Tag Archives: absorber

Cleaning and Maintaining Your Suspension

Posted on by

Alright, so plenty of you may still have a lot of time on your hands due to being stuck at home due to COVID-19, even though our country seems to be opening up to business as usual. But still, it is forcing many “non-essential” (man, that really doesn’t sound nice) businesses to remain closed, and many of you without much to do.

This really has led to a lot of our customers taking the time to do some vehicle maintenance, which is great since we highly recommend you check your suspension.

As we have mentioned in the past, we recommend periodic inspections of your coilovers. For customers in drier climates, typically twice a year is good. While areas in cold or very wet areas should inspect at least 4 times out of the year, or at least after the wet season.

Getting chance to fully disassemble your suspension would be great. This lets you get to all the individual components- bare shock absorber, spring seats/seat locks, springs, upper mount, dust boots, bump stops, eye ring bushings, pillowball mounts, etc. and give them a good cleaning, or replacement if necessary. Sounds like a lot of work, which it is. But for some of us, this can be a rewarding task and help keep your vehicle road-worthy.

With an adjustable suspension kit, so many movable/removable parts should be checked, like spring seats and seat locks- making sure they’re able to move freely on the threads and also finally torqued to specification. Making sure the threads on the damper bodies are clear of debris prevents the spring seats/seat locks from seizing in place. Some consumers believe that because we use aluminum spring seats/seat locks on a steel threaded body will lead to them seizing because they’re two dissimilar materials (galvanic corrosion). However, that is not the case. Our aluminum spring seats and seat locks are hard anodized (forming aluminum oxide on the surface), and our threaded damper bodies are either chrome plated (older models) or coated with our ZT coating (and based coated with zinc). This will prevent potential issues with galvanic corrosion. So, please check to make sure the threads of the damper body, as well as the spring seat/seat locks are clean. Lastly, a little bit of lubricant on the threads is actually important, not just to prevent seizing, but to allow proper torque application when tightening. Anything from a light distillate (WD-40 is very common and readily available), or even a little bit of oil, will work just fine.

Even with that said, wet/coastal areas, or areas with snowfall will require a bit more maintenance, and actual cleaning of threaded components, as salts can eat away at aluminum and steel, and even cause the metal surfaces to expand slightly causing seized seat locks. You can use car wash detergents to clean these threads, and dampers in general. Again, even WD-40, which will displace water and lightly lubricate components, works well (we’d just apply this after any type of cleaning you do).

Also, it’s a good time to check the overall condition of your coilovers coated (painted) surfaces and making sure there is no peeling, scratched off surfaces, etc. For our green powder paint, customers can touch up surface blemishes with spray paints that are commercially available (Krylon or Rustoleum enamel; Meadow Green paint color).

A full disassembly lets you assess the condition of all individual components for your coilover and check if any part needs replacement. Also lets you give it a good detailed cleaning.

Lastly, and as a note for you TEIN suspension owners, if you need any assistance with your suspension or need replacement parts, or need the torque specifications for coilover kit, give us a call at 562-861-9161 Monday-Friday (9a-6p PST), or email us at tus_sales@tein.com. We’re open during this time, and we’ll do our best to help you out!

TEIN ENDURAPRO/PLUS SPRING KIT

Posted on by

High Performance Premium Shock Absorbers and Lowering Springs

Although we’re well-known mainly for producing coilover kits, the ENDURAPRO and ENDURAPRO PLUS shock absorber line is gaining more momentum stateside. While much more popular overseas, our premium replacement shock absorbers are starting to generate interest in a lot of consumers, especially if you’re on lowering springs and are looking for suitable performance shocks to pair with them, or you simply don’t want to invest in a complete coilover kit.

At the launch of the ENDURAPRO/PLUS line in the U.S., we also launched the ENDURAPRO Spring Kit and ENDURAPRO PLUS Spring Kit, which pairs our S.TECH lowering springs along with either of the shocks, depending on if you want fixed damping setting or 16-click adjustable damping.

Let’s take a look at what’s included with a ENDURAPRO Spring Kit (part # VSQ54-A1SS2) for the FR-S/86/BRZ.

Conveniently packaged, springs are placed over each shock absorber to minimize packing space and package dimensions. Quite honestly, there isn’t much to it. For certain vehicle applications, other components may be included, such as dust boots or bump stops. Although the ENDURAPRO/PLUS shock absorbers utilize our internal Hydraulic Bump Stoppers (H.B.S.), you will still need to retain either a OEM or TEIN bump stop, which is used as a precautionary measure.

