[tbirdscwd]

As some of you know, I have just got my kit in the mail this week. Since I've have never seen a good one, I figured I'd do a little write up for the coil-over install. So here goes. We'll start out with the back, since that's all I have done right now. I will do the fronts tomorrow and finish the write up

Here's the kit in all it's glory


First, find a good place with plenty of space for the install.

Put both front seats as far forward as possible so you'll have space to work in the back seat. Fold the rear seats down to gain access to the trunk and rear top shock mounts. Pull the trunk liner on either side towards the center of the car to expose the top shock mounts.


Remove the top shock mount nut and bushings from both the passenger and driver's side rear shocks. Do this with the weight of the vehicle on the wheels to remove pressure from the top shock mounts.


Now the rear end of the vehicle can be raised and supported by jack stands. Place the jack stands under the side-rear jacking points or SFCs if installed. Note: If the car is supported by jack stands under the axle, the suspension will still be under a load, and you will not be able to remove the rear springs.
Remove the rear wheels/tires.


Remove the bolts passing through the bottom of the shocks that are holding them in place and remove the rear shocks from the vehicle.


From the side of the car, you can see the rear coil spring.


If the car is already lower as mine was, with the suspension in its current relaxed and extended state, the spring can be easily removed from the side. It may take a bit of twisting, but it will come out without too much trouble. (with stock height springs, you may have to disconnect the lower control arms to remove the coil springs)


With a 21mm box end wrench or ratchet wrench, remove the nut that hold the lower shock mounts to the axle housing, and remove the lower shock mounts. The factory lower shock mounts nee to be replaced when converting to a coil-over setup. The stock mounts are not designed to support the full burden of the car's weight.


Here is a couple shots comparing the new with the old. You can clearly see the difference in strength between the new and old shock mounts.


It's easy to see judging from the overall thickness and size of the coils why there is some weight loss associated with converting to a coil-over setup.


Back to the shock mounts. The new mounts come supplied with Grade-8 mounting hardware, but the top mounting hole needs to be widened just a hair to make room for the new 3/8" bolts. The hole in question is the center oblong shaped one.


Using a drill with a 3/8" bit, ream out the center of the bolt hole. It doesn't take much at all since the hole is just under 3/8" already.


Now install the new shock mounts with the supplied hardware. Make sure to have the bolts facing forward as in the following pic. If they are reversed with the nuts towards the rear of the car, you will have clearance issues with the bottom portion of the shock.


Now, remove the rubber bushngs from the bottom of the shocks. These will be replaced with billet aluminum bushings supplied with the kit. I found this easiest to do by spraying the bushings with some PB blaster or liquid wrench and tapping the bushings out with an appropriate sized socket. You must first tap out the small metal center piece before the rubber bushing will come out.

[tbirdscwd]

Here's a quick rundown of the actual coil-over assembly. Some schocks will have a dust cover that will require removal in order for the sleeve to fit over the shock.



Slide the threaded sleeves over the shocks...don't worry, they only go on one way. Make sure they are pushed all the way down.


Now thread on the lower spring supports. Make sure the flat side is facing the bottom of the shock. There is a little ridge that the spring fits right around that should face the top of the shock. It is a good idea to also install the adjustment set screw while the coil-overs are not yet on the car. Do not tighten the set screw yet sinc you will need to adjust the ride height.


Before installing the springs, extend the shock all the way out by pulling on the ends. This may take some strength, so reach down and grab a hold.


Now place the upper spring support on top of the spring. This is what the assembly should look like (with the exception of the rubber bushings on the bottom) They should have been removed by this point. Make sure your springs have the labels facing right side up. This has no effect on the spring itself or anything else for that matter.....but only dorks install their springs upside down.


Install the spring/shock assembly on the car. This is much easier if you can enlist the help of a buddy or hot chick to either hold the spring/shocks up from the bottom while you thread the top mount nut back on the shock from above or visa versa. It is much easier to install the top portion first and then align and install the bottom mounts as opposed to doing the bottom first.


