The Importance of Damper Maintenance

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Paul P.

Well, by now you know that we are able to service our suspension, whether it is a damper rebuild, or in the case of the new STREET BASIS Z, STREET ADVANCE Z, & FLEX Z- replacement single dampers can be purchased.

So then, why is it still important to maintain your suspension?

Quite simply- cost. Just because we can service our suspension, it doesn’t make it a wise idea to run them dirty or to not periodically inspect the dampers and all its components for any wear, or to make sure they’re torqued properly (spring seats/seat locks, nuts, etc.). We don’t feel it to be necessary to spend a lot on overhaul. I mean, we appreciate the business and all, but we don’t appreciate your screaming when you get shocked by a rebuild quote. Lol.

We say this because it isn’t uncommon for an overhaul customer to complain about our overhaul prices. Yes, we do have a base overhaul fee. This fee covers the replacement of seals and o-rings, refreshing damper oil with new damper oil, recharging with nitrogen, and of course the labor to do this work. But, components such as the piston shaft, ring nut, piston guide, piston valve, these are all extra components that get added above the base overhaul fee’s cost if we find it necessary to replace. Lately, we’ve been seeing 5-10 year old coilover sets hovering around the $200 (each damper) range for a rebuild. That amounts to about $800 a set. Nearly the cost of a new coilover kit, depending on the model.

One of my favorite pics from Jonathan Wong at Driving Line when he came to check out our overhaul service. Damper oil should never look like this. That is way too dirty and shows that the damper was drawing in dirt as it cycled (probably through a blown seal). This can wreak havoc on the dampers’ internals, and bring overhaul costs to some exorbitant amount.

Don’t get me wrong. If I personally saw a rebuild quote near that amount, I’d probably bust a vein on my forehead. I’m no different than a lot of consumers. Money is tight, yo! I can’t be spending on unnecessary things.

Back to damper maintenance- It’s actually really easy to do. And, if you can’t do it yourself, take it to any of our authorized dealers for service.

Pretty crusty, mang. That’s way too much dirt on the threads. May not look like a big problem, and for the most part it should come off easily. But it some cases where this type of dirt gets lodged into the threads and seat locks/spring seats, it can cause them to seize. The only way to remove- cut them off.

Honestly, simply keeping your suspension clean is the easiest step. Suspensions sit inside the vehicle’s wheelwell. This exposes all its components to the elements. Road debris such as dirt, gravel, mud, road salts (in places where it snows heavily), and such, can all adhere to the damper body. This can get lodged into so many places that can cause damage- threads where the seat lock/spring seat assembly adjust for ride height, around the dust seal at the top of the damper (where the piston shaft slides in and out of), around the pillowball mount (if applicable for your coilover application). This dirt can get stuck in any of these places and cause seat locks/spring seats to seize or piston shafts to get scratched.

Why this is a problem is excessive wear. A seized seat lock/spring seat will be increasingly difficult to remove and adjust. In some cases customers send in their dampers just so we can cut them out and purchase replacement pieces. That’s an unnecessary cost to me. Those things should last about the whole life of your suspension.

Scratches on the piston shaft can cause the nitrogen charge to leak out, affecting damper rebound, and eventually affecting damper life as oil can eventually leak out. And when oil leaks out and owners continue to drive for several hundred or thousands of miles, it causes more internal components to wear out, only adding to overhaul costs.

A piston shaft scratched, but not by dirt. Actually, the customer tried using pliers to hold the piston shaft in place while they tried to tighten down the nut to secure the upper mount to the coilover assembly. Still enough to cause problems to the damper and excessive damage to the dust seal.

Worn threads due to cross-threaded nut installation. Again, not typical wear and definitely not something we’ll be able to repair. A new piston shaft needs to be ordered for this case. That’s an extra $40 on top of the base overhaul fee.

We realize this sounds like a lot of work. After all, you’d have to get the car off the ground, wheels out of the way, then go into each wheelwell and clean up the dampers. But, so it goes in the world of adjustable suspension. You pay good money for high performance handling, but it doesn’t mean your car is maintenance-free.