Springs packaged over shocks to minimize packaging size.

Hard to tell from the photo, especially when it’s not lined up against an OEM or OEM replacement shock absorber, but our ENDURAPRO/PLUS shock absorbers are much larger in diameter to and OEM/OEM replacement. In fact, it really is just like one of our coilovers, just minus the threaded adjustment for ride height.

Valved to provide far better handling performance, our ENDURAPRO/PLUS shock absorbers are a perfect enhancement for an otherwise stock vehicle. However, paired with one of our lowering springs and you have a much more sporty ride that you can appreciate. We recommend this type of setup for customers who can do without ride height adjustability or pillowball upper mounts (although it may be compatible with some aftermarket pillowball mounts). That just means less maintenance (you are periodically inspecting your suspension, aren’t you!?!?!?!).

Currently our part numbers for ENDURAPRO Spring Kits and ENDURAPRO PLUS Spring kits are rather limited. However, we’re also still working on either developing performance replacement shocks or lowering springs for certain vehicle applications. If you have any questions about these products, please feel free to contact us at 562-861-9161, or reach out to any of our authorized dealers!

Stimulus Money Well Spent.

Posted on by

Look, I can’t tell you how to spend your recently received Stimulus money. But, from the looks of it, a lot of you have spent it on TEIN coilovers and ENDURAPRO shock absorbers. At least that’s how I see it.

During the stay at home orders a majority of Americans are under, we’ve all at least had the ability to do a lot of our shopping online, and on that front, we know a lot of our authorized dealers saw a flood of orders come in last week. Now, I’m not confidently assuming this, but this does coincide with the Stimulus money people started to receive by direct deposit. Sooo…………

We definitely appreciate seeing these orders. Quite honestly, and just in general, we haven’t really seen a slow down on our side of the business. One of the reasons we’ve decided to stay operational is the fact that there are plenty of customers needing replacement or repair parts for their TEIN coilovers, damper rebuilds, and such. We wanted to make sure that, especially for those of you who are essential workers, don’t have to worry about vehicle downtime if your TEIN-equipped car is your only means of transportation. So, at any rate, we appreciate your support!

Really, we’re hoping things return to normal for all of us Americans. It’s a great feeling, and a rewarding one, for us to be able to stay open and assist customers with their suspension needs.

BUT, we hope all of you have all the necessities to stay home to help halt the spread of COVID-19. And for those of you without work right now, we hope all of this is just a short step back.

ENDURAPRO PLUS 20K Mile Inspection

Posted on by

I’m lucky enough to be one of the first in the U.S. to put our new ENDURAPRO shock absorbers to use in the U.S. My 2008 Honda Fit was fitted with the ENDURAPRO PLUS (16-click damping adjustable) shocks and struts, which I eventually added our S.TECH lowering springs, around March 2018. I figured it’s time to visually inspect these shocks and see how they’ve held up.

As previously mentioned, this car is typically my daily commuter for work. I average about 14,000 miles in driving a year. While I technically have just over 21,000 miles on these ENDURAPRO PLUS shocks, the other miles I drive for the year has been on my truck. Still, I think over 21k of miles on our ENDURAPRO PLUS shocks is a pretty good age to finally give them a look-see. Mind you, the average shock absorber lifespan is typically 36,000 miles in the U.S. Not too sure how that average came to be. We see shock absorbers last much longer than that. Quite honestly, I should have inspected these shocks a long time ago (a reminder to all to inspect their cars)!

Prior to giving you a run-down of the inspection, I will say that overall the shocks still feel great! Over time, I’ve readjusted the damping click settings simply to find that “sweet spot” in comfort. After all, installing lowering springs will alter the ride quality. Currently I have the fronts and rears set to 8 clicks from stiff (essentially the middle setting). I had previously had it somewhat softer in front and stiffer in back, as I felt it worked well whenever I had the car fully loaded. I may end up softening the front just a little, once everything is reinstalled.

Speaking of fully loaded, that is probably the most awe inspiring experience that showcases how our shock absorbers perform! It really is! As you probably already know, our ENDURAPRO/ENDURAPRO PLUS line includes internal Hydraulic Bump Stoppers, which helps alleviate that ever-so-fun suspension oscillation whenever the car is at maximum capacity.

