since the other diys weren't very clear i decided to write this up... sorry i dont have pics tho, maybe someone could take pics when they do the install. but ya i suggest you look at the pictured diys(for coilovers) found under the "DIY" section up at the top for further reference.
imma try to explain this the best i can...
front:
1) jack up BOTH sides of the car(or you'll have problems getting the strut back in) and make sure its on the car chassis not any panels. and remove the wheel.
2) open the hood and loosen(dont take it all the way out) the bolt that is in between those 3 bolts that hold the strut(if you do this it'll be easier to take the strut apart, and i dont think you need an allen key either)
3) remove tie rod(doing this first makes it a little easier cause it keeps the strut in place). remove the cotter pin and the nut. you can remove the tie rod byb renting a tie rod seperator(autozone has it). just hammer it in and after you think its in far enough, lean on the tie rod seperator and it should pop off. oh and dont worry about ripping the boot, its only like a dollar or so
4) remove the brake line from the bottom of the strut
5) remove those two bolts that connect the bottom of the strut to the brake rotor. when you do remove the two bolts, the whole rotor is going to fall. i put my spare tire under it to sort of catch it. someone said to put the jack under it but i dont think it would hold it... i'm not sure how it would happen but for one person, the axle popped out of the cv joint or something and he had to open it up and put everything back together. so ya i guess becareful and try not to let the whole thing just drop or let it hang. so either use the tire or the jack, better safe then sorry...
6) remove the 3 bolt that are located under the hood.(remember to catch the falling strut)
7) now that you have the strut out, get a straight edge and mark the bottom and top of the strut. this is so that when you put everything back together, it'll all be aligned right. oh and i understand that the very top part of the strut moves around... just line up the arrows and thats the way it goes... and those 3 bolts only go in one way so....
8) compress the spring with the spring compresser(since your reading this, your probably new to this so i would highly recommend one). if your doing this by hand good luck its going to take awhile... you'll probably have to compress it till it wont compress anymore...
9) once the spring is able to move around, its safe to remove the bolt at the top. if you loosened it like i said earlier, it shouldn't be too hard. if you didnt, your going to need an allen key and some strength...
10) remove the whole top part(i removed it in one piece rather then removing it peice by peice)... the top part does have balls in it, but if you remove it as one piece then you wont even see them.
11) remove the spring and put in the new one. i had to compress mine(neuspeed sport) to get it in...
12) put the top part back on(remember to line up the lines you made from step #7). and make sure the springs sitting on the top and bottom part correctly...
13) decompress the spring(if you had to that is) and remember to keep everything aligned as you decompress it cause it might move around..
14) put the top bolt back on. it doesnt have to be in all the way, just enough so that it safely stays in...
15) put the strut back on the car starting with those 3 bolts under the hood
16) put in the 2 bolts on the bottom of the strut starting with the lower one(i found it easier this way...)
17) attach the brake line back to the strut
18) put the tie rod back in. put in the bolt and cotter pin in as well...
that should be it... just do the same with the other side
back:
1) jack up the car.
2) there are 3 bolts connecting the strut to the car....remove the top two bolts(these are found right behind the seats in the trunk). you have to remove the 'carpet' from the sides to get to them. you could try loosening up the middle bolt for this too. not sure if it'll work cause i forgot to try.
2) not for the last bolt, get under the car and remove the bottom nut. if you cant find it, just look where the strut connects to at the bottom and you should find it. its the same size as the lugnuts and it might take come strength to get it out. just take off the nut and tap the bolt out afterwards. the strut still might be stuck inside the place it sits in so you might have to manuever it out.
3) now you should have the strut in your hands... as you did with the front, mark the top and bottom of the shock to algin it right when you put it all back together(i learned the hard way)
4) now you have the shock in your hands... your going to need a good spring compresser for this... i had trouble because mine was bulky and it got in the way of the plastic thing(that covers the shock from dirt). compress the springs(it takes a lil longer then the front)
5) use an allen key and wrench to take off the top bolt
6) take out the spring and put in the new one. put the top bolt back on. for this i had a real tough time again because of the spring compresser. not only did i have to compress the spring to get them in, the compresser got stuck when i decompress the springs. oh remember to keep the bottom and top part aligned with the marks you made.
7) put the shock back in starting with the bottom bolt. if it doesn't fit right, you didn't align it right... if its just a lil off, hammer it in cause its hard to get it perfect.
8) tighten the top two bolts
that should be it...
if i remember anything else i'll post it. hopefully this will help someone. i know i could have used this. i wasted like 10 hours because the diy wasn't detailed enough....
thanks. if you do attempt it, make sure you have a good spring compresser. that'll make a big difference from making an hour diy and a 12 hour diy.
i know that few people say they didn't use a spring compresser, but if your reading this, chances are it would be very difficult/dangerous to do it without one.
I'll agree with that the backs you dont really really need a compressor but its nice but the fronts you definately do mine wasnt on as good as it shouldve been and the bolt shot off and i had to look for like 10 mins for it.
Would a spring compressor be available for rent at an Autozone type place, or is it something that isnt too costly where I could consider buying one?
-Numinous
autozone lets you borrow it for free(give them a $50 or sum dollar deposit and you get it back when you return it) but it sucks. i got mine from them and it was a pain the butt to use. n yes i'll admit, i gave up with those.
my friends and I lowered all our 3 cars...after wasting time with the spring compressor we rented from Canadian Tire, let me just say that it is not necessary...sorry to those who wanna argue but with 2 people holding down on the top, when the nut came off, we slowly let up and nothing went shooting anywhere...so if you have some help, which obviously you will if you're going to DIY, don't worry about the spring compressor...
Thanks for the DIY! I printed and used it this past sunday to install my springs. I ended up not using a compressor and it went much quicker. A little more info on removing and reinstalling the rear strut would have been more helpful but I figured it out. The rear would be much easier with two people. Anyhow, thanks a lot.
Spring Compressor costs about $50 or so, or you can rent one - free in a big city - or if you live in smalltown, USA like I do, it's about $5-$10 a day. I think I'll try and tackle it tomorrow. Any ideas how hard it would be to do by yourself? 'Cause everyone I know thinks I'm a moron to do it myself and not have a shop do it. Hmm .. $250 for the shop, $6 (spring compressor rental) for the DIY. Right - I'M the moron ..
Anyways, back to the point - just yourself, about how hard would it be? Thanks ..
hey hows it going? i was reading n stuff.and i jus ordered some sport neuspeed and ill be getting them like in about 1 week and half cuz the guys that i ordered from dont have them in stock..its cool..so yeah i would appreciate if you send some DIY pics this way, i already printed out the instructions for it..so im sure that Pix will help.... email: Latinojw@hotmail.com
I had a problem with getting the pics. I have pics for the first half of the install but then a thunderstorm blew in on us so we had to finish as quickly as possible. I can tell you that you will need to get the tie bar separator and the compressor to make the job go more smoothly. We didn't have to compress the Gold-lines at all to get them back in. Don't forget to shave bumper stops if it is recommended, we did on the back and had to redo the whole thing.
I just banged the s out of the metal steering hub that the tie rod goes into with a hammer. Tie rod end came right out. Didn't even have to use a separator.
