eBay Special: TA Technix
Discussion
Just got back and I have to say I'm not really impressed. Very resonant over bumps, although it does grip a little more in the corners.
I didn't fit them though, and I'm not exactly sure how the should be wound. At the moment the collar is about an inch from the bottom of the shock. I'm thinking if I screw the collar upwards the springs will be harder but I'll get more ride height?
Advice welcome
I didn't fit them though, and I'm not exactly sure how the should be wound. At the moment the collar is about an inch from the bottom of the shock. I'm thinking if I screw the collar upwards the springs will be harder but I'll get more ride height?
Advice welcome
They do struggle with high frequency bumps, but generally mine aren't too bad. They are only height adjustable, so yes, lower the car = stiffer. Mines as low as I dare to go. It's just about speed bump friendly, although I have raised it a good 30 mm from when I bought the car. It was too low, and terrible had composure.
My previous car had 3 way ohlins, and these aren't too bad.
My previous car had 3 way ohlins, and these aren't too bad.
Well, I owe this thread an update after the events of today.
I'd spent the last week regretting my purchase: the coilovers as fitted by the mechanic were awful. Horrifically crashy over bumps, so much so that I kept bumping my head on the bars of the roof if I went over any kind of small crest. There was also a graunchy sound coming from the OSR, because the coil was rubbing against the rear driveshaft. This was particularly bad in reverse. I was depressed.
So today, I jacked her arse up in the air to see what I could do about the situation. I measured the distance between the coil retaining collar and the base of the shock and it was only 40mm. This, bearing in mind the advice previously mentioned in the thread to have them set as high as possible, was clearly a problem. So I grabbed the collar spanner and after some brief modifying (had to grind the end of the handle off the spanner in order to get enough turn on the collar between teeth) and set to work. I raised them by another 40mm, to roughly halfway up the thread on the shock. This was a massive pain in the arse to do on the car and took about 90 minutes to do both sides.
But the difference is astonishing! Like night and day! It's now only unsettled by really big crests, and there's none of the "pogo" effect I've been experiencing all week. Preloading the helper springs is clearly the answer. Over the weekend I'll be winding up probably another 20mm on the rear and then 20-40 on the front (which isn't as bouncy) and see if that improves things further.
They still aren't the best in the world, but clearly once set up right they will be a pretty effective replacement for OEM if you don't want to splash too much cash.
I'd spent the last week regretting my purchase: the coilovers as fitted by the mechanic were awful. Horrifically crashy over bumps, so much so that I kept bumping my head on the bars of the roof if I went over any kind of small crest. There was also a graunchy sound coming from the OSR, because the coil was rubbing against the rear driveshaft. This was particularly bad in reverse. I was depressed.
So today, I jacked her arse up in the air to see what I could do about the situation. I measured the distance between the coil retaining collar and the base of the shock and it was only 40mm. This, bearing in mind the advice previously mentioned in the thread to have them set as high as possible, was clearly a problem. So I grabbed the collar spanner and after some brief modifying (had to grind the end of the handle off the spanner in order to get enough turn on the collar between teeth) and set to work. I raised them by another 40mm, to roughly halfway up the thread on the shock. This was a massive pain in the arse to do on the car and took about 90 minutes to do both sides.
But the difference is astonishing! Like night and day! It's now only unsettled by really big crests, and there's none of the "pogo" effect I've been experiencing all week. Preloading the helper springs is clearly the answer. Over the weekend I'll be winding up probably another 20mm on the rear and then 20-40 on the front (which isn't as bouncy) and see if that improves things further.
They still aren't the best in the world, but clearly once set up right they will be a pretty effective replacement for OEM if you don't want to splash too much cash.
I was confused by this until I looked at the pictures at the top of the thread more closely (and spotted the cat!) and realised that each strut has two springs - hence your reference to pre loading the helper springs.
They cost more but I'm glad that I opted for Gaz fixed height coilovers with adjustable dampers. I always suspected that setting the ride height was a variable I'd only ever want to be bothered with once and I kind of trusted that Gaz would have got it sorted. I'm very happy with the result - it's literally a 60 second job to adjust all four dampers and the ride height is just where I wanted it.
They cost more but I'm glad that I opted for Gaz fixed height coilovers with adjustable dampers. I always suspected that setting the ride height was a variable I'd only ever want to be bothered with once and I kind of trusted that Gaz would have got it sorted. I'm very happy with the result - it's literally a 60 second job to adjust all four dampers and the ride height is just where I wanted it.
Undoubtedly the Gaz units are a step up in quality, these are the very cheapest of the cheap so some crappyness should be expected.
For the record, the rears are now set with the collars 90mm from the bottom of the damper, and the fronts are at 45mm. I'll take a picture later to show the "stance" but I'm not really too arsed about how it looks, the main thing is that the coilovers work now.
For the record, the rears are now set with the collars 90mm from the bottom of the damper, and the fronts are at 45mm. I'll take a picture later to show the "stance" but I'm not really too arsed about how it looks, the main thing is that the coilovers work now.
gdaybruce said:
I was confused by this until I looked at the pictures at the top of the thread more closely (and spotted the cat!) and realised that each strut has two springs - hence your reference to pre loading the helper springs.
They cost more but I'm glad that I opted for Gaz fixed height coilovers with adjustable dampers. I always suspected that setting the ride height was a variable I'd only ever want to be bothered with once and I kind of trusted that Gaz would have got it sorted. I'm very happy with the result - it's literally a 60 second job to adjust all four dampers and the ride height is just where I wanted it.
This is good news: the fixed height Gaz kit is what I'm waiting for Parts to get back in stock. They cost more but I'm glad that I opted for Gaz fixed height coilovers with adjustable dampers. I always suspected that setting the ride height was a variable I'd only ever want to be bothered with once and I kind of trusted that Gaz would have got it sorted. I'm very happy with the result - it's literally a 60 second job to adjust all four dampers and the ride height is just where I wanted it.
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