Tesla Model 3 Suspension Arriving Soon!

Posted on October 20, 2021 by Paul P.

So we’re a bit late to the party. But better late than never, I suppose. We’ve probably said this many times before.

As Electric Vehicles continue to grow in popularity, and with many nations looking to reduce carbon emissions or become carbon-neutral, it was only a matter of time for the Electric Vehicle market to take off. And it really has taken off.

That’s a great opportunity for aftermarket manufacturers such as TEIN. People may need to rely on their Electric Vehicle strictly for commuting. However, that doesn’t mean they cannot enjoy their car for what it offers at face value. As always, where there’s a vehicle, the performance market is not far behind, and everyone wants that extra bit of performance, whether it be in power or handling, or just to simply have something different or unique.

As many of you have seen by now, the modern Electric Vehicle, namely the Teslas, are quite quick in acceleration. The manufacturer has done pretty well in setting their cars up. But let’s be honest, they’re catering to a global market. You can’t appease each and every person with a “run-of-the-mill” Tesla, regardless of which model Tesla it is.

So, we’re coming out with some performance suspension kits, starting with the Model 3, and soon the Model Y.

For the Model 3, both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive models, we’re making our S.TECH lowering springs, ENDURAPRO and ENDURAPRO PLUS shock absorbers, as well as our FLEX Z coilover kits.

The S.TECH lowering springs will provide a nice lowered ride height without being too aggressive. These will pair well with OEM shocks and struts, but for sure our ENDURAPRO or ENDURAPRO PLUS shocks will be a better pairing.

S.TECH Lowering Springs for Tesla Model 3 RWD (Standard Plus Model)

Part number: SKGP2-AUB00

Ride height drop: Ft- -1.6″; Rr- -1.4″

MSRP: $385

*Sold as a set of 4 springs

S.TECH Lowering Springs for Tesla Model 3 AWD (Dual Motor; incl. Performance Model).

Part number: SKGP4-AUB00

Ride height drop: Ft- -1.2″; Rr- -1.4″

MSRP: $385

*Sold as a set of 4 springs

ENDURAPRO and ENDURAPRO PLUS (16-click damping adjustable) shocks are true performance replacement shocks. Damper tuning is optimized to reduce body roll and provide better response to fast inputs. But beyond the tuning, the internal Hydraulic Bump Stopper (HBS) in each shock absorber provide increased comfort and safety by reducing a typical shock absorber’s tendency under full compression (bottoming out) to oscillate. This feature also increases vehicle stability in emergency maneuvers, especially in vehicles with added weight. Also, although designed to be a direct OE fitment, we incorporate a lot of features typical of our coilover kits- larger diameter damper bodies (increased damper oil capacity, larger diameter piston rods, and use of ultra high-strength steel in its construction.

ENDURAPRO Shock Absorbers for Tesla Model 3 RWD

Part number:
ENDURAPRO-
FL- VSGP2-A1MS2-L
FR-VSPG2-A1MS2-R
Rear- VSGP3-A1MS2

ENDURAPRO PLUS-
FL- VSPG2-B1MS2-L
FR- VSGP2-B1MS2-R
Rear- VSGP3-B1MS2

MSRP:
ENDURAPRO-
VSGP2-A1MS2-L – $145
VSPG2-A1MS2-R – $145
VSGP3-A1MS2 – $120

ENDURAPRO PLUS-
VSPG2-B1MS2-L – $160
VSGP2-B1MS2-R – $160
VSGP3-B1MS2 – $135

*sold as individual units

**Model 3 AWD (Dual Motor) shock absorbers coming soon!

Our FLEX Z coilovers, on the other hand, are for consumers who need much more than what our lowering springs and performance shocks can offer. FLEX Z coilovers provided full-length adjustability (separate spring preload and ride height adjustment), 16-way damping adjustment, upper mounts for front and rear dampers, high-rate springs, and valved to provide greater handling performance without compromising ride feel. For sure, much more aggressive for street, but not at the ride quality penalty typically associated with aftermarket coilover kits. Lastly, our FLEX Z coilovers are compatible with our optional Electronic Damping Force Controllers (EDFC)- ACTIVE and ACTIVE PRO, giving you the added benefit of damping adjustment from the driver’s seat. No need to have to manually set your damping by hand, and you can also save up to 10 different presets. However in Active mode, you can have damping that changes based on driving speeds or g-force load. This EDFC setup makes the FLEX Z a true adaptive suspension setup.

