mixing Tanabe springs
 

Has anybody mixed the Tanabe springs on their xb? I am thinking NF's in the front and DF's in the rear. My thought is the Tein H look with the Tanabe ride.

The cost for two sets of springs is more than I want to spend but I am afraid that the Tein's will be too rough. The Tanabe's don't appear to provide equal wheel gap front to back but mixing them should-could work.

NF 1.0/1.7
DF 1.7/2.1
Tein H 1.1/2.1

Thanks!

No man. Springs are springs. They are all going to feel and perform just about the same. The Tein's are not that bad at all, and doesn't even have a noticeable difference between another brand of lowering springs.

But yes, of course you can swap around fronts and rears, many have done that.

About the even wheel gap, most fenders are not the same height front to back, and a drop will cause different wheel gaps because of that, and different looks. Most rear fenders are cut lower than the front fenders giving it that look.

criminaltc, thanks for the input. I would have guessed that they are all similar but after reading the "official NF" and "official Tein H" threads and looking at all of the pictures the stances are noticible, especially on the jacked up xb. The treads cover the comfort level and there seems to be an agreed upon difference. On an older camaro is had a set of the eibachs and for performance I was OK with the stiffness. Now I am more into the comfort and looks.

I may have just over loaded my mind!

Here's your problem. This isn't a real achievable thing. It's one or the other.

Well I don't feel that it is a problem. Just a bit of a challenge.


As far as "springs are springs", why does Tanabe and Tein make two different sets of springs for the xb? Are they just pulling one over on us?

Just run DFs. They're still comfortable.

No, they are two different spring rates and two different drop heights... They aren't "pulling one over on us". ????? *shakes head*

So I guess it would be safe to say that springs are not springs?

Dude, you're really wearing me out.

"Springs are springs" when it comes to ride comfortability.

"Springs are not springs" when it comes to ride heights.

My god dude...

Really criminal? Work on your endurence!

Just playin..........

Thanks for the advise.

Yeah I will.

^^^^ listen to this guy. He's installed multiple sets of springs, coilovers, and air on the xB2. I heard he's pretty much a second gen specialist.

Agreed! Springs, coilovers, Air, Wheels and tire combos and rolling fenders and pulling a bit. I would listen, wish i lived near owners like him.

Thanks man! By watching my instagram, I'm sure you've noticed I've been busy... I've been rolling about 7 cars a week.

Just get DF's. My Xb was my daily driver and I had them on there. 5 and 10 year old kids and the wife had zero complaints and I never found a driveway, dip or speedbump that gave me problems. Took it to Yosemite a few weeks ago, drove dirt lots and even saw some snow.


People freak out because its the lowest of their two offerings but they fail to realize its still nowhere near the lowest setup out there.

Well I went with the DFs in the rear and NFs in the front. I love the look and the ride. Hopefully pics to follow this weekend.

Hold the puck on. "Springs are springs", is a very invalid statement. Springs are different. They all don't come from one giant factory where they put multiple brand names on them. They use different types of metal, bending devices, have different gaps between coils, have different compression and rebound rates, and use different rates.

Now can you mix/match? But of course. Little harder to do, and for sure going to cost more to do, but it is easy enough to do. You may upset the the ride by having a bad paring of spring rates. Throw it into a corner, and it could respond very undesirably. Getting too much understeer, or unexpected oversteer.

Best way to do it, get coilovers. Racelands will run you just a $100 or so more than springs, and will last years as long as you install them properly, and take care of your car. (you know, not hill hopping, or blasting through pot hole/speed bump infested area's.)

Well what you said seems to make sense to me stenger. I guess there are multiple opinions on this subject. I will say that I did not put much research into the coilovers. From what I read on this forum and The Tanabe website made me feel comfortable going with a mixed set. It achieved the ride height that I was looking for and the spring rate did not seem that far off from each other. I seriously considered he Tein H but the "official thread" had a lot of issues with non matched height. I was worried about quality control, just a me thing.


I would guess? that when you adjust the coilovers to different heights the spring rate changes as well.


So far so good with them. I can tell you that my driving habits now closely resemble those of my father. I never thought I could drive that slow!

On the rear yes, the rates are progressive. But on the front, I don't know of any progressive rate springs for the front. Most if not all for the xb2 are height adjust independently from the springs. You can adjust the pre-load on most (like K-sport/Tanabe/Ect). On the Raceland coilovers you can't adjust pre-load but they really are only designed to go low on the cheap and be a good quality budget friendly option.

FWIW - I went with Eibach Pro-Kit and they are fairly firm and have slightly more wheel gap at rear than front (I had cargo in mind), I'm satisfied. From everything I've read over the years, Tanabe NF springs are a little more comfortable and provide pretty much equal gap front and back. Tanabe DF provides a significant further drop in vehicle height (with roughly equal wheel gap) and again a comfortable ride -- drawback being there can be a problem with vehicle undercarriage dragging on speed bumps, driveway entries, and potholes.