Somebody HELP ME! :p My friend is a mechanic and he installed the grip force Tanabe springs on my 8 a couple of weeks ago, but I have a problem. The car lowered about 2 inches in the back (which looks awesome) but in the front it only lowered the car 1 inch. Needless to say it looks retarded with the *** of the car lower than the front. I wish it was the other way around. My questions are: Can this be a installation screw up, manufacturer, or is it an optical illusion? Please reply anyone who can thanx.

 

did he install the front springs onto the rear ones? heheh?

 

Is that possible? I thought they are different sizes. At least thats what it looked like in the box. Either way I don't know. I feel like taking the car to get them redone but they want to charge me $200.00 to do it. I don't know if I can do them myself.

 

the longer springs go in the front.

 

Im sure he didnt install them wrong. I have heard that most aftermarket RX8 springs that are sold as "even" settle more in the rear, than in the front. Combine that with teh fact that when stock are front wheel wells have a larger gap than the rear, you get the effect you have now.

My suggestion is new springs. Some are marketed (Mazdaspee, Tien, etc...) with a larger front drop, then rear.

 

Optauto claims the following:

Wouldn´t this mean that the car should be lowered equal F&R... or is the .2" not enough to even it out? I desperately want to lower my ride, but I defenatley NOT would like the rear lower than the front.

 

I think they were installed wrong... The fact that they want to charge you again to fix the problem almost confirms this.

I would try going to a different installer and having them checked. If you need to pay for it again, then you need to pay for it again. Though, I would have an attorney friend write the original installer a demand letter to refund the installation charge and any damages set forth. The fear of having to pay more attorney fees than refund will usually provide quick results

 

I seriously doubt they were installed wrong. It's possible to f*** up spring installation, but the process and materials are laid out. It is so simple.

You should have gotten COILOVERS. Springs alone tend to have a mind of their own. I don't know too much about available springs, but search around and find the drop you like.

Other than that, coilovers. Definately.

 

I have Tanabe GF210's and I found the same to be true on my drop. The front needs to drop another inch but the rear is perfect. I had hoped more settling might occur but it never has and it's been 6 months.

Only solution is coilovers IMO. Someone on the board actually cut a coil off the front springs to get what he wanted (!!!).

 

I have Tanabe NF210's and I noticed the same thing. The rear drop is perfect, but the front could use another 1" of drop. I decided to leave it alone until I upgrade the suspension to a full coilover kit.

 

Note... if ur car's wheel tire gap is even in both the front and back after ur spring install, then that means ur car will actually be leaning down in the front. This is because originally the front has a larger gap. Do you want that?

Petrus... .2" is probably not enough to cover it. The difference between the front and rear, with OEM sprngs on, is alot more than .2"

 

Ok, sounds fair... So the Tein S TECH would actually be a really good choice if I´m looking for a even lowering... They claim ,7" at R and 1,4" at F. Sound as they would do a good job?

 

while there could be a installation issue, they could have also preloaded the suspension, ie, they tighted down all the bushings before the weight was on the suspension (can being off jackstands and on the ground) if they did the installation with a lift this is possible.

You could try taking your wheels off loosening the bolts with bushings to finger tight, put the wheels back on and lower the car, let it settle for an hour, then tighten up to spec the bolts.

 

Wow i hope i dont have this problem with my mazda speed shock and springs.

 

the ms springs and shocks have numbers on them that correlate to the front and back, you'll see in the directions.

just don't preload them.

 

What do u mean by preload them? Besides I don't really want to buy new springs, I just want to fix the ones I have. You know, make them go lower in the front. Thanks anyways.

 

I spoke to Tanabe and was told that this problem had been encountered before. This happens when the suspension isn't pre-loaded. The springs are installed when in full droop and then torqued down. Installation error.

Give them a call, they can walk you through it.

 

Thanx, I contacted Tanabe and they said this:

"What has happened is that when the springs are installed with the vehicle in
the air. The front upper A arm was loosened or removed to install
the springs. When re installing the strut and spring assembly all bolts are
torque to spec and the vehicle placed back on the ground. By doing so
the bushing were torqued to it's unnatural working position and is holding
up the weight of the vehicle.

What must be done is the bushing must be loosened and allowed to settle to
the new proper working position with the new spring height. AND THE
BOLT TIGHTEN TO VEHICLE SPEC".

I don't want to pay my mechanic to do this. Does anyone have a D.I.Y. guide to do this particular repair? Thanx

 

Dammit. I knew the front looked too tall after almost a week of settling. I'm gonna have to work on this on saturday. If you havent done it yet, I'll put up some pics of what needs to be done. It's not hard, just uncomfortable to tighten them back down. Might have to use ramps so the car is high enough to get under, but still putting weight on the spring.

Dammit!

I'm gonna call you up Alex....