How long to put lowering springs in?

lilnicko11 · Post by **lilnicko11** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:14 pm

How long can I expect it to take me or my mechanic if i have him do it to put in my eibach pro kit???? only thing that will have to be changed is the bump stops will have to be trimmed a lil right? thanks my fellow 2gners

contagious18 · Post by **contagious18** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:49 pm

shouldnt take that long at all, i give it 2 hours. it took me and two friends 5 hours to change mine and my boys 300zx on the same day

DoubtedNeon · Post by **DoubtedNeon** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:42 pm

need cambre kit

Dylan-00Blue · Post by **Dylan-00Blue** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:45 pm

did mine in about 2.5 hours and didnt cut anything

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:52 pm

Took me about 6 hrs since I'd never done it before, there was plenty of rust, and a broken bolt. I was also using air tools. Hand tools, idk how long it would've taken. DO NOT cut your bumpstops. I just shelled out $24 for two new front ones. I found out the hard way that you cannot trim them. There just isn't enough suspension travel and I bottom out my struts on everything... If you do it yourself make sure you have or rent spring compressors. I also didn't use a camber kit. I have no interest in having undersized bolts holding my suspension in place. I suggest if you need an alignment get the struts slotted instead. Just my opinion though, but plenty of people have hit bumps and had their camber bolts loosen and put their car out of alignment. Nitehawk, and Blackroseracing off the top of my head.

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:40 pm

camber bolts are just unless you use the mopar ones

SOKADAO954 · Post by **SOKADAO954** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:16 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:Took me about 6 hrs since I'd never done it before, there was plenty of rust, and a broken bolt. I was also using air tools. Hand tools, idk how long it would've taken. DO NOT cut your bumpstops. I just shelled out $24 for two new front ones. I found out the hard way that you cannot trim them. There just isn't enough suspension travel and I bottom out my struts on everything... If you do it yourself make sure you have or rent spring compressors. I also didn't use a camber kit. I have no interest in having undersized bolts holding my suspension in place. I suggest if you need an alignment get the struts slotted instead. Just my opinion though, but plenty of people have hit bumps and had their camber bolts loosen and put their car out of alignment. Nitehawk, and Blackroseracing off the top of my head.

i have no place to do it but my from parking space. and very little tools.

neonslg09 · Post by **neonslg09** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:52 pm

took me and my dad about 4 hours. from start to finish, and watching the gas drop out of my blown struts.

put struts and springs in.

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:00 pm

Air tools, 2 or more guys, 2 hours. The worst part is dealing with all the rusted crap under most of our cars. I love working on the race car just because there's so little rust under it. But the DD on the other hand is miserable. Any bolt I touch breaks.

neonslg09 · Post by **neonslg09** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:04 pm

esteinmaier wrote:Any bolt I touch breaks.

haha, your just too strong.

not...

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:06 pm

Well, you know how it goes. I get angry at it, I turn green, and all hell breaks loose.

OB · Post by OB » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:22 pm

If you do it and have no experience, I'd guess 4-6 hours. With help, you might be able to get under 4. A professional should be able to do it in 2-3 hours. It all comes down to having the right tools, knowing the procedure, and some mechanical ability. I have a write up in the How-To section that will help you a lot should you do it alone.

bone-yard-racing · Post by **bone-yard-racing** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:44 pm

My record for a spring swap is just under an hour this was with the car sitting up with the wheels off already the springs were high rates as well so no compressor needed.

You should be able to do an hour per corner if you take your time.

DO NOT CUT THE BUMPSTOPS if you're really concerned I have at least 1 more set of 1gn acr(christmas tree) ones around here they are yours for $40

lilnicko11 · Post by **lilnicko11** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:41 am

ok thanks guys for the input. so i should not cut the bump stops?????? also camber bolts yay or nay?? I wanna hit up carlisle this upcoming week but i just had a new sensor put in and all of a sudden im throwing codes left and right. i think theres gotta be something witht he sensor since they were never there before......ugh.........

OB · Post by OB » Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:00 am

I wouldn't worry about camber bolts, I run a 2" drop and have zero issues with tire wear. A little camber is a good thing!

As far as the bump stops go, I cut mine down considerable with no issues. The struts probably don't like it much, but they've lasted me over 3 years and still perform excellently. The way I see it, struts are a wear item, and it's worth the comfort difference of not smacking them on every bump. I agree with BYR though, it's not a great idea if you can avoid it, but it's not the worst idea in the world.

bone-yard-racing · Post by **bone-yard-racing** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:47 am

Ever have piston hit case? Its way worse than the bump stops. Struts are a wear item but there is a big difference in wearing them out in 70k and valves colliding causing you to pop them in 500mi. I see you have pro kits they are much too low for their spring rate. OB my guess is you dont have a problem due to the rate of the Teins. Just be careful and cut as little as possible

Dropping these cars anything up to 2.25" results in between 1 and 2 degrees of negative camber which is perfect for a street car. Do not listen to the people that have an FSM shoved up their ass and believe only the factor alignment specs, they are good for one thing having a car that you can drive all day at 90+ without working that hard. Ive seen better tire wear as well as better handling with my specs on everything Ive owned.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:54 am

bone-yard-racing wrote:Ever have piston hit case? Its way worse than the bump stops.

QFT. I smack off them all day long now. It sucks and it's unavoidable. The whole front end makes a *BANG* The rear view mirror moves and my head unit with an iPod hooked up will skip... and this was just one example going over and expansion joint in the road!

NO camber bolts, and DO NOT cut your bump stops! You'll be glad later.

Dylan-00Blue · Post by **Dylan-00Blue** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:24 pm

+1 lol dont cut anything an you need at least an electric impact gun to get the strut nuts off the top of the struts otherwise you just break shit..... trust me

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:33 pm

Dylan-00Blue wrote:+1 lol dont cut anything an you need at least an electric impact gun to get the strut nuts off the top of the struts otherwise you just break shit..... trust me

This is true. That "special tool" with the 13 mm (I think) socket, extension, and spark plug socket sucks... no way could I get them to budge. I just carefully loosened them up with an impact wrench.