Tag Archives: Springs

Made In Japan or China?!

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We’ve recently received several calls or emails from consumers regarding the country of origin for our coilovers. So we wanted to clear up the confusion.

In short, coilovers, and our springs for that matter, are being manufactured in both of our facilities- Japan and China.

It shouldn’t be news by now that we have our own factory in China, and it has been operational for nearly 10 years now. Initially, this factory handled our new-at-the-time ENDURAPRO and ENDURAPRO PLUS shock absorber manufacturing. But within the first few years, we were also able to get our STREET BASIS Z & STREET ADVANCE Z kits made at this factory. It wasn’t that cut and dried of a plan, though. TEIN Japan was still manufacturing a majority of the coilovers. It is just that TEIN China needed to address product manufacturing for their local market and soon demand increased and we found ourselves needing to increase more manufacturing out of this factory to meet global demand.

Then, the pandemic threw all of us a curveball. If anyone can recall, there was a period of incredibly ridiculous costs on freight. Soon, we hit a problem with getting containers and scheduling vessels from our Yokohama facility. From China, however, shipping wasn’t much of a concern. The only exception being regional lockdowns in China due to the fast-spreading virus, as well as some shut downs due to electric power being rationed (kinda strange). Shipping was still more expensive than usual, yes. But at least we were able to have products shipped. But another problem became apparent- not all of our customers want STREET BASIS Z or STREET ADVANCE Z coilovers. Soon our backorder list was growing by the week, but it seemed to revolve around one specific coilover model- FLEX Z.

TEIN China had yet to manufacture any of our FLEX coilover line. But the shipping concern forced us to retool for FLEX production out of this facility, and we started adding new machines necessary for FLEX Z production. Starting in late 2021, we received only a few part numbers of FLEX Z from China. But to date, they are now making a majority of FLEX Z kits.

This isn’t to say that TEIN Japan does not manufacture FLEX Z any longer. It’s just that TEIN Japan can now focus on product manufacturing for their domestic market, and a few other Asian countries, as well as for USA.

We now have springs being manufactured in China too! This is relatively new, about 1 year or so now. Before, we were having springs shipped to China for the assembly of STREET BASIS Z & STREET ADVANCE Z kits. We were hoping to find a suitable spring manufacturer in China, but several tests of locally manufactured springs didn’t meet our requirements. BUT, by importing coil spring wire from Japan we are now able to have springs made to our specifications. Yes it costs us more to do so, but quality is still paramount to our business. Still, there is a savings in doing so, and ultimately we still want to bring a quality product to our customers, so long as we are in control of that quality.

Lowering Springs on Stock (OEM) Shock Absorbers

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Quite often we’re asked about our lowering springs and if it’s okay to use with factory shock absorbers, or OEM, or even OEM replacement shock absorbers.

S.TECH Lowering Springs installed on 2017 Honda Civic Si factory (OEM) struts

The easiest answer is yes, especially if they’re actual OEM factory shock absorbers. We can say yes as well for aftermarket replacement shock absorbers, but there is somewhat of a caveat. The issue is with the spring perch on shock absorbers or struts that have them. For our ENDURAPRO & ENDURAPRO PLUS premium replacement shock absorbers, we use 3D modeling of actual OEM shock absorbers to make our spring perches, then just modify the design so that it fits over our larger bodied shock absorbers. However, there are some instances where we make modifications for increased strength where we feel it may be necessary. This 3D modeling allows us to make very exacting designs so that it will work with OEM coil springs. And with that, we make sure that our S.TECH and HIGH TECH lowering springs have very similar designs for top and bottom coils to match the OEM coil spring.

Why we say there’s somewhat of a caveat with using our lowering springs on other aftermarket shock absorbers is because we’re not too sure how they model their spring perches. Some may use 3D modeling or a mold to create a negative simliar OEM type spring perch. However, we have seen some differences between some aftermarket replacement shocks and the OEM shocks they’re supposedly modeled after.

