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So I tried to drop the car today now that the summer wheels are on.  The passenger side rear coilover perch that the spring sits on is stuck.  So far I've tried WD-40, PB Blaster soaked overnight, and brake cleaner, but still no luck.  Tim, I know you gave me a few good ideas (try to screw the perch upward; use both wrenches and a ratchet for more leverage), but that didn't work either.  I've pulled plenty of muscles today trying to get this thing to move.  Anyone have any other ideas?  Right now this coilover is sitting 2 threads higher than the rest and I don't know if this will have any ill-effects on the tires.

I remember Tim telling me the other night when I was at his house that he had to use an air hammer to knock the perches loose on the front after he broke a spanner wrench. He hasn't been able to do anything with the rears because they're stuck as well. So as it stands, his fronts are the only adjustable struts. He'll be able to elaborate more on  htis. But I think he also went through the same shit you did, but with less luck.

My rear perches are stuck on my nex coilovers,  In oreder to break my fronts I jsut took them out and put them in the vise and put a cheather bar on the spanner wrench.  Im just hoping the rear will break loose to so I can slam it.  I keep putting it off cause I think the rears a pain in the ass the front only takes like 15 min a side.

I wonder why the rears always seems to be the ones that get stuck more often?  Must be all the junk that reaches the upper part of the wheel wells.  I'ma be pissed if I have to resort to removing the coilover in order to get it to move.  I'll try and see if I can get someone with a garage and air tools to go to town on it.  The spanner wrenches just aren't gonna do the trick.

Yeah man.  I wish I had other advice.  I went through some bullshit a few weeks ago with my passenger side front perch.  I really need to pull out my rears to have them taken care of.

Don't know if it will help at all Dave but, i'm a really big guy... I'd be willing to see if I could get it to move for you. I can't be held responsible for broken spanner wrenchs though. Why do they not use a silicone or anit sieze coating on the threads?

That would make sense, wouldn't it?  I had this same fucking discussion with Tein a year ago.  For whatever reason, all of the coilovers made by Tein for our cars do not have teflon coated threads.  That means you would have to buy a higher quality (and more expensive) coil over made for the TSX to get teflon coated threads and then void the warranty by installing it on your Accord.

I had thought about spraying a silicone on them but then all the dirt would stick to worse so i decided not to it.  I just decided that im going to jack the car up spray the threads with wd-40 every month

You're better off just using anti-seize lube and keeping and eye on them to make sure they stay clean.  Proper maintenance is key.  It's hard to do when you live in an area with shitty winters.

Mike, you can always give it a try on Saturday if you want.  I wouldn't worry about broken wrenches... Tim busted his because apparently the Tein Basics come with a crappy wrench while my SS's and the SS-P's come with beefier ones that seem impossible to break.  If anything, I'd be more worried about breaking your finger or your wrist (my knuckles are F'd up from slamming the inner part of the wheel well about 20 times).  I'ma try one more time to get it to budge tomorrow now that it's been soaking in PB Blaster and brake cleaner for a few days, but it's prolly still gonna be stuck.

And yup, blame winter for this one.  Sick of it.

I'll give it a try.. Can't hut to try once or twice.

Good news.  I beasted on the coilover and actually got it to budge today.  After letting the threads soak with PB Blaster and brake cleaner since Saturday, I was pulling with the wrenches and a socket wrench, and the perch slowly started to move a couple centimeters at a time, and then it got easier and easier to unscrew.  Needless to say, the rear threads are now soaked in PB Blaster and anti-seize slime.  Hopefully this helps to avoid running into this problem again.  Still, when I go to Firestone on Friday for my alignment, I'm gonna see if they can do anything to treat the threads for me.  Thanks for the help guys.

Maybe I should try that with my rear suspension.  I really want to lower the back end of my car some more.

Maybe we can try tomorrow?  Tein was real helpful with their e-mail replies.  You can send them any stuck coils and they'll fix them for $25/each labor, but parts are another story.  And sure enough, the Basics and SS's have steel threads, but the higher-end stuff is teflon coated.  Constant maintenance is thus key to making sure that the spring seats don't jam up, especially if you live in snowy climates.

Are you referring to the knob to adjust the height?
I was thinking about basics but winters in Canada suck... this is making me think twice

Well not exactly a knob, but rather the perch that the spring sits on.  If the threads get dirty or worn, the perch becomes very hard to screw up or down the threads when you want to adjust the height.  You might want to either look into a set of coilovers that come with treated threads, or just remember to clean the threads on the coils you do decide to buy as often as possible.  No Seize / Anti-Seize gel will be a good investment for you.

Does the SS-P have this problem?

I'm not a 100% sure about this answer, so you might want to contact TEIN to find out.  However, since the SS-P is the same product as the SS with just an added upper pillowball mount, I assume that they also just have steel threads.  By "higher-end", you'd prolly have to get like the Comfort Sports or something to guarantee that they come with treated threads, or, like Tim said before, get a set that was made for the Acura TSX.

I already talked to Tein about this last year.  I'm not sure why nobody believes me when I said it the first time, but if you still think I'm making it up, go ahead and call yourself.  For the record, the only difference between the SS and the SS-P is the upper pillow ball mount.

Thats good that Tien will fix it and all but what about the down time of your car. cause you gotta take them off, pack em up, sned em out, wait for them to fix them and then wait for them to come back.

Yeh Tim that's basically what I said.

Tory - Unfortunately, the down-time becomes our problem.  Lucky I saved my stock suspension.

And this is why I hate coilovers.

Every car mod has a downside... or two... or three...

how different is it from changing ride height on a Neuspeed supercup kit?

