Shaving bumpstops necessary with Tein S-Tech?

Shaving bumpstops necessary with Tein S-Tech?

So, I got my S-techs and Tokicos installed today and the car looks great! It rides really smoothly over small bumps and isn't what I consider rough at all. When I go over moderately bigger bumps though, I hear a loud banging/crashing sound come from the wheel wells. Also, the springs make a creaking sound sometimes at low speed. Could the crashing sound be the car hitting the bumpstops?

I hadn't heard about any other 93-97 owners saying they shaved their bumpstops with S-techs, so it seems a little strange. Any other ideas on what the problem could be?

you should always shorten yoru bump stops when lowering.. here's why..

if you bottom out, and hit the bumpstops, you end up getting a really bad spring-back effect, also damages the struts..

shorten the bumpstops, and the springback rate is slowed, the struts do not blow out as often..

i see....so i guess the general rule to cut them is always half? so, does it matter which way i put it back?

what about just a slight drop....say for the h. techs or h & r springs that say the average drop is around 1.5 inches?

well, the bumpstops are attached to the strut boot, so cutting off the top of the boot makes it fit poorly on the strut rod..

Can anyone show me a pic of the bump stop and the springs please? I'm going to install S tech this month too.

ok...so i'm going to cut the end that's on the oppisite side of the strut boot.

THANKS TAMAGO.....you helped me out again!

Sorry this is a little off topic, but where did you get s techs for your 94? I've searched for them and could only find them for 98-up. Are they the same? I have s techs on my other car and just love em. Couldn't find any s techs for my 93 so I went and bought some DZ springs (which I heard were terrible), but I haven't installed them yet. So, if I could get s techs, I can get rid of those DZ's...
Thanks and sorry again this is off topic....

yes, your bump stops are getting hit.. chop off half of the stop.

the crashing is probably your strut rods not tight enough..

hey tamago.....do you have to cut the bumpstos off of a 98 corolla with the s techs...or does this refer to dropping a car in general? what if you just leave it alone....would it be bad?

I hear S-techs are harsh, but I didn't expect them to be this harsh when hitting pothole. It definitely sounds like the suspension is bottoming out when I corner hard, hit moderately sized potholes or over speed bumps. When I corner hard, I actually hear the banging sound over and over, like the suspension is trying to compress, but is hitting something and repeadly bouncing back. That only happened on one occasion, but it was scary as hell.

This isn't normal right?

If anyone else has S-techs, how does your car act when you corner hard and hit a potholes or something? Does the car stay planted, or does the bump shift you off course? Also, when you hit a bump is there a loud banging sound?

97dx...do you like the s-techs? any complaints? i heard that they're for show only and not performance???? how true is this? did you use a camber kit? do you have any pics that i can peep so i know how low your car got? thanks.

bring your car back to the shop or whoever did it
i think they didn't do it right, and it shounds like bad struts to me
my Stec makes no sound, but when you hit a big pothole = BANG yeah it normal

I told you guys 3 months ago!

Yes. Stechs are harsh. Very harsh. I warned you guys like 3 months ago (Do a search of my threads) The Stech is not recommended for daily driving. I wouldn't even recommend it for weekend driving. You are pretty much riding with no suspension. Like I said earlier, I hit a bump in the freeway at 45 miles a hr and almost crashed and died. These springs should be banned. Get TRD. Stiff enough for daily driving yet improves cornering. Highly recommended. Again, don't cut corners in suspension, you'll pay dearly when you loose control on the freeway because the freeway isn't a race track, its not entirely smooth. If you havn't installed them, save your time and money and go get some progressive rate springs, not linear. Linear rates are for track only.

RobUpNya
dropped about ~ 2'
i have it over a year, and i am running on 14x6 (195-60-14)
i don't use a camber kit
just went out and took some picz in the rain hth

i dun think the s techs are that harsh, pretty good compared to other springs for that size of a drop.

