HOW TO: Change springs Step by Step

[sound_xtreme]

Ok, first off. You are going to need a decent air compressor and a GOOD impact gun to make things go smoothly. You will need a good metric socket set also. You really dont need a spring compressor if you have a friend handy. You will also need a hammer and probably a punch.

And for safety use jack stands please.

First lets start with som basics. Open the hood. In the 2 corners near the windshield there are 2 bubble lookin things, these are your strut towers. They have 2 nuts and 1 bolt on the outside part and on big nut in the center. The center nut is compressed pretty good and you may need to spray them with some PB blaster and any rust inhibitor. You can go ahead and do this right away and let it soak while you get started on some other things.

Alright, now jack the car up in the center to a decent height(really, it just needs to be high enough to get the wheel off). Put 2 jack stands up front(you can see little indentations where they can go) on each side. Lower the jack so the car rests on the jack stands. Go ahead and take both of the wheels off(also you arent supposed to use an impact gun to put them back on but can be used to take them off, I used it to put them back on anyways though)
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908226/large.jpg

Next, you should have your hood open. You will need to take off the 2 small nuts and the small bolt on top off of the strut tower from the first assembly you want to do. Just use a rachet for these and have at it
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908224/large.jpg

Alright now go look down on that assembly by the brake assembly a little above and behind that also there are 2 bolts with nuts on the other side. Take the impact gun and have at it on both of the nuts till they come off. You again may need to use some PB blaster on them.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908227/large.jpg

Now you may have noticed already that those bolts dont exactly come out on there own. they are grooved makin it a tight fit. SO, just grab a hammer and pound them till they come out. You may need to use a punch if they dont fly out. Dont worry these are pretty tough bolts, but still be careful with them.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908242/large.jpg

Ok, now the cool part. Push in towards the car on the assembly. It should pop off of the brake assembly and kind of fall out. It can be kind of hard finding the way to get them out of there but there is ONE way to get them out without unhooking anything else.

Now you have the whole suspension assembly in your hands, cool huh?
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908229/large.jpg

Just stand it on the ground and have at that center nut with your impact gun. BE CAREFUL THOUGH! The front springs are quite compressed and if you go fast things will fly away and could injure someone or even worse, you could lose that part. lol
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908230/large.jpg

The very top piece of the assembly is called the bearing plate, the next rubbery peice is the boot, then the spring(which you need to take out and replace with your new one), and then the strut.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908231/large.jpg

When you change the springs make sure you place the new one in just like the stock one was in there. There is a notch on the boot assembly that need to go on the end of the spring. AND MAKE SURE TO PULL THE STRUT ALL THE WAY UP BY HAND.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908232/large.jpg

Next might take a little skill. You have to kinda have to carefully compress the spring a little (if you dont have a spring compressor) without pushing the strut down at all, then try to slid the bearing plate on top. You should be able to see threads on the strut, if you dont you pushed the strut down some, try again. Once you see threads get that nut on there.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908233/large.jpg

Once you get the nut started tighten it down with the impact gun.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908234/large.jpg

Now you are ready to put the car back together. Make sure the bearing plate is positioned correctly before you wiggle it back up in there.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908236/large.jpg

Here is a pic of a good way to get everything aligned
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908237/large.jpg

Finally start putting all the bolts and nuts back in. DO NOT FORGET TO TIGHTEN ANY!

NOW, go do the other side the same exact way.



Now that you got the front done time for the back! YIPPEE!! :rolleyes:

You will not be able to use jack stands very easily. so just be careful. there is a place right in the center of the rear in the middle of the crossmember. Go ahead and take the wheels off again.

The back suspension is a little different. Pop your trunk and unscrew all of the little plastic things holding you carpet to your car. Then pull back the carpet in the corners of the middle of the car towards the rear exposing the rear strut towers. Instead of having 2 small nuts, 1 small bolt and one big nut on top of the strut tower, there is one small and one big nut on top and 2 small bolts you have to get from under the strut tower. But the bottom 2 bolts are the same as the front so I am not going to explain that again.

Remove the top small nut first
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908243/large.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908244/large.jpg

Next, go look up from under the car and you should see the head of the 2 bolts you can see in the last picture. Have at em.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908245/large.jpg

After that have at the 2 bottom bolts and nuts. Once those are out it might take some wiggling around and there is only one way to get these in/out too. And this is the only way I have found.
http://www.pbase.com/image/13908249/large.jpg

The assembly once out of the car is basically the same as the front. just take off the center big nut and be careful and go slow again. take it all apart and put it back together just like the fronts. Put the suspension back in just the way you took it out. but for the bottom 2 bolts and nuts, you have to get the bottom one in before you can put the top one in. Put the whole car back together.