Again, since it’s my daily commuter, typically there isn’t much extra weight in the car, other than my kids’ seats and some kids junk in the back seats. With lowering springs that are a bit stiffer than stock, it can feel relatively firm over bumps and gaps in the highway. Overall, our S.TECH springs aren’t terribly stiff.

However, after my bi-weekly trip to Costco, which usually consists of purchasing several cases of bottled water, my kids’ diapers and formula, and a bunch of other necessities you have no choice but to purchase in bulk, the trunk gets heavily loaded, and you can both see and feel that added weight. Then add my sons, when i have to pick them up at their Nana’s house. It’s basically like I’m loaded for a long-distance road trip.

This is where our Hydraulic Bump Stopper really comes in to play. Our Southern California highways are anything but smooth, and there are plenty of large gaps, expansion joints, dips, pavement cracks/potholes, ramp-like bumps over overpasses, etc. It’s a great way to put suspension to work, and at highway speeds, this provides us with a horrific ride, and one that puts our vehicles through pure torture. Did I mention that I also have to listen to “Elmo’s Song” on repeat whenever the kids are in the car???

But seriously, over this type of highway terrain, TEIN’s Hydraulic Bump Stopper really does its part in helping absorb these high-speed impacts, preventing the polyurethane bump stop from doing that work and helping the shock absorbers rebound nice and smoothly. Honestly, it has to be one of the more rewarding parts of my commute. Now I can understand what trophy trucks must feel like over big jumps,,,,,, just at a much smaller scale. Hahahaha!

Anyway, on to the inspection:

One thing I noticed was the front strut mounts were making a bit of noise, especially when steering at slow speed. I initially thought it was the bearing making the noise. But, for all I know it could have been a problem with the struts. This just confirms it was indeed the upper mount. However, as mentioned during the initial installation of these ENDURAPRO Plus shock absorbers, the front mounts probably contributed to a slightly lower ride height than target, due to the mostly rubber mount taking a set after 80,000 miles of use. Now at 101,000 miles, it is time to change these components out to fresh new factory style mounts.

Old mount on the left, new on the right. You can see how the mounts have sagged over time. It was starting to make some noise, most notably at low-speed.

For the rears, the only thing I noticed was a hole being worn into one section of the dust boot. Looks to have made contact with the tire. Not a big deal, and replacement dust boots are readily available.

I also checked gas pressure while the shocks were off the car, and all of them seemed fine. By checking I mean I fully compressed each damper by hand and checked the rebound, as well as tried different damping settings during the same procedure. I will say the damping click adjusters were slightly stiff up front. However, that could be due to not using the included ADD Caps to cover them (this keeps dust out of the system). A simple spray of WD-40 or similar type lubricant will displace any dirt or corrosion in between the click knob and its base. Also, any exposed thread on the piston shafts for the front dampers accumulated some surface rust. A wire brush cleaning and some WD-40 helps clean that up. But since I removed the struts from the original upper mounts, the threads got a decent clean up simply from the removal process.

Front strut out. I needed to remove the bearing, as I thought this also contributed to noise I was hearing at low-speed driving.
With the bearing out, I decided to inspect the shock. All components removed help to make a more detailed inspection.
  • Good thing I inspected the struts! There was some dirt I had to clean up around the dust seal.

While I’ve had the ENDURAPRO shock absorbers off, I checked bushings in the control arms, ball joints, sway bar end links, and tie rod ends just to make sure of their condition, which fortunately they are. I’m sure at some point I’ll change out the front lower arms (bushings by themselves are not readily available). For the rear twist bar, it’s hard to source just the rear bushing, so I’m going to keep searching for a solution.

I did have the tires changed at around the 3,000 mile mark on these shock absorbers. I wanted to try something a bit more sport oriented, but not very expensive. Also, my “tuning philosophy” (if you will) for starting to modify a car is usually in the order of- decent tires, sport (not race) brake pads/shoes, and some decent suspension (as in shock absorbers and possibly springs), especially if there is a damping adjustable option. This before ever considering more power. With ENDURAPRO Plus shocks and S.TECH lowering springs and some Stoptech Sport pads and plain rotors installed, I needed decent tires. So, I contacted the guys at GT Radial to order a set of their Champiro SX2 Summer tires. I’ve followed the 86 Cup group and saw that these tires offer very decent performance and very good wear resistance, and I wanted to try something other than all-season tires that this car has used over the years. I opted for a size slightly smaller in diameter than stock just to see if there was any gain in performance.