My Intrax are 1.8", and they don't seem any rougher than my cousin's Eibach Prokit (1.4 or 1.5&quot..

I have H-Tech's on my 94, and we didn't have to cut the bump stops. When you got your S-Tech springs, you should have received a sheet of paper saying how much and where to cut your bump stops, I got it with my H-Tech's. Funny thing is, the box said they we're for 98-02 (like every other H-Tech), but they also had the specs for the 93-97 for the bump stops (dont cut nothing for the 93-97, cut 0.6" for the 98-02, for the H-Techs)

i have s techs on my 98, i had them on with dead stock struts. the spring rate was CRAZY. my car would fly up and down. with the tokico struts, they controlled the bounce pretty well...but even so its still pretty springy. i dunno about the losing control on the freeway thing though....but sometimes i do feel unconfident in the s techs...i got them for looks cuz they were the lowest

Yeah I dunno. I still haven't had time to take the car back to get the bumpstops shaved, but the ride is pretty rough right now.

WOW, I find it hard to believe the Stechs are harsh for a 94-2002 but not on a 2003+. I have a 04 with S techs on stock struts " car is on 1 yr old" and when I hit a pothole or bump I DO NOT bottom out or hear anything. When I corner hard I hug the road I DO NOT hear anything. When going over slow small bumps I hear NO NOISE. I thin they installed them incorrectly and you probably have bad struts.

I also would not agree with S techs not being ok for daily driving. My ride is a little harder then stock but in now way harsh and it doesn't bounce all that bad.

Now like I said maybe they are different in the pre 03's " I know the 03+ will not fit " but I cannot see quality being shitty on the early models but great on the newer ones.

Have your car checked out man to be safe.

Oh and Ninety Four I live in MD, if you wanna meet up one day to take a ride to see that I am not bullshitting anyone send me a PM. I think you will see if installed correctly with good struts you should have no problems.

Let me know man.

Mazda rims? Miata?

Mine is smooth over small bumps and on the highway too. Like someone said, I think my front struts blew and are hitting the bumpstops too easily. I belive Tokico has a warranty, but the shop that installed my struts probably threw away the box with the info... I'll see if they'll cover the costs.

I have an '01 w/ S-Tech and Tokico's and I drive mine daily and I don't have that much drama especially on the freeway and those that are from va that have ever driven on I-64 you know the road isn't exactly the smoothest in the country. I never knew that people were having some many problems with that. What kind of surface roads are you guys riding on anyway?

yeah miata's rims took me over a year to get them

The Tokico/Tein combo is great. YOu need to have it installed properly.

<br />
i agree

Update: Called Tein and they said it was most likely improper installation of the springs instead of the struts being blown. While driving the car recently, I really like the way it handles and I have to say I disagree that Stechs ride too harshly. My rear suspension rides really smooth, even over bumps, but the only reason I think the ride is uncomfortable in the front is because there's a problem with my installation.

I'm thinking I could go for the springs to be a little stiffer, actually, so I might upgrade to a nice coilover kit at some point, but that'll be once I finish all my engine work.

I still haven't solved this problem though, cause I haven't had time to take the car back to the shop, but between tomorrow and monday I should be able to.

<i>to help BS out off VVTI</i><br />
<b>steve403 and pantyraider</b>if you 2 don't know how to drive a fucking lowered car<br />
than put the stock back, and that for safety when hit a bump at 45mph on the freeway before an 18 wheeler gun over<br />
if you don't know what are you talking please stfu!!!<br />
people are learning from eachother STOP your BS stories to scare other

I have tokico and s tech.. and I hate the ride.... i used to have dropezone springs and it was a way better ride, and better performance. but i deal with the ride cause i like the look... but i don't suggest getting s tech tociko together. i even thought my struts were dead. got a new set and it still rides like crap. well not &quot; crap&quot; but not as nice as my other springs. look or ride , guess you have to choose. i am wondering what to lower the SI with now.