anyone done it?
I know by reading the manual it looks easy, but id like to get someones insight as to them actually doing it.
all for tools i seem to need is coil compressors and a torque wrench... that correct?

all shocks, bump stops and insulators were replaced before, so should only need to drop on the springs and away i go yeah?

dont want to remove the entire strut, so was gonna undo the top bolt lower the control arm with the coil compressed, remove the coil, put on the new one and bolt up again.

yes? or would i have to remove the entire strut due to clearance.
i realise id get more response in the magna mods sections, but there diff in suspension setup.

No, remove the strut

You will need good quality compressors as the energy built up when the coil is compressed can be very deadly if it lets go.

To remove strut, remove brake line from strut, remoe 2 lower bolts and pull down. That is about it.

To remove strut, remove brake line from strut, remoe 2 lower bolts and pull down. That is about it.
do i need to disconnect from the caliper, or can i just disconnect the bracket connecting the line to the strut

the coils on the car atm i can compresses with my hands, i can push on the car with 1 hand and hold it down at level with ease, its the new springs installing them that bother me, my god they are hard. 2" lows will do that.

btw, need to buy coil compressors, having trouble finding a place to buy them at. :s

do i need to disconnect from the caliper, or can i just disconnect the bracket connecting the line to the strut

the coils on the car atm i can compresses with my hands, i can push on the car with 1 hand and hold it down at level with ease, its the new springs installing them that bother me, my god they are hard. 2" lows will do that.

btw, need to buy coil compressors, having trouble finding a place to buy them at. :s

should only need to take the bracket off holding the brake line to the strut. As for coil compressors use them for both the old ones and the new springs last thing you want is the strut top to become a missle :bowrofl: You can get coil compressors from any decent auto shop i got mine from SCA for $40 from memory and just make sure you give them a quick spray with some type of lube so they compress the spring smoothly.

you need the 12 inch long spring compressor tool i found the 9 inch too short to compress the spring at the start

you have to undo both brake lines connected to the strut to remove them

the 10 mm brake spanners help so you dont round the brake fittings

the brake clips need a stong pair of pliers

the spring has to come down to a measurement of
9 inches before you can do up the nut at the top to hold the sprin back in place

make sure the spring is sitting correctly in the base of the strut

ok, thanks guys, fingers crossed I can find some compressors today and do the job tomorrow.
getting sick of these damn springs crunching my guards and rolling like jelly.

well, after I do the other front wheel, this is something, I will NEVER EVER EVER do again.

This has to be the worst and most annoying job i know on a car.

Meanwhile, the compressors I bought are so damn bad. I only bought the single clamp per end instead of the dual, so i actually had a few scary instances of the arm coming off the coil, and the coil expanding to size.
meanwhile i had the spring in a vice so it wouldnt fly everywhere, and lucky no-one was injured, except tools i threw from pure frustration.

it took me 6hrs to do one wheel, after really looking at the setup, and throwing away my gregorys manual, i saw how easy it was to remove..... putting it back in i confused myself with and made the job harder, but long story short ahh.

The left passenger side spring is now in, and tho atm i cannot see the 2" low effect just yet, i can be assured its simply a matter of time.
take a look at the out of car shots of the 2 springs.


BTW: i noticed that the manual had mention of a bump stop..... there kinda missing from my shocks.
perhaps that's why the wheels crunch when i turn corners hard yeesh.
also don't have any now, do the new springs are simply on the strut.

BTW: i noticed that the manual had mention of a bump stop..... there kinda missing from my shocks.
perhaps that's why the wheels crunch when i turn corners hard yeesh.
also don't have any now, do the new springs are simply on the strut.

your looking for trouble running lowered springs without bump stops it will destroy your shocks quicker then you can say my god i hate taking shocks out of the car.

your looking for trouble running lowered springs without bump stops it will destroy your shocks quicker then you can say my god i hate taking shocks out of the car.
ahh, thanks for backing that up, i am shocked there was something missing, meanwhile atm, the springs are nice and tight and will take a while to go down, but yeah, might be taking a trip to a mech to get some bumpity stopities.


btw, after i bought some twin teeth compressors i had a much better experience, i will do my rears now, but will have to redo my fronts since finding theres a part missing.

the bump stops were only mitsi genuine last time I looked up
approx $60

if you find cheaper after market supplier let us know

cheers

the bump stops were only mitsi genuine last time I looked up
approx $60

if you find cheaper after market supplier let us know

cheers
http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showpost.php?p=840162&postcount=13

found those, what you think? as I do need a set its kinda no brainer, but if there same cost and inferior also not worth it.

Well, I bought those bump stops from ebay, worked a treat and look good.

Finished that job in 1hr for both shocks, since i'd done it b4, i found it rather easy, plus i had the right tools.

So I thought, well it's only 2pm, I will do the rears.

the drivers rear, tho tight, was able to remove, and compress coil and put new coil on shock.

funny thing tho, the new spring didnt even meet the top of the tower in its stock height, so, when the tower was completely reassembled, and uncompressed, the coil could move freely up and down, back and forth.

so, in putting it back on the car and slowly letting the body back down, the coil settled into its housing tower nicely, and now doesn't move at all.

Started on the passenger side rear........ first problem, the bolt to the axle was so damn tight, that the lip washer was sprawled apart behind the nut.
once the tower was out, went to disassembling it.

the small nib on shock tower snapped on from the nut being overly tight, after cutting a groove into the towers thread arm, to put a flat head to, i found i could not get a good grip, that nut was on there for good.
in the end, cut the nut off, stuffed up the thread, and a few other drama, all in all, i was expecting to have some fun driving at 5pm.

instead the shock is now in the car mostly assembled finished at 8:30, and i will most likely have to buy a new shock.

*this story was shortened as not to bore you. base line: save yourself the grief and take the install to a shop, might lighten your wallet, but save your sanity.*

Would you like to do the front ones on my wagon, just for practice?

heh, heh, just kidding!

Thanks for the insight. I'll take mine to the mechanic who did the CV joints on my sedan. His charges were quite reasonable.

I recently put new rear shocks on the wagon. Although the fronts haven't been done yet, I was very disappointed because the new rears made absolutely no difference.

When I replaced the rears on a land cruiser ute I used to have, it made a huge difference, so I was expecting to at least be able to feel some difference. Not so! I used monroe GT gas, same as on my sedan. The sedan rides like a limo.

my wagon, i have spent well over 2.5k on suspension, all of which has made it handle unbelievable.

The sedan being merely a backup car for the family, I didn't see the point in spending big $$$, so installing it myself and learning 1 more thing I thought was a good idea.

:nuts:

I'm quite confident in doing the fronts now, there easy, the allen key to stop the shock shaft spinning is far superior to the rears lil nib of a 'b's' grip hold point.

Also, found my rear bump stops to be upside down, and unlike my fronts found the shaft to spin quite freely, :S

the rear now sits far noticely lower than the factory originals. However my fronts are still the same damn height as the hella saggy factories..... don' get it.

I need to somehow get that damn nut screwed onto the shaft, as it is it merely held on by first tension as you begin to put the nut on, due to thread being stipped on shaft. tried to retap, but nope.


wagons are easier, the coils sit sep from the shocks, and u dont need to get into the boot to work on the wagons ass unlike the sedan. But in the end, if the nuts have been basically welded onto the shaft, then no matter how gentle or hard you try, somethings gonna give, and it was that damn nib.


BTW, i wouldn't mind installing your fronts, after all, as said, i'm confident with the fronts, there easier to work on. My mech wanted 50$ per coil to put into the car, so 200$ for the set, and I only paid 270$ for a set of 2" lows.