So, I read every post on bumpstops trying to diagnose a loud thud going over sharp bumps. I live in Chicago and accepting the thuds is unacceptable. At first I thought I was bottoming out. I cut the bump stop too much initially leaving only the bottom foam ring in. This is how the car sat.
I have about a finger length b/w the tire and fender.
After some tinkering, I learned the thud came from bad strut mounts (which you can imagine being the case since all my struts were blown so the mount was doing extra work for god knows how long). At first the mount seemed fine, until I raised the car and tugged on the coils and felt around near the mount. I could feel the strut piston moving and making a slight knock sound. At 45-60 mph, this would surely translate into a massive thud. I knew the thud was not b/c of bottoming out b/c w/blown struts my mudflaps would scrape b/f bottoming out and w/Tein-stagg shs combo I never scraped, just got the thud over sharp bumps. I put in new mounts in the front (rear to be added later) and installed new bumpstops W/OUT cutting them. This is how the car sat with new bumpstops and YES, you do ride on the bumpstops regardless if they're cut or not if you have Tein S-tech springs.
I have just over 2 finger length b/w tire and fender.
Though the mounts fixed the thud, the ride was really stiff. Initially I thought that's just how the Teins ride, but I was wrong. I took a peek inside the wheel well and quickly saw that the car was completely sitting on the bumpstops. That explains why I felt very little dampening over bumpy Chicago streets. It also explained why it seemed the drop was less than the advertised 1.7 inches.
So, I decided to cut the bumpstops again, this time exactly as Tein instructed by leaving the top 2 foam rings in place and cutting off the rest. This is how the car sat after cutting the bumpstops as Tein recommends.
So, to compare; this is the difference b/w stock, to Tein no cut, suggested cut, and extra cut.
Stock
Tein, uncut bumpstop
Tein, recommended Type A bumpstop cut
Finally, Tein not recommended cut leaving one foam ring in place
The pictures are a little small, but i think you can clearly see the progression from stock through the overly cut bumpstops. Each one shows the front end getting lower and lower.
After doing the recommended Type A cut, i checked to see if I was still sitting on the bumpstop and sure enough, I was. I have a 1999 Solara SLE, I don't think it would make much difference whether you're in the 4 or 6 cylinder. I figured the ride would be about the same as with uncut bumpstops since in both cases I was sitting on the bumpstops. I was dead wrong. The difference is like night and day. Though Teins are stiffer, i could tell the ride dramatically improved. On bumpy road patches where I would be shook with uncut stops, the Type A cut stops seemed to just glide over the bumps. The suspension was finally performing as designed and apparently, the design means that Tein S-tech springs heavily depend on the bumpstops to work with the coil spring rate to provide the sweet sporty and comfortable ride they advertise.
So, to answer the questions posed in this thread.
Yes, Solaras do ride on the bumpstops with Tein Springs.
Yes, cutting the bumpstop changes ride height.
Yes, taking out 2 foam rings from the bumpstops dramatically improves how the suspension deals with the road surface -- because that's how Tein designed it.
and as a bonus, if you think you're bottoming out on the stops b/c you hear a thud but you haven't scraped your mudflaps, you probably didn't bottom out. Check your strut mounts.
I hope this helps. I would have liked to have a post like this when I was researching the topic so I decided to put it up for whoever's benefit.