Changing the ride height on the neuspeed supercup kit is a bit more involved, but is mechanically more simple.  The lower perch of the Koni SP3 strut is adjustable by way of a snap ring that seats the spring cup.  To adjust the ride height, the strut is decompressed (usually the front only because the springs are so stiff), and the perch is manipulated by moving the snap ring up or down the desired number of grooves.  The kit allows for a half inch raise or drop.  While less effective at overall raising or lowering than a coilover setup, the kit still allows for some flexibility especially when using springs that do not offer a lot of drop.  The maintenance issues of a coilover system are eliminated.  All one needs to do is use brake cleaner to blast away any debris in the grooves, and then follow up with a hook or pick to remove stubborn stuff.

I would recommend all coilover owners regardless of location to coat the threads of their struts in a metallic anti-seize lubricant, and then tape up the exposed threads with a weatherproof tape to keep the threads pristine and isolated from the elements.

Did this.


Did not do this, but good idea.

Yeah, I was suggesting that they be done in tandem.  Sorry for seeming like I told you to do something that you already did.  The anti-seize protects against stuff that may get past the tape, and it also keeps the threads coated at all times.  The excess is just wiped away when service is to be done.  The tape is the heart of what I'm suggesting because it will keep debris, road salt, and other nastiness away from the threads.  This will eliminate that nasty grinding sound when you adjust your struts because you KNOW something is in there...

^ thanks for the informative Post Skippy on the 'how to' adjustment works for the neuspeed super cup kit and the other one as far as coilover tips of PM. I will keep both in mind.

Skip,

I in no way translated your thread as if you were telling me to do something I already did.  In fact, both of your tips were good, and I was curious as to what tape you would suggest to cover the threads without things getting messy?

I wasn't expecting that you would interpret it that way, just wanted to make sure I didn't come off sounding rude.  Unfortunately as for a tape recommendation the only idea I can come up with at the moment is green or teal colored duct tape.  You can fix mostly anything with duct tape and it should hold up well.  I would prepare the struts in the following fashion: Apply a light coat of anti-seize lube to the threads and rub it into the threads to coat all thread surfaces.  Gently wipe away the excess and clean your hands.  Apply the duct tape starting at the bottom of the locking rings (wrapping a few turns at first to get a good top seal) and then wrap your way down to the strut body.  Finish by wrapping several turns at the bottom to create a good seal.  Overlap onto strut body slightly to ensure the protective tape layer does not slip or sag.

Using teal or green duct tape will minimize the visual impact of the protective tape.

Great suggestion Skip, do you think that the water proof thread tape that plumbers use would work for this I believe that it's teflon tape actually.

Well that's teflon tape and it's more to create a seal than protect against the elements.  Teflon tape is extremely fragile and it would be a mess to take off.  I would suggest something a bit sturdier and manly...like duct tape!

Let me throw in my .02 here. I work with electronic connectors for radios and RADARS and shit like that that is exposed to some of the harshest conditions you guys can imagine on a daily basis. What I would recommend to fully weatherproof your threads without leaving a sticky residue behind is vulcanizing tape (its that stretchy rubberized shit). Wrap your shock body the same way Skip described with this tape, making sure to overlap at least half of the prior wrap. If you want to throw that teal colored duct tape over it to minimize the visual impact, go ahead. If you try the vulcanizing tape under the duct tape, I guarantee your threads will remain protected, and not have any of the sticky residue of tape.

Yeh Z brings up a good point... wouldn't duct tape leave a mess behind once it needs to be taken off?  But on another note, the green tape would be ideal if you own TEIN coilovers like me because the tape would then color-match the shock body.

That's the great thing about vulcanizing tape. It has zero adhesive. The way it stays in place is by pulling it tight and it bonding to itself. You may not need the tape over it, but if you're worried about aesthetics, then use the green tape.

If the vulcanizing tape is black, I'd just use that.  That would reduce the "visual impact" the most.  You really don't see much of the green on the shocks as it is.

Most times, vulcanizing tape is black. That's all we use here. But if anyone wants to be anal retentive about their Tein green shock bodies, I'm sure they wouldn't mind rewrapping green tape over the vulcanizing. Otherwise, the duct tape is not necessary.

Yeah the vulcanizing tape is a GREAT idea and I'm all for it.  Scott showed me some of that stuff and it's WICKED because it sticks to itself when you pull it tight.

About the sticky mess, that's why I wanted to have the threads coated in anti-seize before the tape is applied.  The idea is that the tape does not stick to the threads, it only has a chance to stick to itself since there is anti-seize on the threads and tape doesn't stick to that stuff.  You would overlap onto the strut so that the "cast" you have put on the threads does not slide down, since it would want to because it's not actually sticking to the threads....it's only sticking to itself like a sleeve.

going to do this to my GC sleeves.

Well, the vulcanzing tape seems to be hard to find in stores, but I think Harbor Freight Tools carries something very similar, so I'm gonna try to pick some up there.  On another note, is there are difference at all between the usual grey duct tape and the blue or green versions that we've been discussing?  Or is it just a color difference?  I just ask because there was a ton of red and blue duct tape at Home Depot, but the blue kind was painters tape, and I figured that that wasn't what I needed.

You couldn't find the vulcanizing tape in the electrical department at Home Depot? And as far as the duct tape, its just a color difference.

I think there is some confusion between duct tape and painters tape.  Dave, I think you're looking at blue painters tape, and not blue duct tape.  You should be able to tell the difference between the two.  They may not have blue duct tape at the place you're looking.

Well forget the duct tape.  I found a few brands of the self-adhering tape at Harbor Freight Tools, so I grabbed some today.  It's a kick ass store.

I applied the tape yesterday.  Let me tell you, it's a pita to do, especially because the anti-seize makes a damn mess.  We'll see how it holds up on the threads.