A new set of tires go on the Fit, courtesy of GT Radial
A big thanks to Gonzo, who invited me over to his Chateau. He’s got a full tire changing station in his garage! His son Enzo also came out to help. Good kid!

I will say that these SX2 tires still provided very good comfort. Being a daily commuter, this car only gets an occasional spirited drive. For me, that comes with the excitement of driving through Angeles Crest, since it’s kind of in my “back yard”. Interestingly enough, I found that these tires at 31psi cold, and a 13-click front shock setting (soft) and 6-click rear shock setting (somewhat stiff) had very good and predictable feel. I could very lightly get the back end to rotate with a touch of left-foot braking, and the feeling was pretty consistent throughout my drive through the hwy. The Fit is a very front-heavy car, so it takes a little coaxing to get the car to turn in, since the car understeers easily. One thing I could appreciate from these tires is the wear resistance. Rated as a 200 treadwear, these tires held up better than some 360 treadwear tires I had on previously (which actually only lasted about 13,000 miles before I changed them out to these SX2’s). Dunno what the deal is with that, but those are my figures.

Mind you, these aren’t all-season tires, so I take it a little easier during rainy days. However, wet weather driving is actually quite nice on this setup. Not that I was expecting to hydroplane on a summer tire on wet pavement, it actually handled heavy rain and puddles very well.

While this is sounding like a tire review, what I’m getting at is that these small changes to this daily driven econobox (TEIN S.TECH Springs, ENDURAPRO Plus Shock Absorbers, and GT Radial SX2 tires) have already made this car more enjoyable for my drive. Does it make me miss having a much more sporty car? Absolutely. But, gotta work with what I got. I think most importantly is the value of all these parts as a whole- Not a lot of money spent (granted, I got the shocks for free for testing on my car) to “upgrade” the car. So, for most of you guys looking to make your car a little bit faster and more fun to drive, this should be something to think about.

By the way, the slightly smaller diameter tires I chose actually helped improve a few things such as MPG (when I really take it easy on driving) and acceleration (most notably in higher gears). I was expecting MPG to be a bit worse. However, it has affected actual speedometer readings a tad, but the factory speedometer reads ~1 MPH lower than actual.

All in all, I’d say I’m more than pleased with the car as it currently sits. Not a ton of money invested in getting some performance out of it. Decent suspension, very good tires, and sportier brake pads up front, and I’m a happy camper!

Merry Christmas from TEIN USA!!!

Posted on by

From all of us at TEIN USA, Inc., we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

We’ve been very fortunate to continue a successful growth in the U.S., even with tariff increases due to the U.S. and China trade squabble. If anything, this only strengthened our sales for items coming from our Yokohama, Japan factory! Still, our TEIN China factory has continued to produce our STREET BASIS Z & STREET ADVANCE Z, as well as our ENDURAPRO & ENDURAPRO PLUS shock absorbers for a global market, and we couldn’t be happier with the demand for our products around the world! At any rate, we’re continuing to pursue manufacturing the most reasonably priced suspension package at the TEIN high-quality levels our customers are all aware of, and we thank each and everyone of you for helping us achieve those standards year after year!!!

Just to let you know, TEIN USA Operations will be closed on Christmas Day (Wednesday, 25th). But, we will be open Christmas Eve (Tuesday, 24th) and after Christmas! So, whether you have questions about new products for your car, overhaul/revalve, or just want to give us some company during those days, please feel free to give us a call!!!

Once again, Merry Christmas, and we hope Santa puts a new set of TEIN coilovers or lowering springs under your Christmas tree this year!!!

ENDURAPRO Shock Absorber Testing on S550 Mustang GT (w/ Performance Package)

Posted on by

This past week we had a 2018 Ford Mustang GT (S550 chassis) come in for testing. This particular one has the Performance Package. This package looks to include “heavy-duty” front springs and a thicker rear sway bar. Our guess is that the factory shock absorbers and rear springs have also changed from earlier S550’s Performance Package, with the shocks being a tad big more aggressive in valving, and so far we can say that we feel these differences.

