tendency is to push the top of the tire outward, away from the car. 2) shows how the wheel/tire assembly wants to rotate due to the added torque from lateral loading. Because of that lateral loading, this places stress on the damper assembly (3).

By our design, we typically make the piston shafts of monotube dampers small in diameter, so that the damper has the highest possible fluid capacity. We could make it much thicker, but then the damper body would probably be much longer since the thicker piston rod, when compressed into the damper, will displace a lot of damper oil (meaning that we’ll need a larger volume for nitrogen gas).

But, to reduce the amount of side load stress on a smaller diameter piston rod for monotube dampers on strut type suspensions, we invert the damper assembly. In doing this, the damper assembly (body containing the oil and gas) sit at the top, and we make the shellcase (strut body) the bottom portion. Essentially, this makes the strut look like it has a massive piston shaft. But, this visually larger diameter can hold up well to the stress of lateral loading. We’ve been able to perfect that design very well, especially in our Group N. rally program.

However, there is always a way to improve.  Our new triple tube damper is the latest in strut type monotube technology. No longer do we need to invert the strut. Now, the monotube damper again sits inside the shellcase (lower portion of the damper assembly). However, in between the damper and shell case is another tube. This extra tube can be seen visually (actually looks the same as an inverted strut), and not only protects the damper assembly, but also increases the dampers’ ability to take the lateral loads without adding undue stress and friction under operation.

triple tube

With this triple tube design, we can now add another guide in which we can distribute lateral loads without affecting the complete damper body’s strength and also reduce friction which can affect damping force.

I took a few pics of a Mono Sport strut damper that our R&D guys were working on

MNSA Inverted 003 (Custom)

Here you can see the shellcase (black) against the damper (which is covered by the shiny outer tube).

MNSA Inverted 004 (Custom)

To remove the shiny outer tube from the damper, we remove the insert top (this insert top is what mounts to our pillowball mount, which also holds the damper click knob or EDFC stepping motor). You then have access to the piston rod of the damper. MNSA Inverted 007 (Custom)

The shiny outer tube has to be unscrewed from the bottom of the damper. Once removed, you have the complete monotube damper (our engineer reattached the insert top just as reference to show the top of the damper).

From there, it’s pretty much a standard fare monotube damper. However, the new Mono Sport coilovers have new features like Advanced Needle and Advance M.S.V. that separate it from the Mono Flex coilovers. The Advance Needle and Advance M.S.V. provide a broad range in damping force change over the 16 usable click settings, much more noticeable than its predecessor.

These new features stem from improvements we’ve made to our Gr. N dampers with F.R.S. A true testament in TEIN’s research and development in bringing racing technology to the street.

We’re definitely proud to bring the latest technology to the customer. We’re always looking to improve our product. After all, we are TEchnical INnovation!