my koni yellows arrive today...i'd like tips on the install? i did the rears myself...so should be able to handle this

 

Just the front?

Not much to it. It's pretty straightforward.


Loosen lugnuts, jack up the car, take off the wheels and tires.

You will see a bolt holding the strut assembly fork to the lower control arm. Spray the shit out of it with PB Blaster and let it soak for about 10 minutes.

While you're waiting, loosen the 3 bolts up top in the engine bay.

To get the bottom bolt out, you're gonna need some leverage. If you have a metal pipe that you can fit over the wrench for added leverage, then that'd work out nicely.

It might help to have the factory scissor jack underneath the suspension assembly just in case the rotor drops down.

The brake line is attached to the strut assembly -- just one bolt. Loosen that.

Now wiggle out the strut assembly.





Once that's done, disassemble, replace shocks, reassemble, and reverse procedure to put it back in. One word of advice, however; for the bottom bolt, make sure it's completely lined up before trying to put it in there. Don't try to force it in, because it'll strip. My friend got hasty and stripped it, so we ended up going to like 7 different stores to find the tap and a new bolt.

Good luck and have fun.

 

what about compressing the spring?

 

Oh. I just assumed you knew how to do it since you said you did the rears. Sorry.


Autozone has a free rental program; get the spring compressors there. I think it's a 40-dollar deposit and you get a full refund when you bring it back.

The spring compressors is a two-piece kit. They are identical and you put them on each side of the spring. Then using a wrench, you tighten the compressors (if you have never seen spring compressors before, don't worry.. it's self-explanatory once you see the kit ) and compress the spring. Once you do that, loosen the nut on top of the strut assembly to take the cap off. And you will be able to get the spring out.

Then put the spring on the new shock, put the top back on, and uncompress the spring. If you have a hard time fitting the compressors in the spring, then just keep trying. There's really no easy way to do it, except to wiggle it around and fit it in there in order to compress the springs.

 

Just becareful!!!!! Do it slowly. I have seen so many post and pics of people hurting themselves.

 

The fronts are nothing like tha backs. THey have a VERY HIGH spring rate since they support a majority of the weight. Just be careful and take your time and you will be fine.

 

Make sure you release the tension evenly so the spring seats evenly at the top. Otherwise you will have to compress it again.

 

Sorry to interupt the thread but if I got coilovers that already had a new cap on them would I need to compress the spring any before taking out the shock/strut assembly?

 

I'm kind of confused by your question.

Let me see if I got this right. You just got a set of coilovers for your car, and you're asking us if you would need to compress the springs on the stock suspension when taking it off?

If that's what you're asking, then the answer is no. The spring and the strut on the stock suspension are integrated and will come off together by removing the single bolt on the bottom and 2 (or 3, depending or front or rear) nuts on top. And since you have coilovers, you just put the new ones in, put the bolts and nuts back on and you're done. No need to compress any springs.

 

I wrote a DIY with a lot of pictures in the FAQ section, check it out, it should help guide you. Nice PDF format too.

 

The best way to compress the spring (or do any of the work in general) is to use an impact gun, it reduces your install time nearly by 1/2.

 

done....pain in the ass but done...