I just got the rear's installed int the xB.
Is this correct?


I'm surprised there is no protection of the piston rod from grid.
The Tein boot cannot exclude mud and grit. Not at all. It is just an appearance item?

Did I make an error or am I just crazy?
Other than this surprise I'm really tickled by Tein quality.

Pictures will follow.

 

the pictures are too contrasty but you can see that I've got under-diameter tires on steelies, which made for super-horrible wheel gap. That gap looks fine enough now at max rear drop. This is -three inches lower than stock, if I go by the published numbers. The F1 tires amount to a half inch drop of themselves.


from this:

to this



now on to the fronts...

but I'll show you some parts pictures first....

 

I dont know if you plan on going rallying with your car but mud and grit should hardly get that far into the wheel well. Thats my opinion at least. Anyway, thats how my Super Streets look. Also, any "performance" part should be maintained pretty well anyway... its like with the engines in race cars... they get rebuilt every time they race almost.

One question, what coilover setup did you get exactly? Model number and all.

Hope this helps -Rich

 

That's what mine looks like. I have a full boot up front though.

 

This is a street cruiser, is all.
I got this kit:

because I wanted the xA rear spring rate.
Why? Because my xB is stripped of rear seating, spare tire and cubbies. It's pretty light... and is rarely loaded with anything but myself.

data from Tein USA's pages




NB: The xB table above is obsolete because Tein USA recently revised the xB kit's front spring rate.
The xB fronts springs now match the xA front. xB rear rate carries on as before.
My choice of an xA kit only makes the rear rate a little softer than if I'd gotten the presently shipped xB kit.
All of these kit parts are identical except for rear spring rates.
Other spring rates are available at extra cost from Tein USA.

 

Now, if later on I want to go for stiffer springing I can do that easily by swapping in xB Tein springs. I thought to go by degrees, first. Most xBs are loaded up with gear and people. Mine is not.
??? All that is up there is mud and sand thrown by the tire so I guess I don't follow you.
If this is how they make them then I guess they don't worry too much about grit getting into the seal and scoring the chromed rod? Yet in their instructions they make mention of this being a maintenance item: keep the rod clean. This supplied boot really does not much to keep sand out of the top of the damper. It contains/covers the hard white bump stop.

Seems to me that if I could have a plastic sleeve just like the OEM sleeve, but large enough to slip over the Tein damper's top, then this would make protection equal to that mud guard built into the OEM rear dampers. Perhaps such a thing can be gotten on the market? It would mount between the that upper cup and the body, right? And be cut long enough to fully shield the top of the damper at all times.

The OEM sleeve is too small diameter to clear the Tein boot. And it's got the bump stop integral with its top. So it really isn't adaptable. I'd need a plastic cylinder with one closed end, and a hole for the piston rod in that end.

-maybe I worry too much about longevity? I do think Tein knows their business but this wrinkle did surprise me.

The -front units look faultless by comparison-

 

one half of the kit: rear and front


That black material on the rear spring is anti-chafe I would guess. Typical of Japanese attention to detail, this plastic sleeving is ventilated with drain holes to let water in and out.

 

Here's the car late afternoon before installing the rear set.
It is raining now but maybe tonight I'll get the fronts installed too.


horrible wheel gap Begone!

 

Detail of the front strut's height adjustment system. Unlike the rear wheel height system, the highly stressed front's have Acme threaded steel sleeves, chrome plated.
The lower perch and lock ring are spun loose, apart to show detail. The black rubber ring is the seat for the linearly-wound coil spring.

 

above shows the lower seating for the strut spring.
this is the upper spring perch, inverted. It is aluminum.

 

sexy, huh?
This shows the fully booted/protected front strut sealing. It's nice to look at for sure. No grit can get in this.
So I wonder why they are lax about the rear damper rod's protection?

 

misc. photos.


here is the rear height adjuster. It is made of aluminum. Contrast its sharp cut threads against the stronger Acme (square shoulder threads) necessary for for fronts.

The gold color is attractive. I think it is a nitride coating to prevent galling of the hard, cast aluminum perch ring and lock ring. These are spun apart here to show detail.

 

 

vast difference between stock xB spring and the Tein spring. Now I know how these give a softer ride..... .....


edit: this supplied spring turns out to be way too soft for my needs. More in updates below. This kit is designed for lowering -with ride comfort- emphasized. Suitable for most users but I will need to go to stiffer Tein springs (available in many strengths)

 

humor:

"Hi. My name is Stanley Johnson. Like my car? It's new. Like my drop? I put a caster on the DC Sports muffler
Like my Van Phan negative camber? I read Scion Life and buy from its sponsors. How do I do it? I'm in debt up to my eyeballs."

