Well, now that I had cool rims and tires, a sweet ass sway bar to correct the handling, it was time to get serious and upgrade the suspension to true race car levels. After all, I plan on spending a LOT of track time in this car. Better make it corner like its on rails! At the time, if you wanted fully adjustable suspension, you either had the LEDA kit from SPD Tuning Service, or you had the Japanese aftermarket. LEDA was just out of my price range at over $2k. So I started to make some calls...
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The Tein page looked great! Furthur more, at the current exchange rate, I figured I could get the full set for under $1800. I didn't understand the spring weights very well, so I ordered their standard kit. I had Bassem do the importing, and when they arrived, I about feinted on the spot!
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God these things are gorgeous! Very fine workmanship, and full adjustibilty. I couldn't wait to get them together.
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Now, before you read this guide, keep in mind that it was HOT, and I was very tired. You can get full suspension install guides from somewhere else. THIS guide is meant to point out any differences between a normal suspension kit and the Tein suspension kit. Ok - enough talk - lets get started!
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<CENTER><IMG src=/mods/impreza/images/teins1.jpg WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=374 BORDER=0 ALT="Parts Galore"></CENTER><BR><BR>
<IMG src=/mods/impreza/images/teins2.jpg WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=298 BORDER=0 ALT="Assembled Struts">
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Sorry for taking these pictures on such a complex surface, but its what I had, and I didn't want to misplace anything. Anyways, here are the numbers in the pictures...
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<LI>Ride height measurement tool
<LI>Main Spring
<LI>Pillow ball mounts - note the front mounts are larger than the rears
<LI>Spring Cup, prevents springs from rubbing on height adjuster threads
<LI>Upper Spring mount
<LI>Big yellow urethane bump stops
<LI>Height Adjustment area - set to all the way down for building the struts
<LI>Square Springs
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The install is fairly straight forward. Grab your favorite 12mm deep socket and remove the top mounted nuts. This releases the top of the strut from the car.
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<IMG src=/mods/impreza/images/teins3.jpg WIDTH=413 HEIGHT=325 BORDER=0 ALT="Removing the front">
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<IMG src=/mods/impreza/images/teins4.jpg WIDTH=371 HEIGHT=289 BORDER=0 ALT="Fully unbolted">
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Now move to the bottom of the strut where there will be 2 big bolts passing through the strut attaching it to the hub assembly. Remove these bolts and the entire strut will be free to be removed from the car. *NOTE* I need to use a breaker bar in order to loosen these big bottom bolts up.
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There are some clearance problems with the Tein Struts. Here we point out the offending corner. You can see that this sharp corner ran into an obstacle. We need to grind this corner down (Front only!) in order to fit the Teins on the car.
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<IMG src=/mods/impreza/images/teins5.jpg WIDTH=361 HEIGHT=282 BORDER=0 ALT="Clearance Problems">
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<IMG src=/mods/impreza/images/teins6.jpg WIDTH=272 HEIGHT=406 BORDER=0 ALT="Notched Bottom Corner">
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Here is the strut in place. Note how the corner was ever so slightly ground down to clear the lip on the hub assembly. Don't remove too much material! Its better to remove too little than too much, so take your time and test for fitment frequently. Also note that your ABS line is now just flopping in the wind! Luckily there is an alternate mounting location near-by!
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And here is where we moved the ABS line too. This picture is of the Driver front side. Once your ABS line is mounted in this spot, you won't have to worry about it hanging down and getting caught in the suspension components. We also tested to ensure that the line wasn't drawn tight or hangs down too low. Presto! ABS line is secure!
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<IMG src=/mods/impreza/images/teins7.jpg WIDTH=380 HEIGHT=274 BORDER=0 ALT="Re-routed ABS line">
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At this point, things began to get real hot, and the remainder of the install is repeating the process for each strut. The rear end requires you remove the back seat in order to reach the bolt mount points for the top of the rear-struts. But luckily, there are no more worries when it comes to ABS lines in the rear. They are attached to the trailing arm rather than the strut itself. This install took us about 5 hours and is of medium difficulty. Good luck!