BMR/Koni upgrade V. Bringing the car up some..
04-01-2013, 10:24 AM
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BMR/Koni upgrade V. Bringing the car up some.. Bringing back an old thread for help, updates on page two!
I lowered the car with Gold Line Springs back in 01/02. I had always been satisfied with this setup which dropped the car around 1.8-2inches. Over the years this ride had gotten worse with the stock Shocks and I ended up rubbing a nice 3 inch long gash in my y-pipe and some minor damage to my headers from being really low and driving across a speed bump you can't angle around at work.
I decided it was time to refresh the car and raise it up some. Then came the BMR/Koni deal and I decided to jump at some car work.
These pictures were taken a few weeks before I started.
You can see how low the headers/y-pipe are here. I can't make a fist and slide it under the pipe.
Close up of the gap.
Fronts
Rears
Parts mostly here, Koni/BMR package, New bushings for A-Arms, New LCA, Some other odds and ends not here.
Ripping everything out..
Getting ready for new bushings
Decided since I had time and I was in there, lets clean up some things.
After some wire brush action and paint
New vs old
Raised up
One side cleaned up for paint
Done, new bushings in and painted
Ready to go in
I had some time to spare while waiting on paint to dry, decided to clean the wheel well + lots of Clear coat.
Old vs new
All in and ready for tires
Back out and on all 4's.
Unfortunatly I jacked the alignment all to hell during all of this. I have a buddy with a shop that is going to align it for me, but he was busy last week. Hope to limp it to him this week and I can get better pictures. I had to replace the break calipers on one side and a few other odds and ends, so that has delayed me as well, but it was fun working on the car. I hope to report a great improvement in ride quality.
I lowered the car with Gold Line Springs back in 01/02. I had always been satisfied with this setup which dropped the car around 1.8-2inches. Over the years this ride had gotten worse with the stock Shocks and I ended up rubbing a nice 3 inch long gash in my y-pipe and some minor damage to my headers from being really low and driving across a speed bump you can't angle around at work.
I decided it was time to refresh the car and raise it up some. Then came the BMR/Koni deal and I decided to jump at some car work.
These pictures were taken a few weeks before I started.
You can see how low the headers/y-pipe are here. I can't make a fist and slide it under the pipe.
Close up of the gap.
Fronts
Rears
Parts mostly here, Koni/BMR package, New bushings for A-Arms, New LCA, Some other odds and ends not here.
Ripping everything out..
Getting ready for new bushings
Decided since I had time and I was in there, lets clean up some things.
After some wire brush action and paint
New vs old
Raised up
One side cleaned up for paint
Done, new bushings in and painted
Ready to go in
I had some time to spare while waiting on paint to dry, decided to clean the wheel well + lots of Clear coat.
Old vs new
All in and ready for tires
Back out and on all 4's.
Unfortunatly I jacked the alignment all to hell during all of this. I have a buddy with a shop that is going to align it for me, but he was busy last week. Hope to limp it to him this week and I can get better pictures. I had to replace the break calipers on one side and a few other odds and ends, so that has delayed me as well, but it was fun working on the car. I hope to report a great improvement in ride quality.
Last edited by FirehawkNS; 08-21-2014 at 08:11 AM.
04-01-2013, 01:08 PM
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glad to see someone really doing it right!!
I just did my front control arm bushings, thinking I could get the alignment close to where it was by tightening things back down where the marks were. Every time I loaded the suspension everything moved though so I got stuck driving it to the alignment shop with about 5 degrees of toe in hahah
I just did my front control arm bushings, thinking I could get the alignment close to where it was by tightening things back down where the marks were. Every time I loaded the suspension everything moved though so I got stuck driving it to the alignment shop with about 5 degrees of toe in hahah
04-01-2013, 01:29 PM
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Oh I'll give you the finger...I mean, here you go...
I got one picture and it didn't come out the best, but you can see. I can get almost three in the rear...or two and a half anyway, but I didn't get pictures. I'll have to do that when I get the car back out.
I got one picture and it didn't come out the best, but you can see. I can get almost three in the rear...or two and a half anyway, but I didn't get pictures. I'll have to do that when I get the car back out.
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04-01-2013, 03:22 PM
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Hope to get them this weekend. I did a test around the neighborhood to make sure everything seemed good for the drive to the shop. It seems a little sloppy right now, but I am hoping that's because of alignment. Right now when you let go of the wheel it likes to turn you off the road. :o
04-01-2013, 03:43 PM
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I had my buddy at a shop do all my bushings, but I think he said they were simple. I think they had to use a lot of heat (said they got it glowing) to get the bushings out of the lower and had the new bushings in the freezer to get them on.
04-01-2013, 03:45 PM
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This is exactly what my next project is going to be. I've got an old suspension in need of a refresh. I'm interested to see what they look like once everything has settled.
04-03-2013, 08:28 PM
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Alignment done!
The drive there was not very good, the car pulled like a beast either direction when you let go of the wheel and felt really sloppy. Took him a couple hours to get it in line, it was fighting him for some reason, but once complete it rides like a newish car again. I say newish as it is tighter then the bouncy stock ride of course.
The ride really is great. I may adjust the shocks a notch softer just to see the difference, but it is a world of difference over the before. Everything just feels very tight.
Thanks for the deal BMR, can't wait to get out and get some shots of it on the town.
The drive there was not very good, the car pulled like a beast either direction when you let go of the wheel and felt really sloppy. Took him a couple hours to get it in line, it was fighting him for some reason, but once complete it rides like a newish car again. I say newish as it is tighter then the bouncy stock ride of course.
The ride really is great. I may adjust the shocks a notch softer just to see the difference, but it is a world of difference over the before. Everything just feels very tight.
Thanks for the deal BMR, can't wait to get out and get some shots of it on the town.
04-04-2013, 04:48 AM
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04-04-2013, 06:56 AM
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I do have something that came up last night on the test drive. My rear end has started clanking when letting off the gas when getting around 15mph and under. Sort of killed my buzz since I have already replaced 4 axle shafts and 6 bearings over the years before putting a rear out of a 40k mile camaro I bought from a friend last year. This is def not the ball bearings in a can sound from bad bearings, not sure why it started now either. I did do a rear fluid change since the car was in the air. Has bummed me out a little as I had hoped I was done chasing rear end issues. 
But alas, that's all for another thread...
Canon T2i with my 50mm f1.4 most the time and I think my 28-135 on some....and some were just straight Blackberry. Trying to hold the camera in a way to get as little grease from my hands as possible made for meh pictures sometimes, but thats what I get for having my P&S die and not replacing it.
Edit ~ the top picture was with a Tokina 11-16mm wide angle lens. That is one fun little lens.
But alas, that's all for another thread...Edit ~ the top picture was with a Tokina 11-16mm wide angle lens. That is one fun little lens.