ENDURAPRO PLUS (damping adjustable) for S550 Mustang shown

You can say it is a much sportier ride now. However, for some of us older fellows at TEIN USA, it was a bit too uncomfortable, whether it was street or highway driving. Personally I don’t really like how overly sensitive the steering was. Felt like I could accidentally loose control should my reflexes overreact. It just felt very twitchy and unstable.

Anyway, we wanted to test our upcoming STREET BASIS Z coilovers for this vehicle. BUT, it was also an opportunity to test our ENDURAPRO shock absorbers on this car, and it was definitely an improvement from our point of view!

As mentioned, the new GT Performance Package offers factory upgraded suspension. It was a far cry from how the first S550 GT we tested felt (when we were developing our FLEX Z coilover kit).

With the ENDURAPRO shock absorbers, ride quality was much more bearable for a daily drive. Much of the harshness we feel from the factory suspension is gone (however we can feel a difference with the stiffer front spring). Turn-in hasn’t changed dramatically, which we can possibly attribute to both the front springs and the larger rear sway bar.

Front ENDURAPRO strut compared to OEM strut.
Rear ENDURAPRO shock absorber compared to OEM shock.

How this compares to earlier S550 GT suspension is quite different, however. Again, with the current Performance Package suspension being more aggressive, the ENDURAPRO shock absorbers now make the car feel more compliant (not soft, not boaty, just better comfort). On an earlier S550 much of the sportiness is still there. But in both cases, the included Hydraulic Bump Stopper of our ENDURAPRO shock absorbers adds a much smoother ride quality under heavy loading. Over very large bumps, like expansion joints or overpasses on a freeway, this Hydraulic Bump Stopper really helps suppress upward jolts and smooths out the rebound. Given that the Mustang has relatively short suspension stroke, this pays huge dividends to providing comfort!

ENDURAPRO shock absorbers for the S550 Mustang are in stock and ready to ship!

Part numbers:
Front- VSGC0-A1MS2-L (left side)
VSGC0-A1MS2-R (right side)
Rear- VSGC1-A1MS2

Also available in ENDURAPRO PLUS (16-click damping adjustable)!

Front- VSGC0-B1MS2-L (left side)
VSGC0-B1MS2-R (right side)
Rear- VSGC1-B1MS2





TEIN Hydraulic Bump Stopper Technology

Posted on by

Lately one of our greatest developments to hit the mainstream in TEIN suspension kits is our Hydraulic Bump Stopper (H.B.S.) system.

This technology isn’t anything new. However, the current derivative is a much more affordable design, and has now made its way into coilovers like our FLEX A and FLEX AVS kits, and now our ENDURAPRO & ENDURAPRO PLUS shock absorber lines.

Why are we creating so much buzz about this system? Mainly because a comparable Hydraulic Bump Stop system isn’t typically found in passenger vehicles, outside of trucks where you’d have to opt for something like an externally mounted bump kit.

Even our current Hydraulic Bump Stopper system used in our FLEX A, FLEX AVS, & EnduraPro/EnduraPro Plus shock absorbers differs from systems used in rally suspension, which are typically much more expensive units and require rebuild. Our current system is more affordable to make and doesn’t require servicing (FLEX A and FLEX AVS dampers are rebuildable, but the H.B.S. system doesn’t need to be rebuilt, per se).

Still, all this hype we’re making about a Hydraulic Bump Stopper doesn’t mean much if you don’t know what it does. So, picture this: You’re in a fully loaded vehicle (max occupancy) and have the trunk fully loaded. Already you can picture the suspension starting to sag. Then, while driving, you hit a big speed bump. On any normal suspension, chances are you’re hitting the bump stops, which will do a great job of preventing the shocks from bottoming out. However, the consequence of hitting the bump stop is a harsh impact and resulting bouncy or wallowing feeling.

Now, a Hydraulic Bump Stopper eliminates this bouncy/wallowing feeling. It does so by creating more damping force towards the end of the damper stroke.

Typically our dampers are valved to offer a digressive feel, meaning that as piston speed (of the shock absorber) increases, it will only increase damping force to a certain extent, then it actually does not increase in force if piston speed is even higher. That is typically fine, but when this high piston speed is towards the end of the shock’s stroke length, it will have that harsh feeling (remember that bump stop?) we’re mentioning about.

Honestly, a damper with progressive or linear rate damping can still hit a bump stop and cause that harsh feeling.

