We just received our Tein H-Tech springs and will be installing them Wednesday. I'll have pics up (side by side w/ a stock tC) for comparison on Thursday.

Nice. Something to look forward to :)

are the suspensions the same between 1st gen and 2nd gen tc?

teins made springs for the new tc already,is it the same rate drop as the 1st gen 2.0 and 1.5

cant wait for pix... if I'm not satisfied with the look i may go a different route. I like the back of the car to be noticeably higher, but not by a lot...(perfectionists.. hate them lol)

My H Techs ship tomorrow... and the drop is around .9" for front and 1.2" for the back. S Techs are 1.5" for front and 1.8" for the back.

I would like to see some pics up ASAP... Im not sure if I want the H-Techs or S-Techs. Normally I would pick the H-Techs, but the drop doesn't seem like it would be noticeable. I dont wanna look slammed, but I want a small gap between the wheel.

^^^ depending on the pics I will most likely hold out for coilovers, I want me some slam.poke.drop.tuck.dope

I will most likely hold out for coilovers, I want me some slam.poke.drop.tuck.dope

^ I like the way you think.

^ I like the way you think.

I already have a set of wheels that are waiting on a good coilover/springs.
I went with Ruff wheels

18x8.5 +20 for the front and 18x9.5 +35 for the rear, I most likely will need to space the rears, but I wanted to go for being on the safe side and then spacing out as necessary instead of trying to make the car fit the wheels...

pic of chosen wheel:

http://tommygunmotorsports.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/IPhone-pictures-001.jpg

Still waiting on pics :tap:

ME TOO! Pics or it didnt happen.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x105/superpickel3/ImportedPhotos00122.jpg

on H-Techs

Do you have a "before" shot? Front looks lower back is hard to tell.

Either way looks great!

Thanks Superpickel! you have helped me decide on the route I'll be taking. I needs moar low... :P


Looks much better with the H-Techs :)

All I can say is...."boner"

before and after shots are in my build thread

http://scionlife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194798&page=3

I will say that after driving for a couple of hours, it settled a little farther and looks much better than my previous pics. I will take more pics tomorrow hopefully.

Love it! The drop is nice and simple. A great start point for many.

Whats the rated drop on those from Tein and what did they actually drop the car?

rated for front -0.9 and rear -1.2

not sure of the actual. Anyone know the stock height from the ground. I will measure mine tomrrow. Not sure how accurate it will be though.

sweet i have the stechs sitting in my room. i just need someone to install. 500 bucks sounds a lil ruff on me for spring install.

Install wasn't bad. All you need is:

jack
jack stands
14mm socket
17mm socket
19mm socket
21mm or 7/8in socket
wratchet wrench
9/16 crescent wrench
spring compressor (rented mine from O'Rielly's)

No interior panels have to be removed. All outside work. The rear is the easiest and took only about 30 minutes for each. The rear springs are not wrapped around the strut. In the front, the strut has to be removed. Be sure to have a breaker bar for the two bolts holding the strut in place because they are tight as hell. Other than that, piece of cake.

I'm fighting the urge to buy springs tonight...

Why?! Why must they be lower in the back?!

The end product does not look lower. It looks even as a finished product.

They are simple enough to change out the springs. I didn't even get a spring compressor I just man handled them except one that I loaded and used a bunch of tie wraps to hold down... That is if they are similar to the tC 1

I didn't use them on the rear because they were not wrapped around the strut. I simply lowered the controlling arm until the spring was decompressed and was able to be removed. I did use the compressors in the front (which were wrapped around a strut). If you can man handle them to remove them, more power to you, but I don't advise it. The stock springs were fairly tight and I would recommend using the spring compressors in order to avoid accidental injuries. If you can get the tools to complete the job safely, then do...

Mod safely.

Old trick: Unbolt the center nut of the strut/spring assembly before removing the suspension from the car, then jack the car up. The weight of the car will allow the spring to be removed from the assembly without the need of a spring compressor. Also, by doing it this way you dont have to unbolt the tophat from the strut tower. I have done several cars this way, works everytime without fail.

Old trick: Unbolt the center nut of the strut/spring assembly before removing the suspension from the car, then jack the car up. The weight of the car will allow the spring to be removed from the assembly without the need of a spring compressor. Also, by doing it this way you dont have to unbolt the tophat from the strut tower. I have done several cars this way, works everytime without fail.

Love randomly reading little jewels like this..

did u get ur car aligned immediatly? or did u wait?

Still waiting. Going to get an alignment soon.

I broke down and ordered a set of S. Techs... waiting on coils is killing me, So I'll ride on springs till something gets released then swap over...

lol... It gets to us all eventaully. I'm thinking of selling a kidney for a five axis lip kit

Forgive my ignorance, but why would you have to replace the springs with a full coilover package? Why not just buy the upgraded shocks when they come out? Seems like buying S-techs and throwing in upgraded shocks later is a pretty good way to go...

Coilovers are ride height adjustable, springs on shocks are not. Plus the 1.5f and 1.8r drop is not enough for me, the coil specs I saw were at like 2.5f and 2.6r at maximum drop...

Coilovers are ride height adjustable, springs on shocks are not. Plus the 1.5f and 1.8r drop is not enough for me, the coil specs I saw were at like 2.5f and 2.6r at maximum drop...

