Coilover ride height changing while driving?
 

My car has tein flex z and I noticed the right front seems to be getting lower after a few weeks of driving. I raised it again yesterday and noticed 2 things.

The lower locking ring doesn't sit quite as flush against the angled thrust ring even though it is as tight as I can make it. Maybe possible its partially stripped near the bottom.

When I was adjusting preload as I increased preload the spring perch begins to turn with the spring also turning the shaft and top nut. I played around with it and the top nut seems to be tight and the whole shaft moves when I turn the spring perch. Is this normal?

Pretty sure Im not imagining things as the gap between the bottom locking ring and 2 spring rings is definitely smaller than when I first installed it...(I think) Has anyone had an issue like this or can advice what I should look for? I'll probably pull the whole strut off and look it over again if the ride height slips again.

Update:

I looked at again today and all the preload had come out of the left side and it was my lower spring perch rings that were loose after a track day of driving.
The tein spanner wrenches have holes for a 1/2 drive wrench so I hooked up my torque wrench for more leverage and was able to snug everything down better than just using my hands. I'm pretty sure this was the issue. I was able to torque the bottom lock ring better to sit flush with the thrust washer also with more leverage.

You can always mark original position with speck of paint, to see if parts/rings/whatever had moved.

This is the 2nd thread I have seen about this with Teins.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122105

You may just have to check them as part of your regular maintenance.

Thanks for the link! I'll keep an eye on it. I just did a track day on it after adjusting it and I think some of the preload came out and lowered slightly. I'll have to pull it off and take a better look at it to see what exactly is happening.

I have these as well but have not had any movement after tightening the lock rings.

It can sometimes take a few weeks for the suspension to completely settle.

I was able to flatten my lock washer but it took a lot of cranking.

As for preloading the spring, yes, it is normal to have the strut rod start spinning as the pressure increases. However, do not let it just keep spinning. This can lead to a prematurely blown shock. Really, once this starts happening, the preload is set anyway, so it's not necessary to keep applying preload.

In your instructions it has some basic measurements of where the preload should be.

Thank you very much!

That helps a lot. If my ride height is slipping it must be because I can't get the bottom locking collar all the way down.. or the 2 locking spring perch isn't tight enough it looks like from the other thread you've got to really lock them.

Looks like I'm reviving a zombie here, but wanted to add a voice for future people having problems.


I've had the tein flex a's on for about 4 months now. I can't seem to get the fronts locked down. Over a few weeks, the perch mount will loosen up, eventually lowering the car on its own.


Backs have not budged a mm since I set them.


Getting ready to throw them away.

Put the spanners on a big torque wrench and crank harder. Worked for me

People think coilovers just magically stay there at whatever ride height you set and don't require maintenance.

If anything, adjustable coilovers require more maintenance than normal spring/shock, you should be checking them at least once a month if you daily drive the car.

Some designs incorporate a locking mechanism to prevent the bottom from moving, but it's still no excuse to not check on them. If you don't want to maintain coilovers, then don't buy them or go back to nonadjustable (height) spring/shock setups.

I recall seeing one of such DIY magical locking mechanism to prevent moving of locking rings. Taping over shock bottom/over teethed locking rings with duct tape. :D