Planning to swap my struts/springs up front on a 1998 and had a question. My Haynes manual says you need to undo the cotter pins for the tie rods and disconnect the steering, etc etc, but Wild Weasel's instructions here (http://www.wildweasel.ca/HowTo/Auto/J-Body/KoniSportInstall.aspx) don't include that. Who's right?
You don't need to undo the tie rod ends. Just undo the bolts at the bottom of the strut first, then the top. You are going to need an alignment after you are finished your install.
yeah, undoing the tie rod ends is not needed. just undo the 2 strut bolts at the spindle, then the 3 at the top mount.
they are correct. those are just extra steps that make the job much worse lol..
John Benham wrote:yeah, undoing the tie rod ends is not needed. just undo the 2 strut bolts at the spindle, then the 3 at the top mount.
Yep. You might have to pry downwards on the spindle, but that isnt a problem.
Tinkles
2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown
Just did it today on my 98. Easiest part of today's fiasco was removal. Just the three on top the two on bottom (making sure to brace the knuckle) and it came off.
i have some adjustable springs i want to put on(up to 4 in) and i wanna do it myself.is it possible the springs will hit me or fly off when i remove them?will my factory shocks work with my new springs?they are not as wide as my factory springs.what does brace the knucle mean?
hmm....you should be able to switch em out fine but you will need to get a spring compressor. You need to compress the old spring to take it off or you run the risk of serious injury. I mocked up my coil-overs with the factory shocks and while it will work i don't think its recommended. Did your springs come with some kind of instructions to get around the fact that they are smaller than factory? maybe some kind of adapter to make things work?
Lowering on stock struts is dangerous and stupid. They are not designed to handle ANY amount of drop and will blow. I also have a feeling that your "adjustable" springs were a cheap set of ebay spring. If that assumption is correct the best thing you can do is toss them and save your money so you can lower your car the safe and smart way.
Tinkles
2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown
Tinkles u are correct,im stupid and bought the cheap ones off EBAY(theres no name at all and no instructions) ill wait to get aftermarket shocks or try n sell em.what setup do u guys know bout thats not too expensive or too stiff.BTW what exactly happens when shocks "blow"?i hate havin my ride @ stock height but im not about to spend a lot of money,possibly some websites.thanx
There is no such thing as an adjustable "spring" my guess is that you have a spring with a sleeve and an adjustable "perch".
Check out the suspension FAQ as said above and all your questions will be answered. Do yourself a favour and buy a set of proper lowering springs made for your car, not some universal ebay garbage that will most likley ride like a lumber wagon if you even manage to make them work with the upper perches. And make sure to get some good struts to go with your new springs
And again:
Quote:
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Tinkles wrote:Lowering on stock struts is dangerous and stupid. They are not designed to handle ANY amount of drop and will blow. I also have a feeling that your "adjustable" springs were a cheap set of ebay spring. If that assumption is correct the best thing you can do is toss them and save your money so you can lower your car the safe and smart way.
what your calling me stupid ???
ShowOff Customz
03 Cavalier
73 Beetle
68 Fairlane 500
Joker DeVille wrote:Tinkles wrote:Lowering on stock struts is dangerous and stupid. They are not designed to handle ANY amount of drop and will blow. I also have a feeling that your "adjustable" springs were a cheap set of ebay spring. If that assumption is correct the best thing you can do is toss them and save your money so you can lower your car the safe and smart way.
what your calling me stupid ???
If the shoe fits.
/gay comeback
No company name should be a HUGE red flag, but you can still use the springs as a hood prop at car shows.
I have heard good things about the Eibach Sportline and KYB AGX combo.
Tinkles
2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown
no sportline and agx...bad combo
I've found even the name brand stuff off ebay can be junk. A friend of mine bought a bully clutch on ebay for his crx and at our first race (oval track car) he blew the clutch apart. After removal it turns out the rivets let go or something cause the friction surface on the one side was gone and in a million pieces in the bottom of the bellhousing and on the ground.
I read a magazine article (im not sure where but i know i still have that magazine in my collection) about how alot of knockoff's are sold as "name brand" on ebay and other sites. I forgot how to verify parts are real.
guess ill try n sell em on craigslist.these look nice but the part where it turns to adjust the ride height is some rather this aluminum.
A friend of mine (same crx friend) bought the $80 ebay coil overs for his del sol and we rated the springs and they were something rediculous like 480 or 500. To give you an idea on how rediculous that is, the lowering springs I have for the cavy were 160 front and 80 rear. Stock is around 180 front and 110 rear. Dont take those stock figures as exact, its been a while since i rated them and I dont have my notes in front of me.
does that mean there too stiff?in the other post i meant to put rather THIN aluminum
Yes, most definatly to stiff. Thats more than double the stock front spring rate and more than 4 times the stock rear rate. They arent designed with your car in mind like a good set of lowering springs are. They just threw a bunch of universal junk in a box and shipped it to your door.
How do you test spring rate?