FLEX Z Coilover Kit for Tesla Model 3 RWD

Part number: VSGP2-C1AS3

Spring Rates: Ft- 9kg/mm (504lbs/in); Rr- 10kg/mm (560lbs/in)

MSRP: $1,200

*Model 3 AWD (Dual Motor) coilover kit coming soon!

So again, we’re late to the party. We tend to take our time on product development to make sure we get it right, and to make sure we have products that fill the needs of our customers. If you need help deciding on what suspension setup suits you the best, please give us a call at 562-861-9161, or email us at tus_sales@tein.com, and we’d be happy to assist you in getting the suspension you need!

2017+ Honda Civic EDFC Install

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Sergio M.

With the release of the current body style Civic FLEX Z Coilovers, we have been receiving more and more inquiries of how the EDFC Motors would mount, specifically the rears due to its limited accessibility. Luckily a close friend of ours was interested in the EDFC Active for his vehicle so I went ahead and did the install for him.

Since I had never really had a chance to look over the vehicle you can say I went into this blindly. Initially accessing power for the EDFC Active controller and driver units seemed to be impossible (at least in the engine compartment area) without requiring modifictions. I basically just wired up all three to the main fuse box under the dash. Also for reference, the Driver Unit power cables are be able to reach the main fuse box under the dash, the rear being longer and front slightly shorter in length. I was under the impression that they were the same length. The front Driver Unit was installed next to the Engine Compartment Fuse Box and the rear was placed on the backside rear bulkhead. Both were in decent areas for placement. However it’s eventually up to you on the placement for the driver units. Just make sure the heat sink portion of the driver unit has enough space to dissipate heat. Power source was setup first as I wanted to avoid staining any of the interior, since the rears required the shocks to be removed.

Installation of the front for this Civic required the use of the EDFC Motor Extension Kit to relocate the motors. Although it looks like the EDFC Motor will clear the hood, it in fact does not. The Click Assembly is first removed with the Hex Bolt. Once removed I applied the supplied grease to the hex bolt hole, wiping any excess grease from the piston shaft.

Next a small amount of Thread Locker (also included with the EDFC Motor Kit) is lightly applied to the piston shaft outer thread on both sides (where the Extension Kit’s Top Adapter screws on to).

Then the Top Adapter base is tightened onto the shaft using a 19mm wrench. Please note that a very minimal amount of force was exerted to the Top Adapter and should not be overtightened as it can break. Next the gold adjusting rod (Conversion Rod) is installed in the Top Adapter hole.

Prior to installing the 90 degree angle (Cover) and clip to the Top Adapter, I installed the Extension adding threadlocker on it and hand tightened it. Make sure that the Inner Shaft is turned out as to avoid any hangups with it against the gold Conversion Rod when installing.

Then proceed to install them on to the Top Adapter pressing down firmly to also press down the gold Conversion Rod and allow you to insert the locking clip to lock against the base. Afterwards add threadlocker to the other end of the Extension and proceed to install the EDFC Motor and also hand tightened it. Motor mounting location is up to you as some may have different locations preferred then the ones I had chosen. Also, do not bend the Extension (no U bends). It only allows a minimal amount of bending.

The fronts were not too bad to install. However, the rears were another story. Since only TEIN Japan had a chance to do an EDFC installation noting down key areas in the rear shock’s mounting tower where the EDFC motor cable is to exit, this gave us an opportunity to see if this would be the same for U.S. market applications. The wheelwell liner should be removed before uninstalling anything as it allows for a clear view of the shock mount tower area.