But why does creating more damping force with the Hydraulic Bump Stopper help? Essentially it’s slowing down the piston of the damper. It gradually builds up this damping force so that the end result is a smoother absorption of force, while letting the damper rebound normally without oscillation.

When you see Stadium Trucks or Baja Trucks take on a massive jump, what you see on its landing is actually quite impressive. The suspension fully compresses, but as the suspension extends again, it’s nice and smooth. No crazy up and down oscillation. That’s what our H.B.S. system does, but for a smaller scale (shorter stroke length than Stadium or Baja Trucks, obviously).

Or, another example: Using lowering springs on OEM or replacement shock absorbers. While this setup is common place, and most work relatively well, some lowering springs might be too low of a ride height or too stiff a spring rate for the OEM valved shocks. A premium replacement like our EnduraPro line is a better match. Valved to offer a beneficial increase in performance, the added Hydraulic Bump Stopper is a nice addition because of the lowered ride height with lowering springs.

While our EnduraPro/EnduraPro Plus shock absorber line is a match in terms of overall length (compared to OEM), they offer larger internal capacity and more damping oil, and improved damping characteristics. So from a performance standpoint, these are a great upgrade for your lowering spring. Again, these include our H.B.S. system, and when lowering a car using OEM/standard replacement shocks, reducing that stroke length can mean exacerbated issues with ride quality and more chances of hitting that dreaded stock bump stop. You’d end up with similar ride issues in a fully loaded vehicle. Now we can resolve this potential issue by using the increased damping force the H.B.S. system creates further down the shock absorber’s stroke length!

It really is an ingenious system, and one that we’re glad to bring into mass-production. The fact that we can adapt this product into our replacement shock absorber line means that this feature is available to all consumers, whether their budget allows for just our premium shock absorber replacements only, or for those looking for greater handling performance (like our FLEX A or FLEX AVS coilover kit). We’re hoping to add this to many more of our products in the near future!

More Applications of ENDURAPRO/ENDURAPRO PLUS Available!

Featured

Posted on by

We’re well on our way with our new ENDURAPRO & ENDURAPRO PLUS premium shock absorber line, launching new vehicle applications nearly every month!

To simplify what we have available, I’m adding our New Product Guides previously sent to our authorized dealers and distributors:

FK8 Civic Type R Suspension Development

Posted on by

We’ve already showcased our FLEX Z prototype suspension for the FK8 Honda Civic Type R at the SEMA show last year, but we’re now making more headway into production of this kit, as well as lowering springs and the upcoming MONO RACING suspension kit for this platform.




FK8 Civic Type R Suspension Soon Available

Development took longer than expected, mainly due to the availability of this platform in Japan. Why that was troublesome for us is that TEIN Japan usually gets a head-start on product development whenever a global vehicle platform is available. That saves TEIN USA the development time on designing the suspension (altogether possible for us to do, but it still comes with its own development delays).

Prior to the SEMA show, we knew that TEIN Japan finally had an FK8 to do testing on and had prototypes they could send to us. So, as soon as that opportunity came around, we contacted a local partner in having his Type R brought in and tested, and eventually asked ever so kindly to use the car for our booth display at SEMA 😉

As many of you consumers already know, the FK8 front suspension is a far cry from the design for the standard Civic’s that platform shares. It has a very unique strut suspension, much like the Super Strut design of the Toyota Celica.

In fact, the design was so unique that it posed another issue for us in both disassembly and reassembly of the suspension. Of course, we try to offer a suspension kit that is a bolt-on affair for the consumer, so it took a bit of self-education to figure this out ourselves.

Also, newer cars like the Type R have factory electronically controlled suspension. This was a problem because once the factory suspension is removed, a fancy warning came on the dash display. This led us to develop our new Canceller Units that will be included on applicable vehicle applications we make suspension kits for. With the Canceller Unit, no more warnings on the dash, and that means a customer can opt for one of our EDFC controller units, like EDFC ACTIVE PRO.

Production Canceller Unit for FK8 on display at SEMA 2018.

***Canceller Units are vehicle specific unfortunately. Again, we will include them for suspension applications that require them.
Canceller Unit (*prototype used for testing only) installed on FK8 front strut
Canceller Unit (*prototype used for testing) installed on the FK8 rear shock absorber

EDFC would actually be a blessing for this car, since Honda decided to make the shock absorber upper mounting position in an inaccessible design (since our damping adjustment is at the top of the piston rod).