And there you have it, you are done lowering your car. The springs will settle with time, some take longer than others(settle means you will get a more noticable drop with a little time)

[sound_xtreme]

A spring compressor can be rented at Autozone with a 50 dollar deposit but you get all that back when you bring it back. You will need this definetly if you are doing this by yourself. I rented it the first couple of times and realized it is just a waste of time. When I lowered skiboarder's car it sat there the whole night.

[Natedog]

great instructions man... much appreciated!!! ill definatly be doin my Eibach install myself instead of payin 200 to have em installed...:thumbs:

[Jeremy]

Would you recommend getting the front end realigned once you put the new springs on?

[Natedog]

im pretty sure you need to have the front realigned after you put new springs on... only cost around 40 bucks

[sound_xtreme]

I didnt really need to. Drove straight as an arrow. Yea, I am guessing there was a little negative camber but nothing worth spending money on getting an alignment.

Now with my coilovers.......thats a whole different story. hahaha.

If your car pulls really bad to either side or you can actually see the negative camber, get it aligned.

[AMRAAM4]

Do you need to jackstand the front/back depending on which end you are doing? or can you do one spring at a time like changing a tire?

[balludc]

good instructions.. i did my own spring install myself too. its a MUST to have a couple friends with you too. I bribed mine with pizza... haha.

installing springs isnt too hard.... but you need to take your time. my father was telling me a story about a friend of his broke his arm by not properly using the spring compressors.... it shot off and the compressor smoked his arm. He's lucky it hit his arm and not his face. Just be careful and TAKE YOUR TIME!!! when you're doing this. :thumbs:

Would you recommend getting the front end realigned once you put the new springs on?

I drove around a week before I got my car aligned. it actually didnt need much of an alignment (or at least I couldnt tell too much after the alignment). But I wouldnt wait too long after you install springs... dont want to wear out the sides of your tires.

-derek

[balludc]

Originally posted by AMRAAM4
Do you need to jackstand the front/back depending on which end you are doing? or can you do one spring at a time like changing a tire?
I have a 95 so my rear end is different (I have rear end shocks)... but for my springs with struts... i did one at a time. I used a jack stand too though... i dont like to work with a jack allow when my car is up for a while (thats just me though).

-derek

ps: for those with a 95-98 and installing springs... you can remove the mounts in your trunk, jack up the whole rear end, and the springs will actually fall right out (need to compress them though). The rear end took me about 30-45 minutes to do.

[collin]

I didnt read this before I did mine. I left the metal part on top of the front towers (with the big nut) up there, and just took out the spring/strut/ and the plastic plate (that the top of the springs et on) out. This worked OK. I rented a spring compressor, but after monkeying around with it, it didnt help at all. I really couldnt get them to fit up in the front ones. They may be useful for the back ones since there is much more room. I wish I had read these instructions before doing the install! Would have saved some time! I had problems tightening the top strut bolt as well. It is a bolt that you have to hold the strut rod from moving, while tightening the bolt. After hours of trying, I finally jacked it up, leaving the wheel on, and took a piece of rubber from an old inner tube along with a vice grip and squeezed the strut rod. A friend held that there, while I used a wratchet wrench for the nut. This worked well. We tested this on the factory struts first to look for scratches. There were none.

[sound_xtreme]

You can NOT do one spring at a time in the back I know for a fact. The strut will not mount up correctly. I am not too sure about the front, but the way things are setup up there I would guess you actually could, but it is much easier to just jack it up in the middle and jack the whole front up. If you are careful about not moving the car A LOT dont worry about the jack stands, I just like to work really safe when I do things. I have seen accidents happen....

After hours of trying, I finally jacked it up, leaving the wheel on, and took a piece of rubber from an old inner tube along with a vice grip and squeezed the strut rod. A friend held that there, while I used a wratchet wrench for the nut.

Yea, thats where an impact gun is REALLY handy. Just have at it with that and bam you are done.

I have changed so many suspensions and springs I can have this done in probably 30 minutes if I didnt lag around. I have done this, probably 10 times on Aleros alone. So if anyone needs help around the area send me a PM.