(as you can see I didn't know the kit even came with new bushings at first since the piss poor instructions don't even mention them. I initially though they went to the front suspension)

Once the nuts are started up top, then raise the axle with a floor jack to bring the shock mounts up and align the lower mounting points. Place the new billet aluminum bushings in the lower shock eyelets and finish installing the lower portion of the shocks with the new supplied hardware.



Put your wheels/tires back on the car, lower the car off the jack stands, and tighten the top shock nuts once again. You are done with the installation portion, and now all that needs to be done is adjust the ride height to suit your needs. Remember to tighten the set screw after all adjustments and only to adjust the ride height when the weight of the car is not resting on the wheels.

[01KnightRiderGT]

Nice work, looks good

[jjjferro]

Nice write up. So how do you like 'em? How difficult is it to measure current ride height and match upon install? I have a one piece drive shaft and heard horror stories on pinion angles when changing ride height.

[Dolbs4082]

Nice dude! what brand you go with? did a great job at writing it up!!!

How much your rear set up run you?

[naza]

Nice bro!! This will help me for my install next week!! =)

[freefallin2000]

No pics of finished product? IF I was to order that UPR front/rear kit, is that everything that comes with it? I thought you had to buy the shock mounts separately?

[Quick99]

Looks great.

[tbirdscwd]

Originally Posted by freefallin2000 No pics of finished product? IF I was to order that UPR front/rear kit, is that everything that comes with it? I thought you had to buy the shock mounts separately?

Thanks everyone for the comments. I will post mre pics of the entire install and ride height after I install the fronts tonight. Right now it's just goofy looking because it is sitting substantially lower in the rear. It was also dark and could get any good pics of the entire car. I noticed that I didn't take any pics of the entire rear suspension finished, so I'll get some pics of that too.

[tbirdscwd]

Very easy install if you know your way around cars and have a decent set of tools. The only required besides basic hand tools was the drill/drill bit.

Rude height adjustments are extremely easy to make and can be done without removing the wheels. I will wait a little bit for these springs to settle before breaking out the tape measure. I'm just gonna leave them eyeballed for now because they will need to be adjusted again very soon.

As promised, when it's all done, I will post pics of the ride height in a few different places such as lowered all the way, all the way up, and somewhere in the middle that still gives me some tire clearance

[DickH]

Nice write up.

[Scott2001GT]

nice install man!

[mrsinister2424]

Good info! Coil overs look beautiful..



Pics of the stance!

[freefallin2000]

Hurry....im almost there! Oh wait, just kidding.

[tbirdscwd]

Originally Posted by freefallin2000 No pics of finished product? IF I was to order that UPR front/rear kit, is that everything that comes with it? I thought you had to buy the shock mounts separately?

The coil-overs from UPR come with lower shock mounts and Grade-8 mounting hardware.

I'm getting ready to do the fronts right now......I'll hopefully have that portion of the write up done and up on the site tonight. I'll be sure to at least post stance pics tonight as well, but I'll have to wash it and get some daytime pics tmr when it's light outside and I get a chance to wash the nasty thing.

[Garrett]

great write up. cant wait to see the after photos

[mrsinister2424]

Originally Posted by tbirdscwd The coil-overs from UPR come with lower shock mounts and Grade-8 mounting hardware. I'm getting ready to do the fronts right now......I'll hopefully have that portion of the write up done and up on the site tonight. I'll be sure to at least post stance pics tonight as well, but I'll have to wash it and get some daytime pics tmr when it's light outside and I get a chance to wash the nasty thing.

You done yet?

[freefallin2000]

Yeah, hurry up man, your kiting me! I was bored so I just drove my bitch...she ran nice!

[naza]

We are very impatient!!!! =) BTW just ordered the front kit!!

[tbirdscwd]

Sorry guys....I passed out after taking a shower. I'll finish the write up soon, but here is the ride height as of now. There is still about 1/2" more drop left in the rear and over an inch left in the front. I'm willing to bet they will settle a little bit too. I'll clean her up in the morning and take some better pics.