Originally Posted by vipguy

when u talk about struts and springs. usually the shock is
what goes bad, not the springs..

OEM quality shocks usually are suggested to be replaced every 50k.
i think aftermarket ones like tein, jic, hks are designed to last longer than
that.

one important note you need to think about before buying ANY coilover..
tein cs, tein ss, hks, tanabe all don't have threaded shock bodies.
which means you can only lower your car so much, tein ss and tein cs,
you can do a 2"-3" drop probably max. check tein's website on
their spec sheets. you'll notice most of their ss and cs don't lower very much

i have a buddy who's friend has a sc400(1998). they put tein cs on there
not listening to my buddy and I, and he has a 1" wheel gap with 19's on
at the lowest setting. i had some non threaded shock bodies on my previous
car and it wouldn't get lower than a drop on springs.

and if you dont know what i'm talking about.. heres some pictures to explain.
this is a HKS HiperMax LS coilover. notice the way you lower your car is
by compressing the springs together,

the lower you go, to more compressed the spring is, and the less travel you'll get. yes the shocks are probably shorter stroke than oem ones, so it'll ride decent with a drop of 1" or 2".. maybe even 3". but after that, you can't lower it anymore.

this is a picture of a threaded shock body.


notice you leave the spring compression alone. you lower it by turning the bottom perch, so you "lower it by lowering the entire shock/spring together".
you have the same amount of shock travel at 1" to 4" drop. and these coilovers tend to let you lower it more.

the ride depends on how stiff the rates of the spring and shocks are.
yes CS is a softer ride than SS when you talk about tein. but if you
intend to lower your car a lot, a softer ride might cause problems.

i hope this helps you make a good decision. i made mistakes with
choosing coilovers in the past, and i hope this prevents you from making one.

Originally Posted by vipguy

oh i forgot, tein flex has a threaded shock body and at a medium/soft
setting it's a nice ride. don't assume it'll be like a track car setup.

and check out tein's spec sheets:
http://www.tein.com/price/lexus.html
that'll tell u how much it'll lower.. i swear, most of their setups
are like 1" or 2" drop for a 1000 dollar coilover.
i had called them in the past, and they said their company
is most after the performance and overall output, not so much
looks.

Originally Posted by butcher

Lexinton
ps: you mentioned you can get a set of coilovers for $1045?! What brand??

Originally Posted by Lexinton

They would be the Tein CS.

On a side note for future reference for myself and others....when looking at used coilovers, what should one be looking for to know if they are in satisfactory condition? If one could also explain about it 'leaking' as well it would be appreciated!

Originally Posted by vipguy

i have a friend on megans and they ride decent(sc300). i dunno
how reliable they are but they can be rebuilt in the us. and they're
not terribly expensive. i was going to go that route at one point.
theres also KSPORT and D2 but those seems more like junk to me.

Originally Posted by vipguy

when u talk about struts and springs. usually the shock is
what goes bad, not the springs..

OEM quality shocks usually are suggested to be replaced every 50k.
i think aftermarket ones like tein, jic, hks are designed to last longer than
that.

one important note you need to think about before buying ANY coilover..
tein cs, tein ss, hks, tanabe all don't have threaded shock bodies.
which means you can only lower your car so much, tein ss and tein cs,
you can do a 2"-3" drop probably max. check tein's website on
their spec sheets. you'll notice most of their ss and cs don't lower very much

i have a buddy who's friend has a sc400(1998). they put tein cs on there
not listening to my buddy and I, and he has a 1" wheel gap with 19's on
at the lowest setting. i had some non threaded shock bodies on my previous
car and it wouldn't get lower than a drop on springs.

and if you dont know what i'm talking about.. heres some pictures to explain.
this is a HKS HiperMax LS coilover. notice the way you lower your car is
by compressing the springs together,

the lower you go, to more compressed the spring is, and the less travel you'll get. yes the shocks are probably shorter stroke than oem ones, so it'll ride decent with a drop of 1" or 2".. maybe even 3". but after that, you can't lower it anymore.

this is a picture of a threaded shock body.


notice you leave the spring compression alone. you lower it by turning the bottom perch, so you "lower it by lowering the entire shock/spring together".
you have the same amount of shock travel at 1" to 4" drop. and these coilovers tend to let you lower it more.

the ride depends on how stiff the rates of the spring and shocks are.
yes CS is a softer ride than SS when you talk about tein. but if you
intend to lower your car a lot, a softer ride might cause problems.

i hope this helps you make a good decision. i made mistakes with
choosing coilovers in the past, and i hope this prevents you from making one.