[peeps]

Digging through the HD and found these...thought they might be helpful....

http://webpages.charter.net/philippeeples/car_pics/FrontSuspensionPage1.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/philippeeples/car_pics/FrontSuspensionPage2.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/philippeeples/car_pics/FrontSuspensionPage3.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/philippeeples/car_pics/FrontSuspensionPage4.jpg

[peeps]

...and the rear....

http://webpages.charter.net/philippeeples/car_pics/RearSuspensionPage1.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/philippeeples/car_pics/RearSuspensionPage2.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/philippeeples/car_pics/RearSuspensionPage3.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/philippeeples/car_pics/RearSuspensionPage4.jpg

[Lethal]

Good post!

Is the center nut the only one that is compressed? Is it possible to take off the bubble thing by taking off the 3 screws and not the compressed one?

[2kramairGT]

Just about to do my install and was wondering the exact torque specs for any of the bolts involved with the install. I guess especailly the one on the top of the strut and the ones which connect to the strut towers? Anyone know them or where i can find them without purchasing a manual?

[AMRAAM4]

FYI...all the pics in this very helpful thread are no longer working.

[pongagt]

Torque specs are as follows:

Front
Strut assembly to body bolts: 18 lb. ft.
Strut assembly to body nuts: 18 lb. ft.
Strut to steering knuckle nuts: 133 lb. ft.
Strut nut to strut rod: 52 lb. ft.

Rear
Strut to knuckle nuts: 89 lb. ft.
Strut mount to body nuts: 18 lb. ft.
Strut rod piston nut: 34 lb. ft.

[lightningGA]

cool...I'll need this "How to..." before winters over....thank you:D

[lightningGA]

I was just going to buy a spring compressor instead of renting one ($5 a day here) but I'm not sure whats good or bad...or does it really matter?? Are there any I should avoid??

[lightningGA]

Eibach's are installed.......thanks again for the how to....it definitly helped:thumbs:

[MSJHWT]

Great How To! Wouldn't have considered changing my springs myself without it!!!

[Hexx]

Ok, so I dont have a compressor or air tools. How hard is it going to be to take the struts out and take the bolt off the strut itself?

[lightningGA]

I did mine without a compressor and didn't have a problem:D

[Hexx]

Alright, now I got my springs, and the spring compressor(s), and I can not for the life of me get that damn nut off. The one that holds the top bearing plate...grr. Anyways, pep boys said they can install them for $230....screw that!

[95-GT]

ps: for those with a 95-98 and installing springs... you can remove the mounts in your trunk, jack up the whole rear end, and the springs will actually fall right out (need to compress them though). The rear end took me about 30-45 minutes to do.

Thats crazy. It took me 20 minutes to do the read shock asorbers and springs. To compress them, I just pined them up where they should be, and used a jack on the rear axle to compress them. Easy as hell job.

[2kramairGT]

Hexx: The only thing besides getting an impact wrench i can say about getting the top nut off is use some rubber around the strut shaft clamped hard as $hit with some vice grips and have someone hold those as u use a long rachet or breaker bar on that nut. Soak it in some lubricant. Good luck man. You could always just bring the spring assemblies to a shop and have them switch the springs for u on a wall mount compressor. Definately cheaper than 230, cause youd be installing them yourself on the car. Maybe one hour of laybor if you are lucky.

[lightningGA]

I think that was definitly the hardest part of the conversion. I did what 2kramairGT said with vice grips. I used an old piece of rubber hose and a rag with vice grips around the shaft. Just put it as close to the top as possible just in case you mark it up (that part doesn't ever actually make it down inside). Then I used a big ratched and finally got it off.

[Hexx]

This week I am going to take the struts off and bring them to a shop. That should make life a lot easier and cheaper.

Thanx guys, I didnt even think of the rubber/vice grips.

[AznGA]

Thanks for good How - To.
My question is how long can stock shocks hold up with lower springs? Obviously the install would be easier if you get new shocks and springs at the same time......

[lightningGA]

Thanks for good How - To.
My question is how long can stock shocks hold up with lower springs? Obviously the install would be easier if you get new shocks and springs at the same time......


I'm not sure how long the'll last but I left my stock shocks on so I'll post here when the finally go bad

[GtGoddess]

These instructions work for 2002 GA GT right?!

[Hexx]

im pretty sure you need to have the front realigned after you put new springs on... only cost around 40 bucks

I just installed my springs the other day. Drove straight for a day. Today it seems to catch to the left now. I am going to get the front aligned.

How about the rear? My brother mentioned something about getting that aligned also due to independent suspension. Is the rear alignment needed?

I love the Eibach drop. Improves the look and driving ability. GAGT Suspension +5 ;)

[2kramairGT]

Just get a four wheel alignment, mine were all off by enough to eventually ruin tires. Just get all 4 done because it cant be much more $$$ than just the fronts. Mine was done for $60 at NTB with a 6 month warranty.

