Rebuilding Tein RA?
 

I have a set of Tein RA avalible but one of the front coilover is leaking a big load of oil (More than i ever imagine could get in the coilover).
Ive done some research and i understand that if i want to rebuild they must be shipped to Tein in japan.
is it just a simple oil seal that needs to be changed and refill with oil?

If anyone know whats inside the shock absorber please tell (or picture)

Sindre

Got mail from Tein today, they said their are the only one that can rebuild the coilovers..
But, how hard can it be? changing a oil seal and cleaning up? Ive read something about revalving, what is that?

Sindre

How much do they want to rebuild the coilover? If it is only one, it is probably worth it to bite the bullet and just send it in.

If i understood the mail right he ment £80. Its not that mutch but shipping ++++
But he didnt recommend it!

Really? He didn't recommend it, that's interesting. How much would it cost to get a replacement?

He said i should buy a new kit (understandable, he is a salesman).
But its strange, new Tein RA costs about 1800USD, and he didnt recommend a overhaul for £80...

Of course not, he is a salesman. Will he sell you a replacement coilover (only to replace the one that is damaged, not all four)? I would say for £80 you may as well just send it off and get it fixed... even if it isn't top notch.. it's better than burning $1800 because it "might" not come back perfect.

yup, i guess thats the best thing to do... But is it something with high pressure in the shock absorber? What will happen if i open it up on the top where the oil seal is?

Here are the guts of an HKS shock.
I have yet to try and rebuild a TEIN shock, but I would love to see inside them.
If you'd like you can ship me one to try and rebuild, if I can't rebuild it, I can just put it back together and ship it back to you. All you would have to risk is the cost of shippage. I do a lot of shock rebuilding in the shop, from custom coilovers to nitrogen charged race shocks...

Cool, so it is possible to do it myself.
But what is the often the error when a shock leaks oil? And is the Tein shock charged with anything?


Sindre

You can go ahead and try, but chances are its unlikley. Most often you have to build custom tools to get the shocks apart, and when it comes to seals you need to find a company that can build you custom seals. And usually you have to buy in bulk to get the price to be reasonable.

When a shock is leaking oil its most likley just a seal. Those shocks I believe are not charged.

If you do go ahead and do it would you post some pictures of the valving??

Okey, i have allready seen that i need a tool with 4 taps to unscrew the first "nut" (the "nut" over the oil seal i guess).
They are not mine (yet) so im not going to do anything to them before i maybe buy em (gotta see what happends.. Maybe we ship em to Tein).
If im going to try fixing them ill take alot of pictures so you can see whats inside ;)

BTW, How do you know how mutch oil they need? And what type of oil do you use? (got some good oil for motocross shocks)

Sindre

Well if you have one that is not leaking just measure how much TEIN is putting in. Off hand it think its 6-8 oz usually on some of the koni's. If you overfil you will know :)
We have some really neat syn stuff blended for us, its kinda pricey but well worth it.