don't be nervous just remember how everything was when you took it out and put it back the same. If you have a digi cam and are really nervous, just take pics before and along the way that you can reference when putting it back together. That's what I did when I stripped my engine bay down to nothing but primer prior to repainiting it. I was concerned that I wouldn't get all the nuts and bolts and little tid bits back where they were originally so I took detailed pictures of everything and when I removed nuts and bolts etc. I placed them in zip locks and marked on the bags with a marker to tell me where they came from. Witth that it was simple and quick to put my whole engine bay back together after painting it.

 

Also, I will be installing Progress Auto springs and Tokico Blues this weekend on my car. I will try to detail the steps with good pictures if you want to reference that. Once I have the documentation down it will get posted on my web site which is in my signature.:thumbup:

 

Me and my friend didn't use a spring compressor, just used a couple jacks and jack stands to hold up the car, allen key, and a bunch of scket wrenchs.

 

That works too, I did that on a truck I used to have once...

to elaborate some... just get the car up on jackstands then use a hydrolic jack under the lca where the strut mounts to.... just jack it up a bit to compress it then take your allen to the strut piston in the trunk/engine bay and start at the nut with your wrench. After the nut is off, slowly let the hydrolic pressure out of the jack and there you go... I failed to mention this before because it can be tricky if you're not careful and I didn't want to send anyone out to screw something up.... but hey swim at your own risk... no life guard on duty:thumbup:

 

k guys im planning on going through with the install tomorrow.

1 problem though, i dont have a lift, or any jack stands, just the jack from my parents car (mine didnt have one when i bought it) Is there something wrong with doing one spring at a time? like taking one tire off and taking the strut off etc. and finishing it and put the tire back on, and do the same for the other tires? or would that not work.

also, if i had 2 jacks, and i put one on each side of the car (as if i was raising that side to take of the tire, but for both sides -- for front or rear at a time only obviously) and raise the front end of the car up, would this work?

help please!!!

 

You can definitely do one wheel at a time but it's really best to have the car on a block or jack stand for at least the one wheel you're working on. That way you have the jack free to lift the knuckle/spindle and apply load to the suspension before tightening everything up. You can pick up small hydrolic jacks and 2 ton jack stands for pretty damn cheap at wal-mart.

Here is one of my posts from another thread which deals with this issue a little on the front struts...

First slip your strut up into the strut tower and put the two bolts on loosely not tight yet....then slip the fork onto the bottom of the strut and don't put the pinch bolt in yet because you'll want to line up your strut and place the suspension under load before tightening anything...once you get the fork on the strut allign the holes through the fork with the lca and shimmie or lightly hammer the bolt through while doing the shimmie with the hub/rotor too...put the nut loosely on the other side of the bolt through the fork....now everything should be in loosely....shimmie the strut to get it good and straight making sure that the sping is sitting properly in the seat of the strut (end of spring coil against the notched rise in strut seat)....apply a load to the suspension by placing a jack under the knuckle/spindle and jacking it up until you see the car lift slightly off of your jack stand to make sure the damper is under load and everything is firmly seated... then tighten the bottom nut & bolt on the lca put the pinch bolt in and tighten it then put the wheel on and bring the car back down on the ground...tighten the top two bolts on the strut tower once it is on the ground and your ready to roll.

The important thing is to grease the two bussings and sleeve at the top of the strut to avoid any squeking.

If you need help in the rear let me know :naughty: lol

 

today my friend and i did the front end of my car, it took us about 3 hours and then it was dark so we have to do the back tomorrow. we used logs as jack stands :exnbp:

i took pics and in the process managed to drop my parents $300 digital camera hopefully its not broken. ill post em when i finish.

its safe to drive the car with the front end lowered and not hte back right?

 

I'm sure you'll be ok driving, but it'll look weird

 

:bigok: :rockon: you gotta do whatever works when you're a shade tree mechanic and logs fit the bill :thumbup:

 

ok sorry but i FINALLY started to do the back end yesturday.

i loosened up the top of the strut bolts, then my directions said loosen the bolt at the bottom of the strut... so i went down there and tried to loosen it

i tried over and over, used pipes for leverage, had about 3 guys try it....and it would NOT budge...we put WD-40 on it...everything. I think its just about completely stripped now and i cant get it out....what should i do? the other side, the bolt just came right out...

If i went to a mechaninc to take the bolt out...would it be unsafe to drive the car back home with it loosened/out? i figured it owuld be but i wanted to know for sure.