Makes sense. Lifting a truck you can use springs, shocks or both to get the lift you want. Guess I just assumed the same held true for lowering a car. Thanks for the info.

rated for front -0.9 and rear -1.2

not sure of the actual. Anyone know the stock height from the ground. I will measure mine tomrrow. Not sure how accurate it will be though.


Noticed no one responded with the stock ride height. Where are you measuring and I'll make sure I measure from the same point.

hopefully i can install my stechs friday. ill get pics up rught after. also does anyone know the bulb size for the license plate lights in the 2011? wanna do led's

Ordered my H-techs yesterday!

hopefully i can install my stechs friday. ill get pics up rught after. also does anyone know the bulb size for the license plate lights in the 2011? wanna do led's


194 wedge base. A 1W T10 ultra bright white looks nice. Its what I have on mine.

I was told not to bother with springs.
Two buddies told me not to use aftermarket springs over the stock dampers b/c they're not designed for the lowered height and varied compression rates.

Then again, I'm new to this whole thing and, considering my lack of knowledge in cars, I'm still confused with the terms coilovers, struts, dampers and shocks. There might be synonyms in there :P

Basically what they told me is that the stock suspension set isn't designed for the variations (height, etc..) the springs alone can bring. True or false?

^True in many cases. Dampers are the most important part of your suspension next to physical geometry. However, you could always consider the TRD springs if you like the look of a lowered car. They have been engineered to work with the stock dampers without overloading their abilities.

Got my H-techs installed tonight! Hurray! Alignment tomorrow and pictures to follow.

Matariel: In all things there is a balance. For cars, it's usually performance vs. reliability vs. cost. The more performance, the less reliability. You leave your tC totally stock and do the maintenance on it like you should, you'll probably get 200K-300K miles out of it. You mod it to the point where it could be in the next "Fast and the Furious" and you'll be doing maintenance on it every weekend. Like 1stOne said, TRD is engineered to bolt on without reducing reliability (much), but you'll also pay a little more and wait a little longer. I wasn't patient enough to wait for TRD to come out with springs, so I went with the H-techs.

Sometimes the most difficult decisions come down to the simpliest of thoughts.

Think of modifying a car like this, you have 3 options: Fast, Cheap, Reliable. Now, pick only 2. If you want Fast and Reliable, it wont be cheap. If you want Fast and Cheap, it wont be Reliable...you get the idea.

No matter how you look at things, there will always be a compromise to some extent. Some less than others.

mm i think i get it, I'll give myself til this spring anyways before i touch suspension system.

thanks for the replies :)

Having driven on my H-techs for all of 2 days now, I've noticed 2 things I didn't realize could go together.

- First, the H-techs feel SOFTER than the stock springs during normal driving. Going over bumps in the road, the car feels more...bouncy. (can't think of a better word) Not the harsh bouncing I would expect of sport springs, but almost like slightly worn springs.

- Second, during more aggressive driving (hard stops, sharp turns), the car has less body roll. I very much like this aspect, but it's odd given the soft top end of the spring.

Anyway, that's my Tein H-Tech review. Softer (possibly too soft) at the beginning than stock springs. Pleasantly firm (much better and less body roll than stock) during more aggressive driving.

It sounds like Tein has the spring rates a little out.

I would assume they are a progressive spring rate. During regular driving, it sounds like the spring not working properly with the damper, so your getting inconsistancies in the ride for that reason. In an extreme case (but one that comes about far too often), think of people who install coilover sleeves on stock struts. The spring rates are so much higher that the damper can't work to "dampen" or rebound, so it gives up and all you get is bounce. The spring becomes the control when really it should be the damper that achieves that.

In hard turning, it sounds like the rate achieves what it should and thats a matched rate to the damper. That mixed with a lower center of gravity will give the sensation it drives better than before.

Without being in the car and without extensive testing, these are only assumptions. But that's my take on what you describe anyways.

1st One: If you want to send me a set of the TRD springs, i'd be happy to test and compare them. :D Seriously though, next time I'm at the dealer, I'll probably take another tC for a test drive. See if I what I feel like the differences are real or just percieved. I am constantly fighting the urge to compare the tC to my old BMW with a Dinan suspension upgrade.

1st One: If you want to send me a set of the TRD springs, i'd be happy to test and compare them. :D Seriously though, next time I'm at the dealer, I'll probably take another tC for a test drive. See if I what I feel like the differences are real or just percieved. I am constantly fighting the urge to compare the tC to my old BMW with a Dinan suspension upgrade.

Trust me, if it were me in charge, I would!

Oh and don't take my comments as criticism. The whole goal of modding is so you enjoy your car, not so anyone else does. As long as the part you installed achieves that, anything else it does is bonus!

Haha. We're good. A possible explanation of a less-than-stellar review I wrote on the springs isn't criticism, it's passing on knowledge. Hopefully it will help someone reading this.

I still like the ride height of the H-techs the best of what I've seen. The others just seem too low for my tastes. And I've put another 600 miles on my car today. You're right on that the springs are progressive. Softer than stock at the top end and firm when you get into it. Still think the H-techs reduce body roll.

Just finished the springs and lip kit on my tC. Few pics. Sits level and proud. Need to find adjustable upper control arm. Camber on back needs to be chilled about 1/2 degree.

Just finished the springs and lip kit on my tC. Few pics. Sits level and proud. Need to find adjustable upper control arm. Camber on back needs to be chilled about 1/2 degree.

Nice! Is that on H-Techs?

where is the best place to order from directly from tien or is there somewhere else ??