My Tein coilovers have literally turned to DUST

So, car is in for it's MOT and I get a phonecall with some bad news....

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1341/img7290s.jpg

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/4651/img7292s.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2580/img7293s.jpg

There's literally nothing left of them. The fact they are still supporting the weight of the car is a miracle.

I've never seen anything like this before, and I didn't expect it from Tein. Anyone else had similar experience?

the hole of the underside of your car looks in bad shape too mate!!!!

where do you park it at night in the sea?

Ive never seen coilovers do that before. Good old Tein 'quality'

Thats crazy! And something with such a high price tag aswell

This looks just like the ones I purchased from eBay. Galvanic corrosion can happen to alloy and usually caused by high amount of salt.

You probably get a lot more salt on the Scottish roads

That car has either had an owner that lived on the coast or you do.

I could cry looking at the underside of your car, except I don't think it could handle anymore salt, even from this distance.

It ain't pretty.

I don't live near the coast, no. Previous owner was from Edinburgh so who knows. Perhaps well-salted roads are the issue. The top of the coilovers look brand new.

The underside, although it doesn't look like it, is mostly surface corrosion. There's no clear delamination or loss of cross sectional area on any of the steel - only delamination of the walls of these! Rest of the underside could probably be ground down and sealed. We'll see how she turns out.

Look on the bright side, nows a good time to whip them off and fit something decent!

My ZEAL suspension is awaiting replacement for oxidisation of the collar rings (at the least) which is what you've got there. Ali parts are great for saving weight but don't last long (as they are built for racing really).

It's a bit scary when you can knock chunks off the parts holding the spring!! Needless to say the car is grounded till it's replaced.

The rest of the underside looks terrible too! Is it a UK spec or import?

If import, how long has it been here?

Tein Dampers are green those are yellow. Are you sure there Tein dampers?

It looks like its been left submerged in salty water, the brake disc doesnt look like the car has moved for a while either.

Was this parked in flooded area or something?

The corrosion of the steel definitely looks like its from salt water to me.

just a note to your self seeing the condition of that underside and what happed on dragonball with another members car please read this link http://www.mkiv.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?140112-WARNING-15-year-old-brake-line-rotted-through

this could very much save your life

the hole of the underside of your car looks in bad shape too mate!!!!

 

where do you park it at night in the sea?

Lol!

 

It's a bit scary when you can knock chunks off the parts holding the spring!!

Especially with your fingertip

Holy crap batman, that's some serious rust and corrosion, as already said, check your brakelines under the rear covers link here, they would not of checked it on the MOT as you see it without removing the casing

Assuming you drove it to MOT place, did you not have to brake, by the looks of the disks it hasn't moved before the pics were taken or maybe the caliper is seized

Tein Dampers are green those are yellow. Are you sure there Tein dampers?

I think the "yellow" is just pure rust! At least they'll be easy to remove (in pieces!)

Tein Dampers are green those are yellow. Are you sure there Tein dampers?

Tein sticker is a bit of a give away;)

You might want to clean up those wishbones to make sure they are sound, they look in a bad way too! I would get it cleaned and undersealed asap before the thinner metal has a chance to rust to badly

You sure thats not a picture taken from underneath a world war 1 vehicle?

Jesus! Have you parked it in a lake? I would be removing the sub frame and sand blasting everything to get rid of that rust ASAP.

You may want to get some new shock bolts on order from Toyota, good luck undoing those ones.

That is scary :(Is your car a UK because neither of my Supra's have looked like that underneath:blink:but they were both imports and undersealed when they came into the country.

As others have suggested if you are keeping this car then some remedial work on the underside should be done in the summer. I would also check :-

All the other suspension components for rust/wear.

I would put my money on the brake lines being corroded somewhere if your underside looks like this and probably the fuel tank cover.

Get the underside of the car de-rusted and undersealed before its too late (Slam needed some welding on his recently so they are starting to rust on the chassis). There are numerous classic car garages and businesses who would do this for you.

Good luck with replacing the shocks and fastenings and hopefully you can get the underneath sorted before the next winter comes along:thumbs: