as a shock is leaking i tought it was time to change shocks and springs also, because i found the car to low as i bought it . Hitting speed bumps with the front spoiler was no rarity.
I bought a "sport" set : Eibach springs and Bilstein shocks.
This evening was for the rear … shocks are easy to remove , springs were more complicated. I think i have H&R in it ( red and low ) but the ST couldn't pass between windings. Old springs are 16 mm diameter, Eibach 15 mm. Eibach is approx 20 mm longer in total length , both have 8.5 windings. So on the old ones the windings are much closer together.
I managed to remove the old springs by compressing them with a jack and secure them with tension straps. Just enough to get them out. I could loose them again by compressing them under the lift ….On the new ones i could use the ST.
I had to order new oem dust caps and bump stops for the rear as those are not in the set. Should be in tomorrow.
Next are the fronts….
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almost 100 peeps but no new clues how to remove rear springs without the ST....
Well, all is back together in the rear , tomorrow i can start on the front.
OEM dust covers were not that easy to get the big washer in the groove ….. even with heat.
As for now i see the rear 2 cm higher …. that's already good !
Lucky the Bilstein's have the gland nut … so the old one can be broken…. dremel, heat and hammer… 15 min work.
don't think it would be easy to get that s*cker loose in 1 piece ….
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time for camber plates….
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Used my Dremel with cut off wheel on the 850 last night also.
I did not have an easy time removing the rear springs, either! IIRC, I disconnected inboard side of the upper wishbone and used some spring compressors to wrestle springs off of suspension. I have a modified suspension in car now with shorter springs that are a breeze to remove. I am also using front adjustable camber/caster plates from Ground Control. They were actually designed for an E36 so they had to be rotated 90 deg but they work just fine.
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nice JDP530 ! ... but for yearly tech inspection here , setups like you have are not allowed. I can "risk" the camber plates , normally you "almost" don't see that. Those plates give 2° extra neg camber. Looking at your pic , you have more
done the left side this evening... no better, even with the right hand side experience. It stays a almost 30 years old car and nuts have grown on bolts.
I hope to get it good… those Bilstein gland nuts just don't screw that easy on the struts… i have to carefully clean them and break in with a turn forward / a half a turn back. And a lot of oil. I suspect a lot of work before they tread on normal .... corrosion ? out of round deformation in the years ? who knows…. I must sure get the nuts good rotating on the strut thread before even installing the shocks with them…
There is a tool for the gland nuts on the Billies. Bilstein sells them for very little money and it helps quite a bit.
What "thumbs up" really means
been to the autoparts shop but not that tool for the gland nuts... i have several ( for adjusting height) , but those are all to big.
Forgot to go at a bearing supplier…. conical bearing tensioners have those nuts to , so the wrenches….
I think I may be the only one that didn’t have much trouble with my gland nuts. I just soaked them with WD-40 and grabbed the largest pipe wrench I could find. Gave it all I got for about a min on each and they budged. My biggest headache ended up being a mushroomed sway bar link bolt.
I remembered i have a wrench as for oil filters but with a chain ( no leather strap ) … that one works perfect on the Bilstein gland nut without any damage. It's made in the USA
Surface corrosion has worked his way until half way the thread.... i must search for a "safe" cleaning method. One side already turns full on , other side i don't get the nut started… will look tomorrow if i can make myself something like that : THREADBOY1.jpg
couldn't wait for tomorrow, so i got along this evening …. i got them both turning ! cleaned the corroded part with a wire wheel and got the nut started… after that a lot of turning in/out with penetrating oil. 1 turn break in by the time , no use to try more. Remove , clean , oil and start again. That way it was working . Glad i succeeded, or it was $$$$ new struts… after all surprized how corroded those oem gland nuts / thread were . Must say , the dust boots were closed at the bottom but no more at the top... so a perfect water trap once the drain in the spring plate is full of debris….
curious for road handling as all shocks were shot ….can only be much,much better
a year ago i renewed the master cilinder ... brakes were "sticking" . That is the result... will be better now
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always amazed what we gather around a working spot …
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finished ! car is again on his wheels and yes, a 2 cm higher with the Eibach's compared to the H&R.... me happy.
The ENGL camber plates are not visible… it is only 2° ...
so this for the iron scrap…
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Last edited by Belgiumbarry; 03-25-2019 at 01:50 PM.
Did this to my truck this weekend to get the shock out.
difference in height isn't that much noticable .... but better for speeds bumps . Now that all is settled , it must be 1.5...max 2 cm.
H&R ----------------------------- Eibach
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