S.TECH Lowering Springs installed on 2019 Mazda Miata factory (OEM) shock absorbers.

Besides the design of the spring perch (if applicable), our lowering springs are not intended to be very aggressive in terms of spring rate. This is intentional, as we expect that many customers are planning on installing our lowering springs onto OEM shock absorbers. With that, we have to keep in mind the OEM shocks damper valving and whether or not it can handle a specific spring design.

Another unknown variable with aftermarket replacement shock absorbers is how they’re valved in comparison to their OEM counterpart. Referring back to our ENDURAPRO & ENDURAPRO PLUS shock absorber line, we decided to “optimize” damper valving. Now, this optimization may vary by vehicle model. But it most cases we’re actually increasing damping force (slightly stiffer). Again, there’s a bit of a variable, because we may increase/decrease compression or we may increase/decrease rebound damping force, or a combination of both. There’s no set method of how we decide to valve. In some instances we may actually decrease damping force, especially compression, if we feel the ride quality will benefit from that change. But for other aftermarket replacement shock absorbers, we cannot say the same thing. In fact, when we’ve tested some aftermarket replacement shocks to their OEM counterpart, we’ve wondered why some of these aftermarket shocks are quite a bit softer (we’ve yet to see the opposite- stiffer than OEM). This can pose some interesting results in ride quality when comparing certain aftermarket replacement shock absorbers with our lowering springs, regardless of them not being very aggressive.

We’re not necessarily trying to pitch our ENDURAPRO or ENDURAPRO PLUS shock absorbers (how can we resist, though?!). But just know that ideally an OEM shock absorber will suit you best since that is what we designed our lowering springs to work with.

Cleaning and Maintaining Your Suspension

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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

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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!

A90 Supra S.TECH Rear Bump Stop Modification

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With the newly released S.TECH lowering springs for the A90 Toyota Supra, we wanted to put a notice out to owners about modifications needed to the rear bump stops.

S.TECH Lowering Spring set part number: SKTJ4-S1B00

Our S.TECH spring kit (part number: SKTJ4-S1B00) includes a pair of bump stops and dust boots specifically for the rear shock absorber. However, it is to be used in conjunction with a modified OEM bump stop.

Please follow along as we show you what needs to be done.

First, the rear shock absorber mount needs to be removed. Then, the the OEM bump stop can be pulled out of the mount. Now, the OEM dust boot is simply press fitted around the OEM bump stop. You can just pull the dust boot out, or you can leave it attached. Either way, the OEM bump stop needs to be trimmed significantly, and the portion to be removed also removes the OEM dust boot. Our included TEIN dust boot will replace this piece.

The rear shock absorber mount needs to be removed from the shock absorber assembly.

With the OEM bump stop removed, you need to measure 20mm from the top of the bump stop (widest portion) down and mark this location. This 20mm piece will be reinstalled in the rear shock absorber mount. You can use a razor blade (utility knife will do fine) to cut the bottom portion of the OEM bump stop off.

The OEM bump stop and OEM dust boot are assembled as one piece. The OEM dust boot is easily removed by pulling it off the OEM dust boot.
The top of the OEM bump stop will need to be remained. This should be 20mm thick after trimming.

Now, the included TEIN bump stop also needs to be trimmed. 10mm needs to be trimmed off the bottom (narrow portion) of the TEIN bump stop.

The included TEIN bump stop also needs to be trimmed, too. The bottom portion needs 10mm but from the bottom, which is the narrow portion of the bump stop.
A utility knife makes trimming of the OEM and TEIN bump stop easy work. Just use caution when cutting.

This picture shows how it is to look on the rear shock absorber (without the TEIN dust boot, for example only) along with the trimmed OEM bump stop.

For reinstallation, hand fit the modified TEIN bump stop onto the piston rod. Then, fit the TEIN dust boot onto the piston rod.

