VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

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 ***** 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....

andyman97

iTrader: (14)

Hey everyone, I am planning on changing my springs and installing front and rear camber kits next weekend, not this weekend. I am going to do my best to get my digicam to the shop with me and get as many good pics as I can. When I do, we will have some pics to go along with the DIY!!!!
Until Later
Andy

flotsamm

iTrader: (1)

Just a question about step 7 for the fronts. Where do you put the marks at? I know its on the top and bottom of the strut, but do you put the marks on the strut and where it also connects to the rest of the suspension? Many thanks, good stuff.

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

from what i remember no, just the top and bottom perches.. maybe the spring themselves... there should already be markings from the factory but i found those to be inaccurate. just mark the same pieces they marked..

OsOBooSTeD

iTrader: (5)

nice

CivicSouldjaEX

iTrader: (7)

will coupe spring fit on a sedan? goldlines?

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

coupe springs fit sedans and vice versa BUT... remember sedans are heavier in the rear so sedan springs are designed to support that extra weight. putting sedan springs on coupes is going to cause the rear to sit much higher... putting coupe springs on sedans is going to cause the rear to sit much lower...

ncwcivic

iTrader: (2)

this may be a stupid question but do you need to bleed(prime) the brakes(brake fluid through lines) before you reattach them???
Also where can i get one of those spring compressors?
Lastly does the brake line leak any fluid when unattached???
thank you all

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

your not actually disconnecting the brake line or anything, your just removing the bolt so that you could move the brake line out of the way.... i dunno you'll know when you see it... so ya no need to bleed the lines or anything, just try not to bend it too much.
you could find the spring compresser at autozone or pepboys. its "free". you just pay a $50 deposit and when you return it, they give you your $50 back.

ncwcivic

iTrader: (2)

thanks alot that is very helpful
i did find a spring compressor on ebay for like $20, and a nice one for $40ish
thanks though

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

do you have pictures of them? cause it might be the wrong one. or one might be better then the other. it just might be worth it to get a more expensive one to make things alot easier.

ncwcivic

iTrader: (2)

i dont have the pics on hand but they are on ebay, i can search later
thank ya

flotsamm

iTrader: (1)

I found something perhaps interesting to some in my Helm service manual about re-assembling the spring and damper(strut). I wonder if this has anything to do with the noise that some peeps get after installing new springs. It goes on to read:

For Front, it talks about re-assembling then says:
...The hole in the upper spring seat and the arrow on the damper mounting base must point towards the knuckle mounting area...

For Rear, it talks about re-assembling then says:
...Note the direction of the damper mounting base so that the small hole dot on it is toward the front and inside of the vehicle...

Make me wonder how crucial these steps are in re-assembly and if it a source of problems if not done correctly.

blouisgod

iTrader: (14)

does the strut shoot out when you remove the bolts due to the spring? im gonna use all these diy's to install my h&r cup kits in the summer.

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

nope, there is still a very small load but it doesnt shoot out

Chapobapo

hey did you have to cut anything during this process?

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

nope, just the bumpstops..
different companies will tell you to cut it different lengths if any.. you dont HAVE to cut it tho. and even if you do cut it, no one would even know unless if they took apart the suspension.

Mbow

Yea, you have definitely got to pay attention to the arrows and make sure they line up and stay lined up. I took off my neuspeed sports last week and put the stock springs back on. I got more noise from the springs moving when turning the wheel than I ever did with the car lowered. Heck, it was so loud that it was quite embarrassing.

Well, I had to install new tie-rod ends since I tore the boots on the oe ones. TIP: Never use a pickle fork to separate the tie from the strut. Take a hammer and hit the strut where the tie rod connects a few times. Loosen the bolt a little so the tie rod has some room to pop free. However, do not remove the nut as it will protect the threads if you miss your target. The tie will pop free pretty easily. Imagine how stupid I felt when I learned of this separation method. My ignorance cost me $100. Oh, one of the Honda techs (a lot of people disrespect for some reason) told how to do it. Man! Do I wish I had known that 7 months ago.

Anyhow, so I had to redo the front in an attempt to get all the noise to go way. Well, I just aligned the arrows and made sure they stayed that way when putting them back into the car. In the past, I would line up the arrows and mount the strut into the car with the top hat and its 3 bolts. However, I would always end up having to spin the strut a little to get the bottom to line up correctly. So, this time I lined the arrows up and made sure that the strut would bolt right into place (top and bottom) w/o having to throw the arrows off by spinning the strut.