[2002AmSE]

Which direction is negative camber? My back two tires are wearing unevenly. The "car-facing" side of the tire has more tread than the "rim" side of the tire. Is this a camber type thing? I also noticed that it appears(maybe an illusion though) that both of my back tires look like they face the front middle of the car(i.e. the passenger tire slightly to the left, and driver-side tire slightly to the right). Again the direction could just be an illusion based on the shape of the frame, but what would cause there to be more tread towards the inside of the tire than the outside. My mom's GA isn't showing the same thing and both cars have proper inflation at all times as well.

[Hexx]

Which direction is negative camber? My back two tires are wearing unevenly. The "car-facing" side of the tire has more tread than the "rim" side of the tire. Is this a camber type thing? I also noticed that it appears(maybe an illusion though) that both of my back tires look like they face the front middle of the car(i.e. the passenger tire slightly to the left, and driver-side tire slightly to the right). Again the direction could just be an illusion based on the shape of the frame, but what would cause there to be more tread towards the inside of the tire than the outside. My mom's GA isn't showing the same thing and both cars have proper inflation at all times as well.

Get it checked out. It's hard to tell really what needs to be adjusted (to get it perfect). See if a shop will "evaluate" it before they actually do the work, just so you don't waste your $$.

My car on the other hand, the front tires are wearing on the outside portion. It's not that bad right now, and it was like this before I changed my springs (again not that bad). I think most places around here charge like $70-80 for a four wheel alignment.

[tj19855]

Anybody know where to rent a impact gun with air compressor???

[2002GT]

tru autozone, advanced auto parts or pep boys

[95-GT]

Home Depot.

[tj19855]

I've been trying to take off the big bolt on the assembly for an hr, but the thing is not moving, any suggestions??

[lightningGA]

Hexx: The only thing besides getting an impact wrench i can say about getting the top nut off is use some rubber around the strut shaft clamped hard as $hit with some vice grips and have someone hold those as u use a long rachet or breaker bar on that nut. Soak it in some lubricant. Good luck man. You could always just bring the spring assemblies to a shop and have them switch the springs for u on a wall mount compressor. Definately cheaper than 230, cause youd be installing them yourself on the car. Maybe one hour of laybor if you are lucky.


I think that was definitly the hardest part. I did what 2kramairGT said with vice grips. I used an old piece of rubber hose and a rag with vice grips around the shaft. Just put it as close to the top as possible just in case you mark it up (that part doesn't ever actually make it down inside). Then I used a big ratched and finally got it off.

did ya try this yet....

[tj19855]

Hmmm thanks. I'm gonna have to take it to a shop, or buy a big a$$ rachet. The big bolt is a Bia :scream: .

[AznGA]

How do you torque the strut rod piston nut? You guys are only talking about tighening it with an airtool. I think the only nuts/bolts that really need to be spec'ed is the 2 big ones behind the brakes right?

[tj19855]

I would like the answer to that question too. I took all four strut assemblys to Meineke, there going to change the springs for me for only $20 a piece, I think its better that way...

[el nino]

anyone have any idea on how to take the two bottom bolts out from the back. i unscrewed tehm but the bolts seem to not wana come out.

[Rich]

a screwdriver and hammer? im pretty sure i remember having to do that.

[ryanbgb22]

i have my front struts off the car, when i try to take the compressed nut off the top of the mount the whole top mount and shaft that goes into the strut just spins. I believe this is the problem everyone else had, i already tried vice grips, they were gripped rediculously tight and still had spinning. Anyone have suggestions?

[ryanbgb22]

without the compressors on the spring, the nut did turn without the rest of the shaft turning, however, i dont want to take the chance of taking off the nut without having the compressors on. As soon as i put the compressors on the spring, the whole assembly starts turning again.
I hope this makes sense.

[MSJHWT]

Are you using an impact gun?
You are going to need a decent air compressor and a GOOD impact gun to make things go smoothly. You will need a good metric socket set also. You really dont need a spring compressor if you have a friend handy. You will also need a hammer and probably a punch.
and from my own install...
Finished the install last night, turned out good. I wish I had gotten an impact fun for the fronts, though. After spending 2 hrs trying to get a bolt off a strut that kept sprinning I went to Sears and bought one...got back and finished the pass rear strut and the driver rear in 25 mins. God I wish I had that impact gun for the front

So if you're not using one, rent/buy an air compressor and impact gun!

[pongagt]

A electric impact worked on my car.