Soon we hope to have these kits available! Please keep posted with us for more info, or keep checking our website for new product releases!


TEIN Endura Pro Plus Shock Absorbers

Posted on by

This is probably the single most anticipated product from TEIN, for me at least. Why? Probably because I’m reaching a point in my life where I want a simple suspension setup that will work well, and I can do away with a bunch of features I will not really use often. In other words, I’m getting old and lazy.

The TEIN group has been discussing this new line, which is a premium shock absorber, for probably the past five years (to my knowledge). We’ve wanted to get into the replacement shock absorber line for some time now, but we wanted something that had an appreciable difference to the well-known aftermarket shock absorbers already on the market.

So, after all these years and years of discussion and product development, we now have our Endura Pro and Endura Pro Plus shock absorber line.

These shock absorbers are completely compatible with OEM vehicles. As stated, it is a replacement shock absorber. HOWEVER, it is far from a simple replacement. We’ve gone an extra step in making them a high performance shock absorber. In saying that, this product is not the same type of suspension as our existing line of coilovers, which in many cases offer a firmer ride and drastically reduced vehicle body motion (sway, squat, dive). The Endura Pro/Endura Pro Plus line does offer a very comfortable ride quality, but internally it is much different than a standard twin-tube shock absorber you’ll find as an OEM shock.

For starters, we actually have increased the internal capacity of the shock absorbers. In most cases, our Endura Pro/Endura Pro Plus shock absorbers are the same length as an OEM shock (a few applications use a slightly shorter damper body), but we also use larger diameter damper bodies, thus the internal volume is greater. In doing so, we’ve increased damper oil capacity over a standard shock absorber for the same vehicle application. That translates to better endurance (long-term driving) and increased longevity. It also allows us to use a larger than OEM piston valve which provides a greater damping force range.

For strut type applications, we use thicker piston rods (22mm dia.) able to withstand greater lateral loading that struts are subjected to.

OEM Strut Piston Rod

Endura Pro Strut Piston Rod

Since we use the same high-strength steel as used in our coilover kits, it allows us to reinforce areas of the damper, like the lower brackets on strut type suspensions, or the spring seat or sway bar bracket, without a large penalty in weight. In fact, for some applications the Endura Pro shock absorber is actually lighter than OEM!

Depending on the vehicle application, we will include necessary hardware to make the installation easier, such as collars, bump stoppers/washers, dust boot, bump stop, etc.

OEM shock (bottom) has a crimped collar, making removal of the dust boot, bump stop, and washer impossible. Endura Pro will include new hardware if necessary.

One new feature recently only applied to the TEIN FLEX A coilover kit has now made its way into every Endura Pro/Endura Pro Plus shock absorber- our Hydraulic Bump Stop. With the aforementioned FLEX A line, the only other TEIN product to incorporate a Hydraulic Bump Stop is our Gr.N rally coilovers. The off-road crowd probably knows a fair deal about how a hydraulic bump stop works- it creates higher damping force on compression to prevent the suspension from bottoming out completely, then allows the suspension to settle in a very controlled manner on rebound. What you end up with is a reduction in suspension oscillation (excessive up and down movement, or “porpoising”). Never before has a replacement shock absorber ever had such a feature.

The Endura Pro Plus line, specifically, has 16-way damping adjustment, similar to our other damping force adjustable coilover kits like STREET ADVANCE Z, FLEX Z, MONO SPORT, etc. This gives the end user the ability to set their suspension to their preferences depending on their driving conditions. As an added bonus to having this damping adjustment, this technically makes the Endura Pro Plus shock absorbers EDFC series compatible! With EDFC, now you can control the shock absorber damping settings directly from the driver’s seat. Opt for the EDFC ACTIVE or EDFC ACTIVE PRO series, and you’ll get adaptive damping force control based on speed or g-force loading! EDFC is a universal application for our 16-way adjustable TEIN dampers, so any car can use this setup (some vehicles may require modifications or adapters to make the EDFC Motors fit properly)!

Click knob for damping adjustment on strut type Endura Pro Plus

Click knob for damping adjustment on Endura Pro Plus

Lastly, the Endura Pro/Endura Pro Plus line adopts our new fully sealed structure in helping keep manufacturing costs (and MSRP) down. These shock absorbers will be available for sale individually, but we’ll also be offering them as a complete set with TEIN S.TECH lowering springs!