Seriously, take the time to clean your dampers. It can be twice a year (in areas where it doesn’t snow), or 4 times a year. Be adamant of making sure your suspension is in tip-top shape. Also, while you’re down there, inspect your dust boots and bump stops. Those should have good pliability and no tears. Dust boots are a good preventative measure in keeping dirt away from the piston shaft and dust seal.

We hope this helps all you performance suspension owners a little bit, for whatever it’s worth to you. In the end we want you to enjoy your suspension for as long as possible, without having to spend a bunch of money to make sure it runs properly.

First Set of Evasive-Spec SRC w/ 3-Way

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Paul P.

Our friends at Evasive Motorsports have a date at the race track later this year. And while their S2000 is still in pieces, starting to be reassembled, they had sent in their very own Evasive-Spec Super Racing (SRC) coilovers for a rebuild.

But wait, there’s more!!!

They got wind of our new 3-Way units designed specifically for our Super Racing coilovers. They figured since they’re going all out on this S2000 this year, they wanted to upgrade their SRC’s to get the most out of it. Of course, we still needed to test it. Just having received the units a few months ago, we have now been able to start work on them.

We just recently posted about the 3-way units and their benefits. This car is going to Buttonwillow for the end of the year event- Global Time Attack’s Super Lap Battle. This is a great venue, and the course has plenty of challenges. It’s also less than perfect, with plenty of rough surface transitions, bumps, curbs, etc. This is an grueling test for both driver and machine, and this easily this makes Evasive’s S2000 a great candidate for the 3-way modification.

To make a long story short, we said “OK” then they said “Cool”, and we were like “Awesome”. After several rounds of back and forth acknowledgement, we got to work.

While we do not have details on the cost of the units and revalve service just yet, Evasive shelled out some [MAJOR] ducats and got them installed while we refreshed their dampers.

A simple glance at the coilovers wouldn’t reveal a whole lot. The 3-way unit itself is adapted directly to the External Reservoir, but it looks different (noticeably larger) than the Base Valve adapter it replaces.

EVS SRC with 3-Way (assembled) 015 resize

A Front and Rear SRC side by side.

Also, the SRC dampers still maintain EDFC series compatibility. It is just that it only works for Rebound and Low-Speed Compression. High-Speed Compression will be left as a manually adjusted setup.

EVS SRC with 3-Way (assembled) 025 resize

Front damper with EDFC Motor on Compression (External Reservoir) and Rebound (Top of piston shaft).

EVS SRC with 3-Way (assembled) 020 resize

Rear damper with EDFC Motor installed on compression and rebound.

We’ll try to get you guys some updates on this as Evasive’s project car nears completion. They have a test day planned, which I’m sure they’ll document. We’re looking forward to getting these units fully evaluated by them!

3-Way Damper Customization for Super Racing Suspension

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Paul P.

This has been a long time coming. We’ve actually had 3-way damping (Rebound, Low-Speed Compression, & High-Speed Compression) technology for a long while now, made for our N1 suspension. But, it is very expensive and mainly reserved for race teams only. We also developed one for our Gr.N and 4×4 dampers, which are much more robust units, but these offered a wider range of tuning possibilities due to rally suspension needing the highest available tunability because of the higher piston speed range these dampers have. As you can imagine, this was an even more expensive unit.

Here’s a 4×4 Damper with 3-Way Unit installed on the External Reservoir.

As you can see, the 3-Way Unit for our 4×4 Damper doesn’t look much different than the newer units we’ve just come out with. That’s because the new ones are nearly a direct derivative of the 4×4 Damper (and Gr.N) units, just much more affordable in terms of manufacturing cost. The technology, which is proprietary, is just about the same.

Now, we’ve developed a much more affordable (in comparison to the original units), less complex, and effective unit based around the Gr.N 3-way unit’s design that we will start doing testing on very soon!

The 3-Way Unit (Silver) is made as an adaptive system to our Super Racing coilovers. We replace the original ADJ System, as we refer to it (or Compression Adjuster, if it’s easier) with our 3-Way Adjuster Unit. As you can see, we have two different designs depending on how we mount the external reservoir.