Due to limited accessibilty of the lower shock bolt, the rear spring should also be removed. Once the shock is removed the upper mount also needed to be disassembled to allow removal of the click assembly.

Once the click is removed apply the grease into the hex bolt hole then (applicable to EDFC ACTIVE and ACTIVE PRO models) install the supplied gold color hex bolt flush with the top of the piston rod. Reinstall the mount back on the damper. Apply grease to the hex bolt, then apply threadlocker to the piston shaft threads.

Proceed to install the EDFC motor hand tight to the threaded piston rod. Now, check that the EDFC Motor’s shaft turns freely by using a flathead screwdriver to turn the shaft- you should be able to complete several turns in either direction (it should eventually stop in either direction). The EDFC Motor cover was a slight pain to install since accessibility of the motor inside the cup-shaped upper mount was extremely limited. On a side note, I have seen where the Motor cover was preinstalled and a slit cut on the top of the EDFC Motor allowing for screwdriver access to the Motor’s shaft. Then once you check for free movement of the shaft, the slit can be resealed with silicon. Either method of EDFC Motor install works.

Prior to reinstalling shock, the EDFC Mid-Cable would need to be installed. As you can see in the images, there is a small access hole next to the main tower hole where the shock would mount.

The male connector of the mid cable needs to be fed through the smaller access hole over to the shock hole. Please take note that the cable connector also needs to be pushed through a small clearance on the top upper corner of the smaller access hole (as shown in the noted image).

Once pushed through, position the shock on its mount (I recommend to install the bolt through the lower shock eye ring bushing for support.) then connect the two cables together and gently pull the mid cable and EDFC motor cable through. During this time you would also need to move the shock’s upper mount closer to the tower to avoid tearing the cable wire. Once the shock mount is close enough, a bolt can be threaded on to hold the upper mount in place allowing for the cable slack to be removed then the mount to be completely reinstalled. Afterwards you can reinstall the shock bolt and spring, applying suspension preload when tightening up the loosened bolts.The EDFC Mid Cables were ran through existing grommets into the trunk area to the driver unit.

Though this install took a little longer than anticipated, we have a better understanding for installing EDFC ACTIVE (and EDFC ACTIVE PRO) on 2017+ Honda Civic models. Hope this helps out for any out there looking to install our EDFC systems on similar applications. As per usual you can alway contact us direct should you have any technical questions.

TEIN MONO RACING Coilovers

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Paul P.

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.

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.

JZA90 Supra Development

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Paul P.

Every year a new car release puts us consumers in a tough spot- choosing between a “want” and a “need”. Actually, that’s pretty much the market that TEIN is in. We have a performance product that either a customer simply just wants, or in fact really needs, all depending on what they’re using it for. And for us, just like these new car releases, we have to determine which of our products the customer is going to want, especially for something like the much anticipated new Toyota Supra.

Even on a spec sheet, a stock A90 Supra is a very good package. Of course, as always, the OEM leaves a bit to be desired in many aspects. However, we can see a change in demographic in what they “want” and “need”. Even before the A90 made its way to the consumer, we received inquiries on this platform, mostly with potential owners wanting coilovers. In fact, we got our head start working with Toyota Motorsports as they prepared a couple of A90’s for pace cars to be used at Toyota sponsored events, such as NASCAR races. It was a great opportunity for our in-house engineer to get all the measurements he needs and make a suspension that works well for a pace car, no different than what we’ve done for the Camry pace cars that Toyota Motorsports has worked with us on suspension over the past few years.

Again, on OEM specs alone, the new A90 Supra is very well equipped. Even though we knew that a “pace car” suspension will never be made as an out-of-the-box setup for our end-users, we had to really think of what, of our products, is the best fit.

