So, I finally got my Tanabe Pro Seven Coilovers in the mail today. They’re for my S14. Discontinued? Yes, that’s why I had to buy used ones. -_-” So, here’s the problem with buying used stuff … sometimes, you open the box, and you see this.

Bent damper adjustment pin for the lose

Did the seller accidentally bend this? Did he jip me by selling this bent adjustment pin? Or was it UPS’s fault? It’s really hard to say, that’s why I just said, “…whatver” and bent it back into shape with some pliers — very very carefully of course! 😉

You know, cleaning up a set of used coilovers is actually pretty fun. It’s like my form of meditation. With the coilovers unpacked, I decided it would be nice to disassemble, clean, oil, and reassemble the coilovers. Why? Well, firstly, to get all the dirt out, secondly, to check that the dampers aren’t blown, and lastly, so I could easily re-oil the moving parts of the coilovers such as the bearings on the upper mounts.

Creating a big mess in the driveway

For oiling, I like to use a spray-can of white lithium grease. It’s great on metal-to-metal surfaces, and it doesn’t wash away easily. Correct me if I’m wrong. Maybe it’s not the IDEAL lubrication — or maybe it is. But either way, better to have some sort of grease on the moving parts than nothing at all, or worse, dirt.

Be sure to clean those dirty bearings.

Here's the grease that I like to use.

If you really want to be critical, you could put some sort of conditioner on the rubber dust boot to keep it from cracking. I sprayed a bit of Armorall. Who knows how much that will help… but at least it looks nicer. LoL. After everything is cleaned up, it’s time to reassemble! 🙂

Slipping the dust boot back on

Be sure to move that upper mount around a bit to get the grease to spread.

Rotating the upper mount

After the coilovers are ready, it’s time for installation! Today, I only installed the rear coilovers. I’ll clean and install the front pair tomorrow or maybe sometime over the weekend.

Currently, I have Tanabe Pro Seven Coilovers for S13 on the front of my car and Tanabe Pro Seven Coilovers for S14 on the rear. I have an S14, and I like to mix & match and tinker around with things until they either break or work perfectly. 😀

Prior to installing the Pro Seven coilovers, I had a pair of Tanabe Pro Five coilovers in the rear. The Pro Fives are great coilovers, but I just wanted to switch up to the Pro Sevens, since that’s the best that Tanabe offers for my car.

My car with the Pro Fives still installed. They actually go pretty low.

Rear fender with the Pro Five Coilovers -- taken before installing the Pro Sevens

That’s the height I was able to obtain with the Pro Fives. The Sevens, well, they can go a lot lower, not that I necessarily need to. Although, when I finished the installation and lowered the jack, my car was tucking a bit of tire in the rear. How’s this going to affect ride quality? I guess I’ll find out on my 25’ish-mile drive to work tomorrow. :p

By the way, it appears that S15 coilovers work fine on the S14. And guess what, even though Tanabe discontinued the Pro Seven for the S14 application, they still have the S15 version in stock. So, for all of you who wanted to get Pro Seven coilovers for YOUR S14, you may be in luck. And you might be wondering why I got used S14 Pro Seven Coilovers instead of brand new S15 ones. Well, I just didn’t know I could get S15 suspension. Otherwise, I would have. Oh well, there’s always next time!

Until then, I’m sure I’ll be happy with this setup.  That’s it for now. Next week, we take a look at measuring suspension stroke on these coilovers. Stay tuned!

-M.

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