Lowering
 

I am thinking about buying a set of S Tech Tein Springs for my 1999 Mazda Protege, and putting them on next spring. Why do you have to use aftermarket struts when you put on lowering springs? Are you able to not have to buy new struts....can you use the stock ones? Also, this may be a dumb question (forgive me as I am trying to learn), but what is the difference between shocks and struts? Thanks in advance for the help.

Nevermind the question about struts. I missed this quote when I was doing my search.

"tokico calls them shocks, most people call them struts. since they also act as a pivot point for alignment, they are technically considered struts, but the terms are normally used interchangeably. tokico blues and illuminas are both very good "struts." the illuminas offer some adjustability and yes, they are noticeable adjustments. a 1 setting is soft like stock, a 3 setting is pretty darn firm and a 5 setting will punish your kidneys unless you're on a track. protegegarage has them as does apex in arizona (www.apexr1.com). good luck!"

you can use the stock struts with the tein's

it all depends on how worn your struts are when you put the teins on. it also depends on how rough the roads are where you live. 2" is a more dramatic drop than 1.4", so there's more wear and strain on the struts. the tokico line is geared more toward performance, so they're better able to handle the lowering as compared to stock struts.

It says that the Tein S Techs will drop the Protege Sedan 2.0" in the front, and 1.4" in the back. My struts are pretty worn (so the mechanic told me), and they recommended me getting new ones in the spring. So, I figured that since I planed on lowering my car this spring, I might as well do it right and get Tein springs and Tokico HP struts. Would that be a good setup? I want to have a nice soft ride while having my car lowered. Thanks for the help so far.

P.S. So basically when someone says shocks, they are meaning the same thing as struts correct. Just 2 different words for the same thing right?!?

yes on the PS question. as for tein and tokicos, it'll be a bit stiffer than the current stock setup now, but you should be fine. i'd look into getting extended length endlinks though because i am pretty sure the endlinks on the 99's were shorter front and rear than the 02+, which is what the tokicos are made for.

I like to call them dampers. That way, you don't confuse people on the difference.

Whatever you want to call them, replace them when you replace the springs. The valving on a stock set up is not geared to take the progressive spring rates, and, if they are not shot already, they will be soon. It's the same amount of labor as well, since the dampers are right there, so it saves you money and time in the long run.

The fronts will certainly need to be updated to the longer links, but the rears will work fine, as the difference is in where Mazda put the tab on the front strut body. Although the rear bars are different, (early ones hang down below the lateral links) the mounting point is in the same spot on the rear strut, regardless of year.

Springs and struts are the same thing. It's the thing that LOOKS like a spring. They control your ride height. If your springs are worn, you'll notice that your car sits lower than before.

Shocks control the oscillation of the spring (struts). It's the thing that looks like a pole in the middle of the spring. If your shocks are worn, it doesn't do anything to your ride height, you car just continues to move up and down for a while after going over a bump.

You do have to be carefull when you're buying equipment though, cause like others have said, people call the stuff different. Like Tokico. They're different.