A90 Supras have factory electronically controlled suspension. It’s sharing basically all the underpinnings of BMW’s Z4 platform, and BMW technology is found throughout the Supra. So, we know that some consumers are going to want to retain that feature. So first on the list is lowering springs, our S.TECH line specifically.

Next, we knew that coilovers were inevitable. So development on that naturally came next. We’re for sure making a street compliant kit, most likely based around our STREET ADVANCE Z, FLEX Z or FLEX A line. However, the issue is compatibility with the factory electronic solenoids. Much like the FK8 Civic Type R, we’re having to develop our Canceller Units to avoid any issues unplugging these said electronics. This means that the customer can opt for one of our EDFC kits instead of the factory electronics. Yes, that’s an added cost, but our EDFC systems (specifically ACTIVE and ACTIVE PRO) are very advanced and a worthwhile upgrade. Still, we may consider something like our FLEX AVS coilovers which is aimed at Toyotas and Lexus’s using Adaptive Variable Suspension. BUT, this car uses BMW based suspension, and not Toyota’s AVS. So, that will take a bit more time to develop.

On top of making a FLEX type of coilover, we will plan for a more race oriented type setup, most likely around our new MONO RACING coilovers.

Preliminary testing has been completed on production A90’s (the Supra Pace Cars were technically pre-production vehicles, to my understanding). But we’ll still be working on development once other coilover prototypes arrive. So, give us a little time to get these products out!

TEIN Endura Pro Plus Shock Absorbers

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Paul P.

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

Where TEIN Sources Materials for Manufacturing

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Paul P.

We’ve seen this topic come up as a discussion point for coilovers on automotive forums before. It’s a worthwhile discussion since many people will argue that this affects the “Made In Japan” label, or a “Made in Whatever-Country-We-Are-Talking-About” label, for that matter.

Why is this important? To us, it’s good to know because, while we do a majority of our manufacturing in Japan, it is clear that Japan is only so big. Certain raw materials clearly cannot come from such a small place, and other countries have industries that are better suited for manufacturing certain materials. Therefore, we must look to outside countries to source our materials, whether raw or preformed.

While we do manufacture such items like our springs, dampers, and even our spring seats/seat locks, we may have to source the alloys (in the form of wire, tubing, & billets or barstock) from countries such as China, Indonesia, Australia, and even from the U.S. It is all dependent on whether the materials can be sourced from each country, and whether those materials meet our standards for the products we make.

Extruded tubing that has been cut to length are placed in our automatic feeder for our lathes to be machined.

TEIN Japan New Facility (Jan 4, 2016 076

Our steel knuckle brackets are made in-house using materials (tubing and stamped steel sheet) sourced from other countries.

TEIN Japan New Facility (Jan 4, 2016 050

Our piston rods come in as long cold-drawn bar stock. We then cut to length, gun drill, machine, thread, & polish as necessary.

Items like our dust boots and eye ring bushings, which comprise mainly of rubber, come from China. This wasn’t always the case. In fact, we once had an issue with some eye ring bushings where the rubber bushing separated from the steel shell. So, we had to source some replacements from a Japanese manufacturer. But even then, we imagine the materials used by this Japanese manufacturer came by way of China. Still, we were able to resolve the matter, even if it meant recalling some of these Chinese manufactured bushings and paying a bit more from the Japanese supplier.

Steel, a very important part of TEIN suspensions, and a component that goes into our damper shellcases, upper mounts, and springs (in a different alloy), may also come from our Chinese suppliers.

Extruded steel tubing used for our shell cases and lower brackets.

TEIN Japan New Facility (Jan 4, 2016 021

Steel bar stock is cut to specific sizes in order to mount onto our lathes for multi-step machining. These will eventually become pillow ball cases for our upper mount assemblies.

Aluminum alloy barstock being cut to length.

The three common grades of aluminum alloy we use for our suspension components.

TEIN Japan New Facility (Jan 4, 2016 086

Machined components from both steel and aluminum bar stock/billet.