Then, reinstall the rear shock absorber mount (with the trimmed OEM bump stop hand pressed in) onto the piston rod. Now you can tighten the rear shock absorber mount with the 16mm flange nut.

Make sure the TEIN dust boot and bump stop are placed up against the trimmed OEM bump stop (basically you are going to sandwich the top of the TEIN dust boot against the trimmed OEM bump stop and trimmed TEIN bump stop).

The final assembly should look like this. The TEIN bump stop is covered by the TEIN dust boot, and both pieces are pushed up against the trimmed OEM bump stop. The TEIN bump stop is a tight fit around the piston rod in order to keep the TEIN dust boot in place and to protect the piston rod from any debris damage while driving.

The rear shock absorber assembly is now ready to be installed back onto the vehicle.

Stimulus Money Well Spent.

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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.

JZA90 Supra Development

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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.

Toyota Pace Car

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!

Test Cars Needed at TEIN USA!

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Since we’ve been working hard to release the latest suspension kits for 2016, we’ll always run into one hurdle in trying to get the newest products out to the consumer. Finding the correct vehicle for testing is one of those hurdles.

We (TEIN USA) have always done our product development in our Downey, CA. facility for products destined for the U.S. market. The fact that all of our tools and testing equipment are in this facility, and also because our relative distance from TEIN Japan, makes it easier to communicate with our engineers overseas on a daily basis.

However, this type of convenience makes it difficult to locate local vehicles since we’re working in a relatively isolated area. Some times the vehicle we need is more popular in the Northwest region, or even the East coast region. Some times the vehicle we need has been out of production for a number of years already, so finding one type of vehicle can have its challenges.

So this is where we turn to our customers for help!

If you are in or near the L.A. county, and can leave your car with us for a few days of product testing/developing, it would be greatly appreciated! This type of assistance from you doesn’t go without some type of reimbursement. Of course, we want your car to look and handle great, which is probably why you’re reading our blog right now. So, we typically give our customers free product for the inconvenience of leaving them without a car (assuming you only have the one car) for our testing purposes.

If you have any of the vehicles listed below, and want to work with TEIN in developing suspension, please give us a call! We’d love to work with you!

 

 

Vehicle requirements:

-Must retain OEM body (no widebody kits, aftermarket fenders, bumpers, side skirts, extended bumper lips).

-Must retain factory interior. There may be exceptions for some aftermarket interior parts.

-OEM wheels (and tire size) preferred. Plus sized wheel and tires may be fine, depending on size. No aggressive widths and offsets. Contact us if you have aftermarket plus sized wheels.

-Must retain OEM suspension (stock springs, shocks, upper mount assemblies, bushings, swaybars, endlinks, etc.). There may be exceptions for some aftermarket suspension components.

-Must have valid registration and tags, and proof of insurance.

*consult with TEIN staff if your vehicle may have questionable modifications/parts.

 

Loan requirements:

-Vehicle testing schedule may be from 3-5 business days. In other words, the car will need to be left with us during the scheduled/agreed time frame.

– Vehicle must be dropped off with a full tank of gas. We will be return vehicle with a full tank of gas.

 

Give us a call at 562-861-9161!
Or, if email is more convenient, send your inquiry to tus_sales@tein.com

 

Counterfeit TEIN Springs (Round 2)

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Well, maybe it’s more like Round 5 in the continuing saga of Counterfeit TEIN springs being put to market.

Several years back we made a notice for our dealers and customers that our lowering springs are being knocked off overseas. Well, it seems that someone new is out to do the same thing. Honestly, these counterfeiters getting better and better at making their springs look like ours, and getting labeling and packaging to look like pretty decent copies (but still not a perfect match).

Here are a few ways to identify the latest batch of counterfeits on market compared to authentic TEIN springs/packaging.

fake_1

fake2

 

fake3

fake4

Why the concern?

