Completed: Suspension issue, Page 3 finished update / Tons of pics Options

[snapshotgt]

lowering setup:

1.) tein lowering springs (new)
2.) bilstein struts (new)

Wheels:

7th gen gts with 205/55/16 tires

Issue(s):

My crossmember is a non-factory to work with the V6, and i'm worried about hitting it too much. The V6 weighs about 75-100 lbs more than the stock 5sfe, and less than the 3s. The "extra" weight could be causing it to be lower (more than what tein calls for) but it seems that 74-100 lbs would not be much. Before anyone asks, yes - these are legit teins. They really seemed to have slammed the car instead of the 1.4" in the fount. I've been looking at bump stops, and thinking they might help. As you can imagine when i'm driving 60 and hit a pot hole or big bump it can be bad.


Pictures to explain (how do they compare to your tein lowering? - if you have them):

Front drivers side:



two fingers (front):



Rear drivers side:



three fingers (rear):



pass side front:



pass rear:



crossmember:




side view:



Here is a short video of going over a speed bump. Watch the WHOLE thing so you can see the bounce in the 2nd pass. I made the pass by putting my crossmember in the center where there is a small gap in the bump. You can imagine at higher speeds...

[Defgeph]

Are you sure you purchased the real spring and not knockoffs.

[GotToyota]

Wow, that's unusually bouncy. I'd say they're either fakes, or the extra weight and crossmember are affecting the springs.

-Matt

This post has been edited by GotToyota: Jun 1, 2008 - 10:05 PM

[azian_advanced]

that crossmember looks really low, that could be your main problem.
the ride height of your teins looks normal to me even with the extra weight of the motor, in fact i think mine was lower.

[snapshotgt]

Are you sure you purchased the real spring and not knockoffs.

According to the tein counterfeit info, i looked and see the "authentic" writing on mine...

[Batman722]

nice run to the car

yes the crossmember is too low. Not much you can do about it though...

Now, that is waaaaaay too bouncy. Maybe the blistens are more of a "comfort" strut which would make it bouncy ? IDK. If I were to see that on any other car my first gut reaction is that the struts are blown/worn. The back clearly doesn't bounce as much as the front.

I've heard that the monroe struts are a bit stiffer, I think Jeff has them, and me and Stef both have KYBs. Jeff's car is rock solid from what I remember.

My .02, the struts are bad.

[snapshotgt]

nice run to the car

yes the crossmember is too low. Not much you can do about it though...

Now, that is waaaaaay too bouncy. Maybe the blistens are more of a "comfort" strut which would make it bouncy ? IDK. If I were to see that on any other car my first gut reaction is that the struts are blown/worn. The back clearly doesn't bounce as much as the front.

I've heard that the monroe struts are a bit stiffer, I think Jeff has them, and me and Stef both have KYBs. Jeff's car is rock solid from what I remember.

My .02, the struts are bad.

The struts are new so that does not make sense. Bilstein struts are "supposed to be" a step up from KYBs in that they're more stiff/sporty and cost more money. I do agree that the rear is fine. The rears came as one piece and the fronts were inserts. They were installed by "you know who." But there is not much to mess up in installing inserts... Um, maybe one bolt?

[Defgeph]

Maybe you still have stock inserts in the front. It seems way to bouncy, my setup is solid as a rock. I also have sway bars so that could stiffen things up a bit.

It just seems way to bouncy to me.

[snapshotgt]

Maybe you still have stock inserts in the front. It seems way to bouncy, my setup is solid as a rock. I also have sway bars so that could stiffen things up a bit.

It just seems way to bouncy to me.

Yeah, i'm shocked how bouncy it is. I have sus tech sway bars as well with strut braces and racing suspension links etc. This thing should be solid, not a bouncy ball.

[808celica]

hmmm this is really weird. cuz i have almost blown shocks and they look like yours going over bumps.........so do you have bump stops on???

[snapshotgt]

Here were some old pictures i dug up - got before they were installed. Anything look weird to you guys?

fronts:







rear:

[808celica]

yeah isnt the boot covers supposed to be attached with the top shock mount???

other than no bump stops then everthing looks fine. fat fronts skinny rears........top skinny and bottom fat


wait wait..........are the bump stops attached onto the boot covers???

[Jared95]

maybe you just got a bad set of struts?

[njccmd2002]

im using teins, but my wheels are 17/45 however your gap in the front seems same as mine, but the one in the back is bigger than mine. Meaning you prolly have too much weight in the front. Best way to tell is to get a stock engine dropped car, sit a 75 pound 12 year old kid and see if it drops more.

Remember these replacements are made to specs, they prolly were not designed to the extra weight, or IDK, maybe its just a bad strut... I went away from inserts and replaced the whole thing...

[hurley97]

The gap looks ok. Like someone else already said, it's a little high in the rear.

That bounce in the front is not right at all, the back seems about normal. The bad noises you hear over big bumps is probably due to not having the bump stops installed, mine does the same thing because I have no bump stops either.

Also, I am pretty sure those rubber boots are supposed to be connected to the top mounts at that little rubber piece on the top and not zip tied at the bottom the way they look like they are. Not that I think that's causing the bouncing but it could be contributing to some of your noises.

[tim86]

seems like theres something wrong with the struts... maybe try to return them and see if the problem persists because everything else looks good to me... The drop is normal and the teins look good tho... ive never really been able to have a 2 finger gap since my stock suspension.

[LewFX]

id say install some bump stops before returning them, or take one out, push the strut down with your hand and see how fast it pops back up.

[hurley97]

having or not having bump stops aren't going to affect how bouncy the struts are

This post has been edited by hurley97: Jun 6, 2008 - 11:23 AM

[tomazws]

Engine too heavy or not, even if you have 5 guys in the car, it shouldn't be THAT bouncy. I don't think weight is the issue, the front struts are the problem.

[LewFX]

i dont think the struts are bad at all...this is a spring problem and perhaps they have not settled yet, give it another month because your drop should be lower too