What’s so special about 3-Way damping? Well, this specifically affects the compression side of damping. The thing is, while we can easily tune a damper for what we believe to be the most ideal conditions, race cars see various changes in track surfaces that can affect their elapsed time. Race tracks can be a mix of glass-smooth surfaces followed by huge bumps or kerbs, and even expansion joints, or just rough surface transitions. This can unsettle a car quickly, and the less time on the throttle means seconds being added to the elapsed time.

Such surface transitions require a damper that responds to such instances by allowing the compression side to actually soften for a brief moment. If you think of it from your car’s tires’ aspect, an increase in damping force as piston speed increases can cause the tire to momentarily lose contact with the surface (hop). That means a loss in traction. Remember, a car maintains its best mechanical grip when all four tires maintain contact with the surface it rolls on, and that means the driver can keep on the throttle for a longer duration.

Many of you may have heard of “Digressive Valving” for dampers. What this means is that as damper piston speeds increase, the damping force has actually decreased (instead of increasing exponentially as this speed increases). Many dampers, by design, are technically digressive valving. However, the drop off in damping force may not be as much as some manufacturers are expecting. So, some may use some type of blow-off valve that opens extra ports as piston speeds increase instead of just relying on the shim stack assembly, and this creates a greater drop off in damping force as piston speed exceeds a certain level.

Low-speed, both in terms of vehicle speed and damping speed, is easier to control. There is very little resistance to the tires contact with the road surface. It is when vehicle speed or surface changes occur that mechanical grip becomes more of a concern.

To correct for such instances, race dampers have some form of high-speed damping control, and mainly on the compression side. This is where our new 3-way unit comes into play.

As mentioned before, we have already had versions of this, the most popular being on our Gr.N coilovers for rally. Think about the road surfaces that rally racing has- loose gravel, gaps, jumps. These are all things that can make a tire lose contact with the surface quickly. We’ve done really well with our 2-way adjustable Super Racing dampers, but as race cars get faster and faster, their suspension needs to cope with potential road surface transitions and react at a much quicker rate. We’ve been trying to get a 3-way version of the Super Racing dampers out to market, but it was just too expensive with our previous technology. So, we now hope to have something a bit more reasonable! However, we’ll only offer this as an upgrade under our overhaul service.

Also, if you’ve ever heard people talking about unsprung mass (weight not being supported by the suspension under gravity) as a concern, it is because heavy unsprung mass (tires, wheels, brakes, knuckle/hub, etc) can cause great upward deflection momentum, and that means a tire can lose contact with the road surface for much longer (in terms of fractions of a second). While we can try to combat that upward momentum by increasing spring rate (to try and speed up rebound force), it doesn’t benefit the compression side. In fact, this only exacerbates the problem with lost traction. What we want is a damper that has the ability to control a wider range of compression speeds. This will help keep the tires in traction, or as some people say- keeps the car planted.
For now we have only developed them as optional units for our Super Racing setup, and we’ll have one of our closest sponsored parties using them for this year’s Global Time Attack Super Lap Battle finale for the 2015 season. The racetrack, Buttonwillow Raceway Park, is a great test for us as the road surface has all sorts of transitions and undulations that can really hamper a vehicle’s ability to be fast.

This 3-Way Unit is specifically for our “SA” type dampers, or dampers for double wishbone or multilink suspension. Basically it is directly mounted to the damper body.

For our Strut Type suspension (Inverted monotube design), or where room doesn’t allow us to mount the external reservoir and 3-Way Unit directly to the damper body, we can do a remote setup, this give us some flexibility in mounting the external reservoir/3-Way Unit to the vehicle. As much as possible, though, we try to keep the remote hose as short as possible.

Stay tuned for more updates on our 3-Way testing.

Identifying FLEX Z Coilovers

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Paul P.

Honestly, there really isn’t much of a difference from FLEX Z to STREET FLEX dampers physically. Really, the only thing, other than verifying the part number on the bottom bracket (silver Caution sticker), is to check the damper itself.