Then, instead of tightening the living hay out of the middle-shaft bolt, I tightened it to 33 ft/lbs like you are supposed too. I think that tightening that middle bolt so much may have been hindering the turning action of the top perch.

Now, I have the quietest suspension that I have heard in almost a year, not a peep out of it.

Bottom line: Make sure your arrows line up on the top-perch and stay that way when the strut is bolted back into the car. Don't over-torque the bolt on the strut shaft.

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

ya that was the main reason for me writing this DIY, lining it up.. not only do you have to line up the arrows, you have to line up the bottom perch with the top. there's OEM lines but on mine they were off so i drew ones myself...
didnt do it the first time and it took me hours to line it up right.. sucked big time.. probably took the strut apart 10 times before i got it right, took many many hours.

flotsamm

iTrader: (1)

Mbow has PM'd me for some pics of what I was referring to.. here they are:

Front

Rear

And if these fail go here: MSN Album

blazed870

VnlilMAN

Thanks for the DIY. I just took my Eibach Pro-kits off and I can think your DIY for saving me hours of figuring it out on my own.

blazed870

Oh yeah, if I could add:
If you have an extra person helping you out it makes it a lot easier because you can actually compress the springs enough with your combined weight rather than use the spring compressors. Just thought I would throw that in.

slowroll

Could someone list all the tools needed, like the socket sizes and everything.

andyman97

iTrader: (14)

I can't believe there are still no pics for this DIY but I am putting in a set this weekend so I will try my best to get some pics. In the meantime here is the DIY that I made. First time out I used the first DIY but I thought that this was a little bit more comprehensive. Anyways, here goes.

First, lift your car and remove all four wheels.

Then you have to remove the bolt that holds the brake line onto the strut assembly.

Pull the cotter pin on the front that goes into the bolt extending from the tie rod. Remove the nut just above the cotter pin. Tap the bottom of the bolt with a hammer to release the tie rod from the strut assembly. I don't recommend using a tie rod separator because it won't take much to rip the tie rod boot.

There are two bolts that hold the strut assembly to the rotor. Remove both bolts. At this point your strut assembly should be free at the bottom.

Have someone hold the strut from underneath and unscrew the three nuts that surround the top of the strut tower. Once these have been removed, the strut assembly should be totally free.

Pull the strut assembly out and compress the spring. Make sure to mark all of the pieces of the strut assembly to ensure correct fitment and alignment when you put the new spring in, otherwise you might notice some popping when you make turns afterwards. After you compress the stock spring remove the nut on the top of the strut assembly.

Decompress the stock spring and then compress the lowering spring. Place the new spring onto the strut assmebly, reposition the top pieces along the marks you have made and torque the strut aseembly nut down. Decompress the spring and put the strut assembly back into place.

Reassemble everything in reverse order that you disassembled it in. Only for the aftermarket camber bolt, you will put this in place of the top bolt that held the strut assembly to the rotor.

Now for the rear:

Remove the bolt that holds the bottom of the shock assembly in place. This will be the only bolt for the assembly that needs to be removed on the undercarriage with the exception of the camber arm.

Climb into the trunk and pull back the carpet that covers the rear shock tower. Remove the two outer nuts that surround the tower.

At this point, the shock assembly should be ready to remove, however it may need a little muscle to get it out, so just try and force it a little bit.

Do the same thing that you did with the front strut assembly on the rear shock assembly as far as compressing and decompressing.

After the new spring has been installed reinstall in the same order you disassembled.

For the rear camber arms, you need to remove two bolts at the "T" end of the camber arm that attaches to the undercarriage. There is at the other end a "U" shape which has a bolt running through it. Remove this bolt as well.

For the new camber arm, just reinstall in the same order you uninstalled the stock camber arm.

Wait about 3-4 weeks and have an alignment done and that is all you have to do!

Nuts

iTrader: (1)

question: how do i remove the bumpstops to cut them in half???????????????????

Nuts

iTrader: (1)

oh and hte main sizes i remember using is 17 and 19. i know i used other ones but htats just hwat i rember...haha...more pointless info.