I'm currently at stock height and want to upgrade my springs. I notice a lot of xB have been selling their used tein s-tech. Are the springs losing stiffness?

I see the TRD's will give an average drop of 1" and the Teins S-Tech will settle to an average of 1.5". With my stock height, I measured the gap between the fender to the the top of the tires and it's a whopping 3". Hot damn!

I need some of the riders' reviews on this! I see the TRD springs are white. Is that the same one. Oh! I'm not getting new rims anytime soon. Don't laugh but I was planning a performance spring upgrade and spacing the rear wheels with an OTG 10mm spacer.

 

I'm still running stock steelies until I can find a wider stock steelie for the xB! I remember someone was selling a set of wide stock steelies (15x.

 

OK don't bother with the TRD's they barley drop the car at all. I think the S-Techs are softer than the H-Techs but I may have that backwards. Which could be the reason ppl are selling them. The majority rule here is go with Tanabe DF210's. I'm running Hotchkis springs on my box and they ride pretty good. Better than the stock springs. Personally the Hotchkis are still not low enough for me. I'm going to end up running some echo struts to get it a little lower. If you are looking to get a 15x8 wheel then why not go for the Sportmax 501's?

 

The Tanabe are up to a 2" drop right? Hmm...will my tires rub if loaded with passengers?

 

Stock tires will not rub on the DFs. I'm on Goldlines and I do fine with people in the car.

But yea, don't bother with the TRDs.

 

The H-tech Teins are the least dropping and have softer rates in the fronts. The 1 inch drop that the trd's drop would be good for me-I am running 205/50-17s in the front, 215/45-17 rears so that would eat up most of the gap.

Tanabe nf210, 1.7f-1.2r (NF stands for nice feel, DF stands for descent feel and SF stands for stiff feel-or so I have heard).

How much drop is there in just using Echo struts? (or drop difference)

 

The DF210's are a 2.2F and 2.0R I if I remember right and if you stay with the stock steelies you should be ok with passengers in the rear but the ride will suffer. If you went with the 15x8's then you would have to roll the rear fenders if you have people in the rear cause you'll chew tires.

The Echo struts will lower the front another 1/2 inch because the spring perches are 1/2 inch lower. The rear should stay the same but I've had people swear that the rear was 1/2 inch lower to.

 

I had the the tein s springs on my car for about 2 years, and they were great springs. I moved to coilovers recently to go lower, and that is why I took them off.
The stock wheels look great with the tien s (I have a pic in profile). I thought the ride quality was pretty similar to stock. If I ever get rid of my coilovers, I might move back to them. They were great for daily driving.

 

i have the tein h-techs on since this summer, and i love the drop. it puts the car back down to where it SHOULD have been from OEM. basically you get a 1.4-1.5 drop with Htechs, and a 2" drop with Stechs from my understanding.
the Htechs are stiffer than stock but they are still very smooth for daily driving that i do.
go TEIN.

 

Actually, it's DF = Dress-up Form, NF = Normal Feeling, GF = Grip Feeling...

 

I had the TRD's for three years on my 04 xb before i switched to megan springs. It's a good spring if you like a 1 inch drop. Made for a bumpier ride, especially over expansion joints and rough roads.

 

GoldLines FTW!

 

i got some skunk2's i have 17s and the drop in front was good but i want it lower in the back any ideas? Maybe just a bigger tire size? i have 205/40/17s

 

i had s-teins back when i got the box and now on trd.. i miss being low and might switch back to s-tein after the winter... s-tein is definetly lower and smoother then the trd's..

 

^ theyre called TEIN s-techs.

 

Before I went to coilovers I was running Eibach Sportline springs. They droped my box 2-1/4". Loved them and wouldn't go with any other springs personally.

 

I was running 20"s and DF210's no issues. love them good sporty feel with a softer ride than coilovers.

 

how are the megan springs?

 

So the Hotchkis will drop keep the oem ride if not make it better? for me its standing between hotchkis and h-techs , nothing below 1.5 , in New York though it just sounds like a bad idea all together to get springs I have heard too many stories but I want them . . I dont know what to do

 

i don't know if you're still pondering which springs to get
but i have s-tech's and the ride got a little stiffer.
and honestly, if you want to notice the drop of your car, i'd go for a drop that was more than 1". even on s-tech's i feel like i'm not low enough, but it still looks good on my 17's.

and if you have stock tires, a 1" drop won't be that noticeable. the s-tech's fill the wheel gap and look good on steelies.

and i got the s-tech's used. it already had 6000 miles on it i believe... and i've had it for a month and it hasn't lost its stiffness.

GL though