As we have mentioned, the FLEX Z dampers are fully sealed units, which mean it cannot be rebuilt. However, identifying what a fully sealed damper looks like may not be so easy for some. So, here are a couple things to check for:

Silver (Caution) Sticker-

This sticker not only shows the product by name, but also the part number (where “SAMPLE” is listed), listed as a 10 digit alphanumeric (ex. “VCQ54-U2531”). If, for any reason, you can only see a part number and not the product name, give us a call and we can verify what kit it really is. As you can see, we also list the vehicle application (typically by chassis code), and the lot number (bottom 5 digits, alphanumeric).

But, if you have a chance to inspect the dampers yourself, you can check out the top of the damper body shell case-

As you can see in the picture above, the STREET FLEX coilovers (and current models of STREET BASIS & STREET ADVANCE coilovers) use a Ring Nut to seal off the damper. This allows us to fully disassemble the damper and service the unit. This also lets us revalve dampers by giving us access to the piston and base valve assembly.

The FLEX Z, on the other hand, has been fully crimped and capped. This means we cannot reopen the dampers at all. In the event the customer has a worn out FLEX Z damper, they can simply purchase a replacement damper body only (no need to purchase the bottom bracket, seat locks & spring seat, spring, or upper mount). Then all that is needed is to swap some of the original components back on to the new damper body.

We certainly hope this helps you find any major differences between the two FLEX line of coilovers, especially down the road when people may resell their FLEX Z coilovers and list them as STREET FLEX. We believe it’s worthwhile knowing how to spot any major differences.

As always, if you are not sure of how to identify our products, give us a ring! We’ll be glad to help!!!

TEIN Replacement Single Dampers

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Paul P.

As many of our customers are already aware, we’re able to sell single dampers as replacements. While not as cost-effective as rebuilding your dampers, it is a better time-saving method of getting your vehicle back on the road. We know that some customers have heard from auto parts stores (probably non-authorized TEIN dealers) that TEIN will only sell complete kits. That isn’t true.

We’ve heard from customers wanting their dampers serviced by us, but concerned about the 2-2.5 week turnaround time. We know that for some customers, they only have one car to use. Being without a car for a 2.5 week minimum can cause havoc to their daily routine. This is why we are able to sell single dampers.

This same service will apply to the upcoming “Z” line of dampers, such as our STREET FLEX Z, STREET ADVANCE Z, & STREET BASIS Z coilover kits. Since they are all fully sealed, non-rebuildable units, it will be much easier to just replace the bare damper (pictured below, middle).

Mind you, these are not merely damper inserts/cartridges like some other suspension manufacturers use. We mean the actual bare damper- no spring, no upper mount (FLEX Z), no lower bracket (FLEX Z). What’s the difference between an actual damper and a damper insert?

Our dampers are application-specific, meaning that each damper is made specifically for one vehicle model. Of course, there are some vehicles that share similar platforms where we can sell a single coilover kit part number (ex. 1999-2003 Acura TL = 1998-2002 Honda Accord). In other words, we’re not simply using one design of shock absorber insert and placing them into damper bodies of various lengths just so we can say “Application-Specific”. Each coilover kit has carefully selected spring rates and dampers are valved to match (yes, we actually test each vehicle application before deciding spring rates and damper valving). That means that the internal components of the dampers, such as piston shaft, inner tube (for twin-tube dampers), and a few other components, have to be of a specific length for a given design. It is a timely and costly process, but it makes more sense to do it right. To be honest, we’re not too sure how well damper inserts work, especially if different vehicles require different damper valving and stroke length. It really doesn’t make a lot of sense.

You can see how a damper insert is put into an existing shell case.

Another problem with damper inserts/cartridges is their limited capacity. Because their overall dimensions are smaller than the shell case they’re being put into, that means less volume for damper oil.

oil capacity in a TEIN damper

oil in a damper insert/cartridge

For a performance damper, this limited oil capacity means susceptibility to damper fade and decreased damping force under extended use. That is why we make every coilover application to exacting dimensions for their intended vehicle. Unless it is an absolutely practical application, TEIN dampers will never use cartridges, ever!

Back on topic, this single damper replacement service is available for each and every one of our products, including the upcoming “Z” line, but will be much more affordable compared to the current rebuildable dampers.

For discontinued TEIN items or dampers we no longer have inventory of, we can remanufacture single dampers through TEIN Japan. The only problem is that customers may have to face extended downtime since the remanufactured dampers are made to order.