So again, this new Endura Pro/Endura Pro Plus line is far from a simple replacement shock absorber, and now I can say I know that personally.

After constant nagging to my boss, I wanted to see if we would be making some for the GD3 Honda Fit (2007-2008). Since I’ve taken ownership of my dad’s Fit, I’ve grown to love driving it. It’s by no means a fast car (quite the opposite, actually. I’ll just call it “brisk”), but it is small, lightweight for its size, and kind of fun to drive in a spirited manner. And it’s a practical car for me now that I have a small family of my own. The Fit also saves me from wasting gas in my truck driving solo to and from work, so it’s now my daily driver.

Now, with 80,000 miles, which is relatively low for this year vehicle, I can feel the suspension is not as it was when it was newer. Of course that can be from a number of things, but the shock absorbers are a pretty high wear and tear item in the suspension, so that felt like the cause. After removal of the shocks and compressing them by hand, there was still at least some nitrogen charge in all the shocks, but maybe not enough to really provide good rebound force.

Anyway, to get to the point, I finally got a set of Endura Pro Plus shock absorbers for the Fit!

 

DISCLOSURE– The Endura Pro Plus shock absorbers I’m using are designed for the Japanese market GD3 Honda Fit, which is not a direct fitment for the front.

 

This required some modification to the knuckle brackets by boring out the bolt holes to 14mm. Still, this isn’t a direct fitment even after this modification. The struts are the same length as the US Honda Fit OEM strut, however the spring seat and sway bar bracket are 20mm higher than the OEM strut (fortunately this poses no clearance issues). So, this actually does translate into a slightly higher front ride height. For my Fit, it was approximately 12mm higher than stock ride height in the front.

*Endura Pro Plus Strut (bottom) had bolt holes in lower bracket bored to fit USDM GD3 Honda Fit.

The rear dampers are a direct fit, so no problems there.

Clearance at the bottom is very close to the axle beam, due to the larger diameter body of Endura Pro/Endura Pro Plus shock absorber. Fortunately no contact with the beam, even at full droop.

With the shock absorbers set at 8 clicks (middle) front and rear, the ride quality felt very much as I remembered the car feeling like when new. That was ten years ago though, so I really only have a memory to go off of. One of my co-workers said that the shocks set to 16 clicks (softest) was actually an improvement over the worn OEM dampers. At 0 clicks (stiffest) it is actually a noticeably firm ride quality, but far from being jarring (the Fit uses soft springs). I found that a 12 click front and 10 click rear was more to my preference. So I drove on that for about a week, until one of the guys here (Gonzo, aka Cpt. Slammo, aka Monster Tuck) kept telling me “it needs to be lower”…. ughhh.

I actually wanted to lower the car a little anyway. Go figure. I mean that’s really what TEIN suspension is known for doing, so it’s only natural to want to use the products I help sell. So, I bought a set of our S.TECH lowering springs for the Fit (part # SKB36-AUB00). Knowing that the front struts are now a bit higher than the OEM strut, I thought the car would look a little funny with a slightly raised front end. But, to my surprise the ride height actually has a relatively even drop front and rear (referring to tire-fender gap)! The front actually dropped a little over 2″ front and 1.2″ rear (we spec S.TECH’s for the GD3 fit at -1.8″ front and -1.2″ rear). So even with the Endura Pro Plus front struts having higher spring seat position than OEM, it’s nearly about the same ride height as our test data. That difference can be due to the strut mounts (being mostly rubber) starting to sag.

As for ride quality, now it feels more in line with how one of our coilover kits feel, like a STREET ADVANCE Z for example. Not incredibly stiff, but nice and sporty with good compliance for my daily commute. The extra flexibility in having damping adjustability is a worthwhile upgrade, especially if you’re considering using lowering springs with new shock absorbers.

All in all, I’d say this is probably the happiest I’ve been with driving the Fit. The lowering springs really helped reduce the body motions (the Fit has a pretty tall roof line). The reduction in body sway is a dramatic improvement! I’ve found a damping setting on the Endura Pro Plus’s that works really well with the S.TECH’s.

In general, as a replacement shock absorber, the Endura Pro line is a great improvement over the factory suspension. Adding the adjustability I get with the Endura Pro Plus shocks gives me a chance to find a ride quality I prefer!

More information on the Endura Pro/Endura Pro Plus shock absorber line can be found on our website