Some of our electronics, such as our EDFC systems (EDFC Controllers) come from China. They’re designed in-house at TEIN Japan, much in the way that some of our Smartphones are designed by U.S. engineers, but made in China. Other components of EDFC, such as cables and stepping motors, come from Indonesia.

Small components, like nuts and bolts, can also come from an overseas supplier.

We don’t try to hide from the fact that some parts are made overseas and not from Japan. You can even see where some of these parts are made since we have to put the country of origin right on the packaging or on the items themselves.

And again, our STREET BASIS Z & STREET ADVANCE Z line come from our TEIN China plant, our very own manufacturing facility (we choose not to outsource our Chinese made suspension kits). ***HOWEVER, regarding our springs for these suspension kits, we actually do import finished springs from Japan due to a quality concern we had with the first batch of coilover springs we were making in China.Fortunately we discovered this spring issue in our quality control tests, so these items never reached the consumer. Until we can get spring manufacturing in China corrected, we will continue to import the springs from Japan.

Also, as we do with each and every damper made in Japan, each and every TEIN China manufactured damper goes through our damper dyno to ensure proper damping force and function. It’s time consuming and not very cost-efficient, but we’ve got a reputation as a quality manufacturer to uphold. Until we can rectify the issue with our Chinese manufactured coilover springs, we’ll continue to import the springs from Japan.

Each and every component we use for our suspension kits goes through rigorous testing to make sure they meet our requirements well before they even make its way into one of our kits. EVERY COMPONENT. We push items like our dust boots and bump stops, even the thrust washer between the spring and seat lock, to the point of destruction, just to see exactly how long they will last and under what type of loads/stresses they are subjected to before failing. Coatings like our patented 2-Layer/1-Bake powdercoating, our pioneered low-friction ZT coating, and even our anodizing are placed in accelerated aging and salt water spraying to test against corrosion. You may have already seen our video regarding our lowering springs and how they compare to a counterfeit (in terms of spring design. not necessarily in terms of color and labeling). That’s the kind of testing that enables us to make the highest quality product for the money.

If we cannot find a component or material that meets our needs, we will do what we can to manufacture the parts ourselves. It may be costly for us to do it in that way, but it may sometimes be the only option we have.

TEIN Japan New Facility (Jan 4, 2016 017

Our in-house quality control section. All components are inspected and tested prior to making their way into one of our kits.

Piston rod inspection ensures defect-free finishing, critical in ensuring longevity and high performance function of our shock absorbers.

This is what differentiates our definition of “Made In Japan” compared to other Japanese suspension manufacturers, and we’re now redefining what “Made In China” or “P.R.C.” (People’s Republic of China) stands for. We push these statements well beyond the standard, and even beyond your very understanding. We hope that our customers know that, wherever our components come from, quality will be our highest priority well before you get your hands on our products.

Super Street Magazine’s Cars of Formula Drift New Jersey

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Paul P.

For sure Formula Drift New Jersey, which took place on June 17 & 18, had a great crowd turnout, as well as a nice showing of cars both inside the venue, out in the parking lot, and of course on the track.

We were glad to have ourselves a beautiful booth car for our TEIN booth. The Evo X owned by Max Solarz was tastefully set up using our MONO SPORT coilovers, and a host of other JDM goodies. That really helped our booth stand out.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t any other good looking car at the event. As we mentioned, it seemed the whole venue was packed with nicely built cars. Super Street Magazine was gracious enough to share their pics of cars from Wall Speedway’s pit area. Check it out!

Formula D New Jersey 2016 Pit Walk

New Video of Evasive Motorsports’ Nissan GT-R!

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Paul P.

We never really get bored of the project vehicles that Evasive Motorsports works on every year, even if it’s a project we’re not directly involved with. GT Channel, in collaboration with Nitto Tire, put out a new video showcasing Evasive Motorsports’ Nissan GT-R, the very same car that was displayed at our SEMA booth last year.