One of the more obvious reasons is safety. We put a lot of time and effort into our research and development. Materials used are just as important, and we take the extra steps to produce our SAE9254V and SWOSC-kv spring materials to provide years of service, problem-free. If someone decides to knock off our springs using a lesser grade material, your safety is at risk. The potential for a cheap coil spring to break is very high, especially if the material is not of sufficient quality or is not produced to reduce the fatigue characteristics of a spring.

Take a look at a counterfeit spring being put up against a TEIN spring in testing:

Also, while a spring may not look like much to have to engineer, you’d be wrong. Each and every well-known spring manufacturer has their own unique designs and each of them are protected by the manufacturer. If you compare our springs to a company such as Eibach or H&R, you will see that for a given application, the springs are not the same. It’s not that difficult to copy a spring design, which makes it easier for us to identify whether or not it is being modeled after one of our own springs (even if they use a completely different paint, color, and labeling).

Maybe I wouldn’t be so bothered if you were getting some fake Louis Vuitton or a fake Rolex, unless they were made using harmful chemicals/materials (honestly, anything fake still bothers me). But, the thought of a spring that was never really developed and tested out on the road? That’s a huge concern for us. Anything that bears our name, authentic or not, can tarnish our brand and reputation. We stand by our genuine products. If our springs were to fail, even outside of our 1 year spring sag & manufacturer’s defect warranty, it will still be corrected by us. That’s how important this matter is to us.

So, while there may be a great savings in terms of product cost, counterfeit springs may cost you more in the long run, up to and including your life. Don’t take the risk of a potential car accident that these untested products may cause.

If you are aware of counterfeit TEIN springs, please notify us immediately so we can get them off the market. Know what you’re purchasing and be sure to purchase from an authorized TEIN dealer.

TEIN USA

tel: 562-861-9161

email: tus_sales@tein.com

SEMA 2015

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Geeeez. 2015 is already closing out??? We can typically feel this when SEMA starts to come around, and we’re getting to work on our displays.

This year marked the launch of the new FLEX Z coilovers. A bit later than expected, but nonetheless it is now available! It’s done really well, too! In fact, a bit too well, and we’re now running into an issue with backorders. Whoops!!!

We were also planning on the launch of the new STREET BASIS Z & STREET ADVANCE Z for 2015. These two new products are to come from our new TEIN China factory, which is still doing preliminary manufacturing runs. However, due to an increase in orders for the FLEX Z, along with a year-long sale we had on STREET FLEX kits (and a reduced price for current STREET BASIS & STREET ADVANCE kits), TEIN Japan has been backed up with orders from each of their branches.

We mentioned several times that we have a new manufacturing plant in China. However, everything isn’t up and running 100% just yet. Again, we’re focused on maintaining that well-known TEIN quality, and that trickles down to our STREET BASIS Z & STREET ADVANCE Z lineup, which the TEIN China factory will be producing for us. So, until it is perfected, we will hold off on releasing this product line. Expect to see the new “Z” lines to hit the U.S. shore by Spring 2016!!!

Anyway, back to SEMA. That is our biggest show for the year. Typically we’ll take a year off (skip a year). But this year we return to get the word out to vendors and distributors that some new products are soon to arrive. Afterall, that is what SEMA is- a place for manufacturers to showcase the latest and greatest. And, in our case, showcase a well built Evasive Motorsports Nissan GT-R on our Super Racing dampers w/ 3-way. Yowza, that’s a mouthful to say.

EVS GTR

We hope to see many of you there. We know that the show is technically not open to the public, but from what we understand, the SEMA group opens up the last day (Friday the 6th) to consumers. So why not try to make it anyway!!!

A look back at TEIN's SEMA past.

A look back at TEIN’s SEMA past.

sema 07 b

sema 07

We like American cars. So what?

If you can make it, stop by our booth in Central Hall (Racing & Performance; booth # 24817), right next to Toyota!!!