Stuck coilover, remedy suggestions needed
 

Alright, my left rear coilover is stuck when it comes to ride height adjustment (they're tien flex if it has any bearing--still under a year old). I've tried just about everything I can think of. Silicon spray lube, leverage... but when it comes down to it, i can't get the threaded cylinder to actually move in or out of the bottom to adjust the height.

I don't have any PB blaster here so I haven't tried that yet. Any one have any thoughts on how I can get the threaded cylinder to free up and move? All the other coilovers are 100% fine.

How are you rotating the threaded shock? Are you using the tightened lower spring perch?

I've tried that. Also tried releaving the lower seat and rotating the body/assembly by hand--but no go.

What I do when it's stuck is tighten the lower spring perch, then use the wrench tool to rotate the threaded body using the perches.

I don't know if you tried this yet, but if you haven't, could be worth a shot.

Yeah I tried that... I'm just afraid of damaging the threaded body. Is that a legitimate concern? Or should I be okay hooking up a breaker bar to the wrench and cranking it?

My game plan right now is to hit it with some PB blaster and let it soak in, then try adjusting it with a little more torque.

Yeah, see what the penetrating lube would do. Sounds like a plan.

so, why do they get stuck?

I'm not exactly sure. I guess I wasn't careful enough last time I adjusted them and some dirt/crap got stuck in the threads. I usually douse the threads in two or three coats of PB blaster to get the dirt off and lube up before I make adjustments. The other three seemed to work just fine, but this one I guess had some dirt in it when I lowered it down a little bit. It's either that or it scratched up the body and the internal threads and it's got rust in there now and it's locked the damper at that height. Either way I'm going to be lubing it up and trying to raise it up. (the reason it was set lower was because I had originally different wheels in the front, so I made it level by lowering the rear).

I'm tempted to send an Email to tein to see what their recommendation would be, but I'm putting my car in the shop come friday (fix up the sway bars for me), so I may have him look at it and see if they'll get it moving for me again--figure it couldn't hurt to do that.

Not sure what the problem was... but it finally came un-stuck. Took a lot of PB Blaster and a little extra torque. My suspension still isn't quite right, but it's getting closer.

I'm wondering if Anti Sieze would be good to slap on the threads.to prevent this from happening again?

I have just the solution for you!

Ebay the TEIN and get the ultimate "Street" suspension: Stance GR+ Pro!

Just kidding, but this answer is because I dont like TEIN very much. :P

EDIT: On second thought, delete this post please.

Too late, your post shall stay forever!

As for the anti-sieze thing, I don't think it would cause a problem unless it leaves a residue on the threads (which on second thought I think it might), in which case it would attract dirt and dust. Maybe a teflon coating would be better suited for this situation, but all in all it's not that hard to hit it with some PB blaster and just torque it.

How do the threads look? Were there any signs of oxidation or corrosion?

Nope. They still look new. They were just really stuck, don't really know why.