Our goal is to decrease a customer’s downtime on vehicle repairs. For us, this makes a lot of sense to be able to provide such service.

If you are having problems ordering a single replacement damper, please give us a call at 562-861-9161. We’re glad to assist you in getting your car back on the road!

Customized Suspension for Evo X Chase Vehicle!

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Paul P.

This was a special project for us. Our good friend at Clockwork Media came by asking for suspension for his camera car that he uses for filming. You may actually be familiar with a lot of their work, as they do most of the videos for Scion Racing! So anything drift, rally, and anything in between that Scion is involved with, Clockwork Media takes care of a majority of it!

Back to their need for suspension. As mentioned in the title, they use a Mitsubishi Evo X that is only modified with extra equipment to mount cameras and such onto the car. Their concern was that, with stock suspension and with a total of four passengers, the ride quality was still very harsh. This translated into very choppy looking video, as they played a clip of a chase run with the GReddy sponsored Scion Racing FR-S of Ken Gushi. On top of addressing the harsh ride concern, they needed a suspension kit that will maintain close to factory ride height (including the four passengers in the car).

This sounded like a pretty good challenge for us. For those of you familiar with our coilover products, you may already know that most of our kits are designed to lower vehicles, and most have a bit more aggressive spring rates and damper valving to enhance handling performance. So technically, we had nothing off-the-shelf to meet their needs.

However, we have the ability to do some customization in-house. Since all of our coilovers are rebuildable, we can customize internals and modify damper valving for specific spring rates.

Prior to deciding on what coilover package we could use, we did a quick corner balance on the vehicle to see how much more weight was added (excluding the passengers). Then, our engineer went to work looking up existing Evo X suspension kits we already offer. It turns out our STREET FLEX coilover was the best candidate for modification. The next problem- getting factory ride height and factoring the added weight of passengers and filming equipment. Typically, for such requests we have custom piston shafts made by TEIN Japan, then air freighted to us. Our engineer was able to find existing piston shaft designs to use, which saved them the hassle of having to design new ones altogether.

Mind you, this doesn’t necessarily add more stroke. We’re still using an off-the-shelf coilover kit that has a set damper length. We just needed the extra length to use in conjunction with a taller and softer spring than what comes with the kit to be able to get close to factory ride height.

Once we got all the parts together, our engineer went to work on final spring rates and damper shim specs. Then we assembled the dampers. Overall, the dampers are MUCH LONGER!

Here’s our STREET FLEX kit as it comes out of the box:

Here’s the front STREET FLEX compared to the newly modified one:

And the rear STREET FLEX compared to the modified one:

Compared to the stock suspension, our modified STREET FLEX dampers are very close in overall length

Fronts:

Rears:

Starting with the rears, it was as simple as unbolting the stock suspension, upper mounts and all, and swapping in our coilover

There’s quite a bit to do to remove the front suspension, but at least putting in our STREET FLEX setup makes it a quick bolt-on affair.

We certainly hope all of you installing our suspension are double-checking each bolt/nut, spring seat, etc. to make sure they’re torqued to specification. We may have the dampers preassembled and they may look ready to go right out of the packaging, but it is wise to check every component prior to attempting to drive on them. Follow torque specifications listed in the included installation manual with your coilover kit.

Our engineer is double-checking the torque on the hex bolts for the camber plate. These require relatively low torque (12-3 – – 13.74 ft-lbf).

Seatlocks for locking lower brackets will vary depending on design (strut type= 101.2 ft-lbs, multi-link= 50.6 ft-lbs). For strut type lower brackets, we also include a conical washer between the bracket and seat lock. This must be tightened completely with no visible gap when it is torqued properly.

When all was said and done, the car looked,,,,,,,, well, it looked stock. Kind of unusual for us since we expect a car to end up lowered (unless we’re installing an HG or Group N coilover kit, that’s a different story). Again, this is what our friend wants. They need to make it a more comfortable and less harsh of a ride to get those great pictures and videos while on the move!

Front ride height:

Rear ride height:

We certainly hope our friend likes the new suspension. Being that we can customize our coilovers, there are still endless possibilities in terms of different spring rates and damper valving, depending on their needs!

MotoIQ Visits TEIN USA, Inc.!

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Paul P.

Our friends at MotoIQ decided to stop in and have their Type FLEX coilovers for their Project Supra rebuilt! While they were here, we gave them an inside view of our overhaul process. Not necessarily something we allow the public to see first-hand. But, we are talking about MotoIQ here, guys that like to nerd the hell out on car stuff. We couldn’t easily keep the door closed on them! Lol!!!

This Project Supra of theirs is pretty nuts to begin with. So we were glad to see that they wanted to continue the use of their older Type FLEX coilovers. However, we thought it would be a great idea to update the internals to the newer STREET FLEX setup. So, we had our in-house engineers work closely with the MotoIQ staff to get their dampers to the lastest specifications from TEIN!!

We had our R&D staff take them through our overhaul process and show, from start to finish, what goes into our rebuilds.

After a disassemble of external components (lower brackets, seat locks, upper mounts, springs, dust boots, & bump stops), we can start complete teardown of the damper itself. Our dampers require some unique tools for some parts of disassembly, which is why we do not offer rebuild kits to the public. We ask that all customers send their dampers to us for servicing.

Once completely torn down, we can get to work on the internals. The piston shaft is broken down into several components. Once we can loosen the lower nut on the piston shaft, the piston valve assembly, including all shims and washers, can be removed. These components will be replaced with new ones. Whenever possible, we want to keep rebuild costs as low as possible for our customers, so we will try to reuse components that are still in excellent condition.

Once we can completely assess the condition of all components, we can then get to work on rebuilding. In MotoIQ’s case, we had to make some modifications to make the newest STREET FLEX setup work with their coilovers.

After all the necessary modifications are completed, we completely assemble the dampers, fill with nitrogen, then run them on our damper dyno and make sure they meet performance specification.

All other external components can then be reinstalled and the completed dampers sent back to the customer! All that’s left is to install, check/fix alignment, and enjoy!

We look forward to the next installment from MotoIQ on their Project Supra! They also have our EDFC Active to test out, so we’re sure they’re busy nerding away with that!

Please note that our overhaul and revalve service is available to the public. So, if you have any questions on our overhaul services, please give us a call at 562-861-9161 for more info! We’re glad to help!!!

In the meantime, please visit MotoIQ for some great technical information and follow along on their Project Supra build!

Project Supra Hits 800 WHP!:

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3766/Project-MKIV-Supra-Part-10–Dyno-testing–we-hit-800-WHP.aspx

Industry Insider: TEIN’s Shock Service:

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3743/Industry-Insider-Tiens-shock-service.aspx

New for 2015- TEIN FLEX A and FLEX Z Coilovers!!!

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Paul P.

We’re constantly thinking of ways to improve our products. More importantly, we’ve been working towards making our coilover kits more affordable to match a customer’s budget, but also bring new innovations that we’ve pioneered through our involvement in motorsports.

Available in Spring of 2015, we’re reintroducing our STREET FLEX line into two new lines- the FLEX A and FLEX Z.

Starting with the FLEX Z line, we will bring a new affordably priced version of our STREET FLEX coilovers. How affordable? MSRP will start from $800!!!

Features-wise, not much is different from the current STREET FLEX. It will still include full-length ride height adjustment for separate spring preload and height settings, upper mounts (camber adjustable for most MacPherson struts), 16-way damping force adjustment using our ADVANCE NEEDLE technology which provides a much wider range of damping force adjustment per click (~ 200% increase in damping force adjustment range over our previous needle design), EDFC series compatibility, and our proprietary coatings (ZT coated damper bodies, and our 2-layer/1-bake powdercoating for lower brackets and upper mounts). We were able to bring cost down on the new FLEX Z dampers by making them fully sealed units (non-rebuildable).

The biggest benefit to a fully sealed non-rebuildable damper, other than the extremely affordable price, is that the customer will have a maintenance free damper (we still recommend to periodically inspect external components such as seat locks and spring seats, dust boots, and bump stops). Instead of rebuilding their damper, or if they have a blown damper several years down the line, they can purchase a replacement single damper. This translates into less downtime for our customer, who most likely needs to get their car back on the road.