 

more silly sidebarring:

Spring time came late summer,

green as the paint upon a Tein.

You understand? You got
The Drift?



---seriously now:
Am thinking up an easy fix for the lack of grit-sealing on that rear damper.....
think! Model T Ford tech... what am I reinventing? You can guess if you know old machinery like I do.

 

In an age before oil resistant rubber seals or plastics, woolen felt was the material for sealing wheel bearings and sliding rods from ingress of grit, if not water.

I probably can make a fine and simple grit shield from soft, pure piano woolen sheeting I've got in stock here. Oiled. Captured under the boot, probably above that Tein white plastic bump stop.

I would like to keep sand out of that interface of rod to seal... I'll talk to Tein USA about this question to learn more.

 

i remember that tv ad very well

 

topic of this posting: Exclusion of rod-scratching grit

I have no complaints, but I do have a lot of new thoughts for evaluation.

Let me discuss what I sense about grit-exclusion measures lacking from this Tein setup.

Firstly, the stock dampers front and rear are fully booted or sleeved-over to protect the damper rod from rubbing grit into the top seal of the damper.

illustrations of the front strut for initial example. Compare this to the rear Tein damper heading this thread and to the Tein front strut/damper illustrated below

stock dust/grit/water booting:


In contrast, Tein's exposed rod depends on the rubber sleeve to keep out all grit. It really cannot do that very perfectly. The rear damper boots have a very much oversized hole, and so are particularly prone (I think by looking) to capture grit into the boot and deposit on the top of the damper tube. And thus risk scratching the damper rod.


What does the Tein Basic instruction guide say about this matter?

pg 2:
So, maybe I'm not making a mountain of a small thing. I'd like you to think about Tein's own cautions. I think I have a simple remedy which you can do at home: an old fashioned woolen dust seal. It's really slick (i think!)

I'll tell more later on. Think think think guys. Think about how long you expect your Teins or other aftermarket unsleeved dampers to last in hard service.

Silica cuts chrome, you know. The dust boot right above is not so bad as-is because it hole fits the damper rod without slop (the rear damper boot though is OVERsized hole and useless)

However, if mud dries on that rod, and then the rod works in normal service, mud grit will be transfered INTO the boot area and some dust or grit -will- certainly find its way in time to the interfacing seal between damper body and damper rod. And this is where the scratching will be done.

 

Let's look at a Tein strut. Tein emphasizes the importance of two key points to extend damper service life:

-keep the rod clean

-clean the adjuster threads of mud and grit before readjusting ride height after the unit has been in service. They advise use of a "lubricant". But they do not specify what is the best lubricant.

I say that GoJo softsoap hand cleaner will make the best lubricant. Why?
Well, grease or oil will stay on the parts and attract more mud and sand to stick. It will be hard to get the grit off the threads. A bit of sand in the threads will score and cut the threads.

Gojo is like, Ivory soap made soft by excess water. It contains a bit of mineral spirits. It is very slippery for the metal threads and for the lower spring rubber ring.
Gojo does not attack the metal or the rubber. It washes off with water. Such GoJo that remains in the threads acts as a lubricant.

If we lube the threads with grease or oil instead of soap, the oil or grease may tend to grab and hold grit. Gritty threads hamper subsequent adjustments. Take this untested advice as you like.

For the initial assembly I slathered GoJo on the parts to ensure a slippery adjustment and put soap between the threads for the service period. White soap it an excellent thread lube even for wood screws.
Soap harms nothing. It prevents sticking and galling



The dust boot is separated from the damper top to show the Tein bump stop. The pass-through hole in this flexible boot is sized to the rod. This makes it -somewhat- effective in shedding mud but -it is not a fully effective seal; adhering dirt can shove right through that rubber hole and be scraped off into the boot area when the rod rebounds in extension. It may be a dirt pump as much as a dirt excluder.

Now let us make a simple, effective grit-excluding seal using a natural, time-tested material

I did only ONE of the two front struts with this oil seal. I'll run the car for a goodly while and then inspect both dampers and see how clean the stock-sealed strut has remained as compaired to this oiled felt sealed strut. If Tein's boot were perfectly effective there won't be a trace of grit or water inside the boot area. A visual/tactile/duct tape test will tell whether this five minute sealing modification is worth the bother.