CCM

Why am I so bad at working on cars? I'm usually very mechanically and electronically inclined, but there's something about my car that just seems to make me horrible at working on it.

I started installing my springs at 8, figuring I'd definitely be done by 12. I started with the rear (first mistake) and things went very smoothly, in about an hour the wheels were already back on the ground. I started the passenger side front and nearly 2 1/2 hours later finished it. The first problem I had was the caliper bolts, then the bottom sway bar nut was stuck, then probably the worst part of the whole install, the COTTER PINS. I ****ing hate those things, they are the biggest PITA to get in and out. I mangled it to death getting it out, thinking the worst was over, only to discover that the damn tie rod has to be beaten with a hammer for 10 minutes to come out. Then I ended up stripping the ABS sensor bolt and had to creatively make enough slack to get the A arm to drop low enough to get the spring out. The spring was also difficult to get out, a lot harder than in the rear. I ended looping a rope around one of the bottom coils and pulling up and out while my friend (big help) pushed down on the strut. By now it is almost 12 and my friend leaves, so I'm on my own to do the driver's side. Everything went well on that side (even the cotter pin) but I realized it was too late to be beating on the tie rod thing with a hammer. So I put the front wheels back on and pulled it back into the garage. Damnit!

CLIFF NOTES: #1 is it ok if my car is sitting right now with 3 SS springs and 1 stock spring? (It'll only be for about 10 hrs.)

#2 How important are the cotterpins on the bolts that connect the tie rod to the A arm? Because I pretty severly ****ed both of them up.

Sorry to make that a novel, didn't realize until I was done how long it was.

__________________

TClark22

wow...u make it sound so damn difficult

what i did to do the fronts was...jack up car on that side, preload the suspension, unbolt strut, unbolt caliper bolts (hardest part), and unbolt the top bolt of the sway bar (lol you dont need to unbolt the bottom one!), i didnt even need to take the abs out...it had enough slack for me to put the spring in

and what the hell are cotterpins and tie rod...lol i didnt need to touch them considering i dont know what those are!

__________________

CCM

Tie rods connect your front wheels to the steering rack, and yours are probably now bent.

__________________

TClark22

well...03mustanggt's writeup at d&d garage website did not say a thing about no tie rods so obviously they dont need to be removed...

__________________

03gtmustang

Actually it does,
"* Using needle nose pliers, remove the cotter pin near the tie rod end. Using a 18mm deep socket, remove the crown nut near the tie rod end. Remove the tie rod end from the spindle by hammering the spindle, not the actual tie rod. Keep hammering it until the tie rod falls out."

CCM, you should of gotten in contact with me. We both live in NOVA. http://www.dndgarage.net/springinstall.htm

If you need help with any future installs then let me know. BTW, you should be able to pick up cotter pins at Advance Auto.

__________________
D&D Auto Detailing
-Dan

Saleen S330

crap man, yeah you hammer the spindle not the actual tie rod, it'll drop out. you didn't reuse the same cotter pins did you? you got new ones right? They are important, those castle nuts are not really TQ'd down, when the hole and castle nut line up, you put the cotter pin in and it pretty much holds it in place, but never reuse them even if they look good. If you look where the k member bolts in, the 2 nuts behind the strut, to the left, you see where your abs line has slack there, you should have pulled it out there, and you would have had alot of slack for your abs line and wouldn't have to unbolt your abs line, it's a pain anyways.
Sitting there till you finish won't hurt nothing.

CCM

Well I was able to finish it this morning before I went to work, and all in all I'm satisfied. The driver's side went much more smoothly than the passenger's side and it is definitely LOW. I'll try to get some pics up soon, but right now it's almost like the back is a little higher than the front. It takes some getting used to but I'm pretty sure I like it. But wouldn't you know it, the damn springs squeak like crazy. Would spraying the isolators with WD-40 help?

__________________

SpinMedia

hmmm i didn't do any of that when i changed my springs, it took me less then an hour to swap my springs, about 20 minutes each in the front and 10 minutes to do the rear. I got spring clamps and squeezed them really tight and just unscrewed the struts from the top and took the bolt off the A arm and they came right off.

My springs squeaked the first week but after they settled in they didn't, i dont know about spraying wd-40 on the isolators tho.

Lances03SVT

Mine never have made any noise.

__________________
_______________________
2003 Cobra SOLD

TClark22

hmm i even left out my bottom isolators on the front and they dont sqweek

__________________

zigzaggthefag321

dude! I keep looking a your sig!!! that car looks fuggin schweet! I CANNOT wait to get my suspension stuff!

TClark22

thanks :banana:

__________________

CCM

Alright, after a few days with the new springs I gotta say I LOVE IT! I was pretty skeptical when I first put them on and thought I had made a horrible descision, but they definitely grew on me! Anyway, the one thing that still bothers me is that the rear sits higher than the front. On the front I can fit barely 3 fingers between the top of the tire and the fender but in the on the back I can easily fit 4, maybe 5, so I was thinking of removing either the top or bottom isolators back there. Which would you recommend I remove?

__________________

zigzaggthefag321

looks good the way it is IMO. I wish I could get away with that much drop...I live in the city and roads are BAD. large speed humps everywhere.

[EDIT] i was thinking about TClark22's car when I typed that.

CCM

I haven't even posted pics yet.

__________________

zigzaggthefag321

yes and I am a blind idiot...sorry bout that.

TClark22

yea...i live in a town that is heavily populated...and i know the streets like the back of my hand...so i avoid the bumps!

__________________

zigzaggthefag321

got 7 million people in my town...er uh city. For the huge amount of tax they get you for in the city...the roads should be nicer. my car wont have the full look i want, but its my DD and I got to be realistic.

Lances03SVT

Believe him.The road's around there suck

__________________
_______________________
2003 Cobra SOLD

03gtmustang

The rear will always sit higher then the front. Think of the weight difference. Let the springs settle out a bit before you change anything.

__________________
D&D Auto Detailing
-Dan