Progress on this car is relatively slow. However, as you can see in everything Evasive Motorsports creates, these are all well-thought modifications. Rather than jumble a bunch of parts to create a race car, the team at Evasive tests each and every component in a long-winded effort to extract the absolute highest performance they can. It’s a balancing act, and an act they know very well.

For several years now we’ve been very fortunate to not only have Evasive Motorsports as one of our customers, but also as one of our largest promoters for our products. That’s not to say that they are necessarily brand exclusive. They also do builds using suspension components from various manufacturers. We were glad that they approached us when it came to their project GT-R.

There is already a plethora of suspension components available for the GT-R, none of them really being all that cheap. And if we’re being honest, neither are our coilover kits. The GT-R, from the factory, already comes with a great suspension setup. It takes time to R&D a kit that can really improve the vehicle’s performance. To date, we’ve released our MONO SPORT coilovers and our SUPER RACING coilovers. Evasive Motorsports chose the latter, opting for the SUPER RACING dampers’ separate compression & rebound adjustment, as well as aluminum bodied dampers. Available as an option through our Overhaul & Revalve service is our 3-way unit, giving our SUPER RACING Dampers both low and high-speed tuning abilities for compression.

We’re working closely with Evasive Motorsports as they dial in their suspension for the GT-R. Again, it’s a process, and any major changes to the vehicle, whether additional power, or additional aerodynamics, or even more grip, directly affects how the suspension reacts. We want to make sure they get the most out of our suspension. Also, they’re perfecting their suspension setup using our EDFC ACTIVE PRO system! That certainly makes for a very adaptive suspension package!

Anyway, we’ve delayed you long enough getting you to the video. Check it out below!

TEIN Japan Factory Tour with DSPORT Magazine

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Paul P.

Never before has a consumer stepped foot into the TEIN factory, ever!

As you can imagine, TEIN (as with many other manufacturers) has some proprietary methods for manufacturing shock absorbers, with several processes pioneered in-house. In fact, there are some machines developed specifically by TEIN engineers solely for our own use. So, to show that to the public may be detrimental to us since we do not want such information to be released to the public. This is information that can reach another suspension manufacturer!!!

However, there is a benefit to showing consumers what TEIN does and what we’re capable of. For one, it’s a sign that TEIN is confident in our technology. Second, consumers are just as interested in seeing how their products are made. So why not show them?!

Well, that’s exactly what we did! We worked with DSPORT magazine to arrange a tour of our facility during their Tokyo Auto Salon guest tour for this year.

Every year, DSPORT Magazine arranges a tour package for interested people. For about $3,500/person, guests get to take a trip to Japan and visit Tokyo Auto Salon and several Japanese performance parts manufacturers’ facilities. So it sounded like a prime opportunity to have TEIN show the public our factory.

We felt bad for our guests, though. The day before was to be a trip to Fuji Speedway. But, due to bad weather the event was canceled. We were hoping our tour would make up for that missed event!

We had just over 40 guests for our tour on January 19th.

Prior to the tour, we gave our visitors a general overview of our property, including our offices, R&D facilities, Quality Assurance facility, and manufacturing.

Just a brief overview of TEIN’s facility prior to showing our guests our facility.

Since it was a fairly large group for us, we had split up the group among 8 tour guides.

Below are a few pics of the factory’s facilities and processes. Again, we have to limit what we can show the public. Sorry:

Our Materials Yard, where we keep inventory of parts to prepare for manufacturing our suspension.

Other than steel components, we also use aluminum alloys. We stock three grades of aluminum billets, each one to be used depending on the application and use. For aluminum damper shell cases, we use an A 7050 grade extruded tube, however.

Aluminum billets are cut into smaller billet blanks using either our band saw or circular saw.

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A series of some of our many lathes used to machine many types of our suspension components.

A sampling of some of the suspension components our lathes can process, from prototype to finished product.

Some of our components are machined from billet blanks, which we cut from larger bar stock, using various grades of steel and aluminum depending on the product requirements. These steel pucks will end up becoming our pillowball cases for strut type upper mounts.

