So I just acquired a set of Tein NA coilovers from a member here and am planning on a complete disassembly and rebuild. I have scoured the web looking for some Tein-specific answers and have come up with very little. What I do know is this:
-Tein apparently does not support individuals who rebuild their own stuff (very lame)
-The Tein NA is discontinued (I knew this going into it) and they are only valuable to me if I can learn to service them myself. The rates that Tein charges to service shocks makes all but the $1500+ struts basically throw-away units.
-The NA shock is fully rebuildable
-The NA is a twin tube nitrogen charged design with 16 way adjustment
The units I have are in relatively good shape. 3 out of the 4 adjusters seem to be seized up though, so I need to get in there regardless to fix any issues I find. They aren't leaking anywhere, but I would plan on changing all o-rings during the process.
So the questions I have, but don't have answer to are the following:
-If there is any remaining nitrogen charge in the struts, how do I relieve pressure safely? There are no external valves which can be plainly seen.
-When rebuilt, I don't know where to recharge the nitrogen....the answer to question 1 would probably answer question 2 as well.
Since they are twin tube, I could easily modify the external tubes when they are disassembled to allow the use of a schrader valve for future discharge/recharge. For now though, I really don't want to pop the caps until I know how to bleed the pressure. Without that assurance, each shock is a potential mini-bomb waiting to shoot my eyes full of shock oil.
I'm sure most of the folks around here probably don't dabble in this level of tuning, but I have messed around with dampers before and enjoy it. The desire to rebuild is as much about the enjoyment about knowing every single aspect of my car as much as it is not wanting to shell over big bucks to rebuild discontinued struts.
Any help would be very very welcome.
Thanks
SG in NE
-Tein apparently does not support individuals who rebuild their own stuff (very lame)
-The Tein NA is discontinued (I knew this going into it) and they are only valuable to me if I can learn to service them myself. The rates that Tein charges to service shocks makes all but the $1500+ struts basically throw-away units.
-The NA shock is fully rebuildable
-The NA is a twin tube nitrogen charged design with 16 way adjustment
The units I have are in relatively good shape. 3 out of the 4 adjusters seem to be seized up though, so I need to get in there regardless to fix any issues I find. They aren't leaking anywhere, but I would plan on changing all o-rings during the process.
So the questions I have, but don't have answer to are the following:
-If there is any remaining nitrogen charge in the struts, how do I relieve pressure safely? There are no external valves which can be plainly seen.
-When rebuilt, I don't know where to recharge the nitrogen....the answer to question 1 would probably answer question 2 as well.
Since they are twin tube, I could easily modify the external tubes when they are disassembled to allow the use of a schrader valve for future discharge/recharge. For now though, I really don't want to pop the caps until I know how to bleed the pressure. Without that assurance, each shock is a potential mini-bomb waiting to shoot my eyes full of shock oil.
I'm sure most of the folks around here probably don't dabble in this level of tuning, but I have messed around with dampers before and enjoy it. The desire to rebuild is as much about the enjoyment about knowing every single aspect of my car as much as it is not wanting to shell over big bucks to rebuild discontinued struts.
Any help would be very very welcome.
Thanks
SG in NE