That’s not to say that we’re not proud of our overhaul/revalve service. In fact, we will continue to provide that for older coilover models and for some upcoming, such as the FLEX A.

The FLEX A coilovers will carry the same features as FLEX Z but will be rebuildable, much like the current line of STREET FLEX. We will also include a newly developed feature, our Hydraulic Bump Stop (H.B.S.). Technically it is not a new feature. Instead it is a much more affordable and effective version of the Hydraulic Bump Stop we use on our GROUP N dampers used in rally racing.

How does our HYDRAULIC BUMP STOP work?

As the damper reaches/nears full compression, there is a spring that the piston makes contact with. This helps to build up pressure closer to the base valve. As pressure continues to build around the base valve, a secondary spring will compress, which allows a cup shaped washer to seal most of the orifices around the base valve. This effectively restricts damper fluid flow, increasing this pressure and slowing down the piston’s speed. Finally, as the damper approaches full compression, a third spring will compress allowing a needle washer to open and allow damper fluid to pass through this single orifice. In all, the way our HYDRAULIC BUMP STOP works is by gradually increasing pressure during compression. While mainly based on piston speed (high-speed compression), the unit will work even as the damper nears full compression.

This means that the damper will not fully bottom out. The effect on ride quality is that it will not be as harsh during rebound, much like would be the case with a longer polyurethane bump stop. Why is that? A polyurethane bump stop is compressible. However, it acts as a much stiffer spring, which the damper isn’t necessarily valved properly to control. This means that rebound force is much greater, and that can also translate into uncomfortable oscillation (where the vehicle feels very floaty). With our H.B.S. the rebound rate is not affected, and the vehicle can return to it’s 1g (vehicle weight on the ground) ride height in a smoother fashion.

Without HYDRAULIC BUMP STOP

If you’ve ever watched videos of off-road race prepared trucks with very long stroke suspension, which use another form of hydraulic bump stop (typically mounted externally from the damper), watch what happens after a huge jump. The vehicle lands back down, suspension squatted nearly all the way down. However, when the suspension rebounds and the vehicle returns to it’s 1g ride height, it just settles. No crazy up and down movement. In other words, there is no wasted vehicle body movement. The driver can continue driving full throttle after a jump. Pretty impressive!

That may be a bit of an exaggeration of what our H.B.S. does for a street car (unless you compare it to our aforementioned Group N dampers, which go on production vehicles), however it is the same effect, just in a smaller package and for a shorter damper stroke.

Our HYDRAULIC BUMP STOP works extremely well on suspensions with longer stroke, such as luxury sedans or mini vans. While still effective and beneficial in applications with shorter damper stroke, it isn’t as noticeable in feel.

The new FLEX A coilovers will start at $1350 for a complete set!

Look out for these new products by mid April 2015!!!

Overhaul Season

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Omar A.

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

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

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

OVERHAUL PAGE

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

Learning the OVERHAUL repair process

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Omar A.

When it comes to overhauls I’m usually the person in charge of carrying out all the steps. Except for one which is the most important of them all , the actual repair. The way it works is as followed- We receive the package and check it in then we move it to our R&D department for a repair inspection. Upon the inspection I contact the customer and secure the repair payment and/or final overhaul decision. Upon completion of repair a recontact the customer to verify shipping information and that’s where it ends.

The disassembling of our dampers is not that difficult. Breaking down the piston rod and internal components, then cleaning them from dirt, dust, rust, and debris is also not that difficult. It does, however, get a little repetitive. Now, where it gets tricky is reassembling the internal components. As some of the parts (shims) tend to look the same but are nevertheless different in design and thickness. There are many steps that need to be done to successfully overhaul a damper. I will save the details as they are confidential but I must say that re-greasing, and re-torquing all the components is the easiest step of all.

Well, now I have actually learned the repair process. Unfortunately for us here at TEIN one of our R&D staff members has left us to work as a CHP officer. Fortunately for me, I have now learned a new skill and got my hands on repair action. We’ll still leave that work for our trained engineers. As for me, I’m glad I’ve been able to learn more of the details that goes into an overhaul.

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