TEIN Japan New Facility (Jan 4, 2016 059

We use tubing of various sizes to make damper shell cases to lower brackets for full-length adjustable dampers.

Lower brackets, after any necessary welding, go through shot blasting prior to any surface coatings.

Semi finished piston rods that have just been gun drilled (for damping adjustable suspension applications). Still a few more steps to being completed sub assemblies.

We have many lathes to handle different processes, such as piston rod machining. Here, threads being cut for piston valve assembly.

Vital for our piston shafts is our high-resolution inspection machine. It is capable of detecting even the slightest flaw on the piston shaft surface. Each and every piston shaft is inspected. If defects are found, we must discard the shaft.

Our Swiss Precision Lathes help create small damper components like our ADJ Needles. Such small parts require great detail, which this machine can do consistently. It also runs nearly non-stop!!!

A finished batch of our ADJ Needle Stoppers out from the Swiss Precision Lathes.

A recent addition to our factory is this Laser Cutting Machine, capable of cutting steel up to 16mm thick using a carbon dioxide laser beam. Quite a fast and efficient process!

Here’s the Laser Cutter in action, cutting our camber plates for strut type pillowball upper mounts.

The second floor of our factory handles our surface coating stages. First, we shot blast our steel components. This allows our powdercoatings to adhere better to the steel bodies.

After shot blasting, some shell cases go through our patented 2-Layer/1-Bake powder coating process, where zinc powder is first applied, followed by our trademark green powder paint, then cured.

After final assembly, kits are packaged up and shipped out!

While a couple groups went out for the factory tour, we also set up a test drive so visitors can try our new FLEX A dampers and EDFC ACTIVE PRO on a Toyota Vellfire.

The tour went faster than expected, and considering the factory was in full swing when we had it, it was difficult to hang around the machinery for very long with TEIN staff trying to navigate around us.. We even had to speed through some demonstrations by factory staff. Fortunately we were able to showcase a lot of our machinery and even some prototypes.

Afterwards, we took our guests out for a sushi lunch.

Overall, it looked to be a fun experience for our guests. I got to speak with several of them and they were all impressed with our manufacturing. So many people wanted to purchase TEIN suspension kits right away!!! Lol. I felt bad that we couldn’t arrange any suspension purchases while we were there, but I’ll be taking care of them on their return to the U.S.!

TEIN Japan DSPORT Tour (Jan 18, 2016) 1 blog

Thanks to DSPORT and all of our guest for joining us in our Factory Tour!!!

We hope to continue doing tours for guests each year. So, if you plan on making your way to Tokyo Auto Salon, take a little extra time from your trip to stop by TEIN!!!……

……..Like our friends at Evasive Motorsports!

Thanks for stopping by, guys!!!!

Moto IQ’s Project Supra Updates (EDFC ACTIVE)

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Paul P.

We’re glad to see Moto IQ’s Project Supra make a return to their webpages! It’s a long-going process for this car, as it has essentially received a full makeover, from engine/trans, to body, and of course suspension. Just like real life, the crew at Moto IQ are taking the time to really sort this Supra build out. I mean, don’t you all take your time with your builds?! I’d hope so! No half steppin’ your project cars, no cutting corners, guys and gals!!!

Just over a year ago, we had taken in their TYPE FLEX coilovers for a rebuild. At the time we were addressing the rebuild, we wanted them to try out our ADVANCE NEEDLE for damping force adjustment (which became an addition to our STREET FLEX setup when they superseded the older Flex setups).

However, we also thought this car to be a good candidate to try out the [then new] EDFC ACTIVE setup we had released at around the same time. So, now it’s installed, and all they need to do is get the EDFC ACTIVE controller calibrated for its mounting position!

We’re looking forward to other updates on this car. Again, they’ve done a full build on the motor, so we really want to see what this street hulk can do! We may be suspension guys, but horsepower and torque are other things we love too 😉

*pictures courtesy of MotoIQ

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