[nubbage]

Howdy all. I am thinking the first mod I want to do to my IS is to drop it. I've searched around on these forums and on e-bay and it seems like a good choice for lowering springs would be Tein S-Tech or H-tech. I have a couple of quiestions regarding these:

Is this a good brand?
What are the differences between the two(H-Tech is $20 more)?
Can anyone who has used either of these post a picture(I see the H-tech thread recently started)?

Thanks for the help - J

 

[Brandon714]

I would go with Hotchkis <-----click here for a good deal

 

[808IS3]

^ ya go with hotchkiss if ya want a lower drop and besides ya cant beat the price!
thou if ya want a mild to conservative drop then... eibachs and the Htechs are the ones for you.
so...
S Tech = pretty damn low
H Tech = decent drop
Eibach or Ltuned = decent drop
H&R = can ya say... low, really low apparantly by some other netters out there.
Hotchkiss = pretty damn low as well, but for the price... nice!

oh and the price difference on the Htechs vs. Stechs i believe is because the stechs sell more... they seem to be all over ebay, but try looking for some htechs hard to find at a decent price... try carson toyota they sell the htechs for $162.
http://www.l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=208
heres the link for the stechs...
http://www.l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=211

alohaz.

 

[osmosis]

H.Tech not worth it, too soft

 

[irv_usc]

s-techs are about .75-1 inch lower than the hi-tech's

depends really on what you want to do

 

[MonStar1120]

From an owner of both, go with S-Tech! The H-Tech's don't even look like a drop.

 

[jberzerker]

I got s-techs and I wish I could go a little lower. When I first installed them that sat really low then they settled out and raised the car a bit.

 

[chancellor842]

I have S tech and I love them. They do sit a little lower in the back than the front but it still looks good. Also as long as you know how to drive a lowered car you willn't scrape at all.

 

[jberzerker]

I very rarely scrape, I couldn't imagine having a vizage kit here. I'd tare the poor thing off.

 

[nubbage]

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[boman]

I've never scraped with my Stechs (knock on wood). The car
handles very well, and the ride still feels very stock like. I am going
to upgrade shocks in the near future.

j

 

[naphibuzz]

h techs here.. id go Stechs cause i feel my car is not low enoguh

 

[nubbage]

I posted this question in another thread related to the Hotchkiss springs, but this seems like a better place since it has to do with all springs in general:

How hard is it to install these yourself if you have never done car mods before but are decent with tools in general? Do they come with self install instructions? I called around a few shops and got quoted at 4 hours of labor, coming to 350+ dollars for installation Are these guys yanking me?

 

[kraze8]

S-Techs are pretty low.

like Irv mentioned, it all depends on how low you want to drop the car.
I'm on S-Techs, and I luv em.

 

[bganson]

H-techs, I just installed them and love how the car sits. I have about a 1 finger gap all around with them and the cars ride feels just like stock. The only difference is when you go over small speedbumps or come off of driveways with a little lip, then you can feel the stiffness. It really does depend on what you are looking for. Remember that drops will look a little different depending on tire size as well.

 

[boman]

I posted this question in another thread related to the Hotchkiss springs, but this seems like a better place since it has to do with all springs in general:

How hard is it to install these yourself if you have never done car mods before but are decent with tools in general? Do they come with self install instructions? I called around a few shops and got quoted at 4 hours of labor, coming to 350+ dollars for installation Are these guys yanking me?

I installed mine on the driveway one Sunday afternoon...The job took
all day without airtools. If you've worked on suspensions before
you'll do fine. (I've worked on Hondas before -- essentially the same
concept) You'll need a spring compressor. Just on a side note; I
did not remove the sway bars inorder to remove the shock assembly.
(Which was A PAIN THE THE ASS) I just didn't want to spin the ball
joint and have to replace the endlinks. Its hard to guide the
assembly out because of the hub and the swaybar.(Good luck with
that)

Hope this helps.

DIY is key.

j

 

[kraze8]

I posted this question in another thread related to the Hotchkiss springs, but this seems like a better place since it has to do with all springs in general:

How hard is it to install these yourself if you have never done car mods before but are decent with tools in general? Do they come with self install instructions? I called around a few shops and got quoted at 4 hours of labor, coming to 350+ dollars for installation Are these guys yanking me?

Self-install is relatively easy. there is a sticky with install instructions.

If you have never done this before, it will take you more than 4 hours. You also must have all the right tools.

I would recommend having someone there with you who have more knowledge on spring install/uninstall.

Spring Compressors are very important. I've done it without a spring compressors before (note: do not attempt this, unless you know what you are doing. Even then, it's super dangerous and stupid.)

 

[Burnt IS]

What would you guy's recommend for about a 1.25" drop all around? Do any of these Tein's fit in this category? It sounds like most are saying H-Tech isn't low enough and S-Tech is "pretty damn low". If not Tein, what is another brand that would give about 1.25"?

Thanks for any feedback given.

- Jared

 

[mikefate]

food for thought: i have tein s-techs on stock shocks right now(til coils come), and i have maybe 1.75 inch drop. whitetezza(james) has h-techs, and his car actually sits lower than mine, and he is also on stock shocks. its really weird. onleeuno(mikey) has h-techs also, and his car is maybe .75 inches lower than stock. not sure if its a manufacturing defect, or maybe the age of the shocks, but theres def some strange factors with springs to account for. i wouldnt sugegst reusing the stock shocks if you have higher mileage on them. if less then 35-40k on your stock shocks, id say go ahead and resue for a year or 2. but if anything more than that, invest in some decent shocks along with the springs.

 

[mikefate]

What would you guy's recommend for about a 1.25" drop all around? Do any of these Tein's fit in this category? It sounds like most are saying H-Tech isn't low enough and S-Tech is "pretty damn low". If not Tein, what is another brand that would give about 1.25"?

Thanks for any feedback given.

- Jared

i ahve tein s-techs, and im running a 225/40/18 in front, and 255/35/18 in the rear. i have no rubbing issues whatsoever, and i think its dropped nicely. looks good, i receive a lot of compliments. i wouldnt mind having about another 1/2 inch drop to make the rear tuck, but ill solve that with stepping up to a lrger tire to account for that