twojayzee

I wanted to get some coverage here on the forums. I've had the old tein flex's on my wifes GS430 for several years and have had them on my 1gs for a decade. They were amazing.
Long story short - The set on the 430 were ready to rebuild, but due to it being a DD we cant wait 3-6 weeks for a rebuild. So I decided to do the next logical thing and buy the new street flex series.

What a horrible waste of money. The car is flat out dangerous right now. Aside from a little around town driving it has to be parked and im sharing our other car with my wife.

I have them at the recomended settings per the manual that came with them. The car is not laid out flat or VIP low.

We have adjustable upper front arms, lower rear toe arms and are at full factory alignment specs.

On the softest setting the suspension will bottom out, even on a medium setting.
On the stiffest setting, the car bounces like crazy and will start to hobby horse.
This induces dangerous bump steer that will unsettle the chassis and make the tail wag causing a loss of control.

Im not a newb, i've been working on cars for 22+yrs and have fabricated complete suspensions from scratch. Been a member on this forum (EDIT: 12 years) for a while as well as SF and several others.

Just wanted to warn you all about the issues im having since Tein thinks its ok.

I'm not going to bash the company, but thier tech support is seriously lacking for what seems to be a decent size company.

Thier expaination of the lack of dampening and rebound is that the settings are either incorrect or this system is just unsuitable to me and I should perhaps pay them to revalve and/or buy stiffer springs. As if thats ok to spend $1,350 on coilovers that are advertised as being designed for "street driving and periodic track use" + two alignments...
Seems this is a major hazard to me.

The old flex's on all of the other cars have done great...

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

They won't take them back?

twojayzee

They've not offered to do anything for me, other than give me canned book responses and sell me more parts and service.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

It kills me to hear about a well known company doing this.. Even not so well known companies stand behind there products and make the customer happy..

SFGVIP

do you have any pics of it on the car? Like how it looks like right now with them on? I actually bought a set and haven't put them on yet. I have a GS300 and you think it'll be a bit different that the engine is slightly lighter then the V8? When i took the coilover out of the box i spun the shocks down and seems like it can lower 3 inches +. Tein's website shows it can lower 2.9" rear and 3" front

twojayzee

This is a pic a few days ago at their recommended specs of 13.8" front center of hub to top of fender and 13.2 in the rear going from memory.
I would like to hear your input if you put them on shortly. I have run my old set much lower a long time ago, but didn't like getting stuck on speed bumps in parking lots.

SFGVIP

I will definitely update you when i have everything installed. I'm currently just waiting for the rims to come in so i can install it.

twojayzee

Alright now I'm beyond irritated with Tein. Who else has these new series struts on thier car?
How is it even remotely feaseable that no one else has brought up this issue ? ARGH !

porn-adkt

iTrader: (37)

Since you say you've been around cars for 20 plus years, im sure you will understand this..ill keep it simple. im shocked that you seemed a little surprised by what you got.

Coil Overs were never meant for street use. manufacturers started introducing street series because of demand.

Most of the shelf kits use Linear springs which for street use will give you a bouncy jittery ride and bottom out since it will remain the same and too weak to stop the stroke.

Just because its Tein, doenst mean its high quality.

Their are some custom coils that are amazing but expect to pay $3K-5K ... They use proper valving, either helper springs or progressive springs, rebuildable..Blah blah..blah...

Bottom line... Your spring rates are too weak for the car when it goes full compression and too strong for going over a pebble. which makes you rely on setting your valve setting to the highest.

get stiffer springs or what ever race series they have and call it a day.

twojayzee

The reason I purchased these, is due to the level of customer service and product quality i've experienced in the past.

Sure coilovers arent necessarily designed with the street in mind, however the vast majority of consumers do use them in that manner, and doesnt change the fact that they can work well in most situations if setup properly.

IMO this doesnt give Tein the right to make unsafe coilovers for consumer consumption. Whether the are for the street or track, this combo they've produced for the 2gs is not suited to either.

I know all about great coilovers. I've had KW's, Ohlins and Ground Control's in the past. Neither of those companies make setups for the 2gs.

Tein has agree'd to look do a "free inspection for manufacturing defects" if I send them back.
My opinion is that if I decide to take them up on that, they will find no manufacturing defects; just a flawed plan of using soft springs and incorrect valving. The CS's on my friends car are far supperior to these...

porn-adkt

iTrader: (37)

All them street series..suck... best set up ive had on my Supra was Bilsteins and Eibachs believe it or not. after trying Numerous off the shelf Coil overs, it came down to buying the top of the line coils.. Since most off the shelf kits Can Not offer Track and Street use.

Id say if you cant return them, maybe start a petition against the product line, and file a class action. Other than that sell them and be done with the headaches..

I remember i had Teins on my Silvia..WORST ride thus far that i have experienced... Talk about dangerous... @140mph you DO NOT want a linear set up if you hit a dip or imperfection, cause you will end up on the other lane...

twojayzee

ANYONE ELSE WITH THIS SETUP - PLEASE COME FORWARD
I've been in communication with Tein. They've stated that no one else has complained about this product and I find that very hard to believe. I need them to understand the severity of the issue and that the internet reviews are very important and can be influential when it comes to what people purchase.

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

Tein coils were a P.O.S on my car. Bounced around everywhere and scraped everywhere. I'm slammed on bc coils now and such a better ride than being lowered on teins and half the price too

twojayzee

Update - went back and forth with Tein in emails and phone calls. They are not willing to do the right thing which effectively renders the car useless right now. Wasted 1350 on the coils and 400 on the edfc. I'm working with the BBB to come to resolution since Tein thought they could get away treating customers like crap.

SprtDesign

iTrader: (21)

You may have got a set of SC430 or IS300 coils. Just because the box states that they were fro the GS does not mean someone from the factory didn't screw up and mis label the box.