Posted this to Fbody empire earlier, but I figured I might as well leave it here too:

Alright all of my F body brethren, as promised, here is some brief Viking double adjustable coilover installation information. Took a friend and I about half of a day to do. Most can do it faster. I understand lol. We were working on the garage floor with jackstands and limited tools, and we are very particular and precise with everything.

Anyway, I have the kit which is sold by UMI Performance. I opted for the new front upper shock mounts and the bearing mounted coilover assembly, thrust bearing kit for easy adjustment of ride height while still on the car, and of course the rear mounting hardware. I also got an on car adjustable panhard bar. Otherwise my suspension is completely stock.

The coilovers needed to be assembled. I put a line of anti-seize down the side of the threaded shock body, threaded the jam nut down, and then threaded the spring support nut down. After I extended the shock a bit, I put the Spring over the shock body, and then put the top spring hat on.

It was literally a bolt-in affair. The only drilling required is when mounting the double shear bracket on the rear axle. There are two bolts to hold it in place. One bolt uses the stock shock mounting hole, and the other uses the drilled hole, which I believe was slightly larger than, or exactly 3/8 of an inch. The rear was extremely easy to do.

The front required us to drop the swaybar and disconnect the spindles from the A-arm on each side. We didn't have to use a spring compressor at all. The old spring/shock assembly came right out. Once the top shock mount/a arm and all of the rubber isolators were removed from the shock, I cleaned up the mount/a arm quickly. I regret not painting it now, but time was short here at the end of my college semester. The new UMI mount bolted to the stock mount, which was then bolted up to the car, and the coilover was bolted in.

I got the ride height where I want it now, and I love it! On low compression/rebound settings, the car rides as nice or nicer than stock, and with just a few (3-5) clicks more of the adjuster ****, the car transforms into a whole new animal. I haven't even come near the limit of this setup yet. There is much more room to adjust.

For those who have made it this far, I hope this helps a bit. I'm posting install instructions and a few pictures below.

 

Looks good. Thanks a lot for the pics on the install.

 

Thanks! I didn't take any pictures of the rear. I had plans to make a video and everything, but I just wanted to get it done without the hassle of messing with camera angles and stuff.

 

Looks Good!!

 

Looks good man. I've been wanting to get some vikings for a while now but my koni sa's are barely used.

Which series of vikings did you get? I want the crusaders

 

Can't go wrong with the Vikings in my opinion. I've been rocking them for a few years and they've never left me unsatisfied.

 

They're just the street/handling ones I believe. Is that the Warrior Series? I'd have to check.

Thank you! Glad I could work with you guys.

Yeah, I like the adjustability of coilovers. Don't think I would have been happy with just lowering springs.

 

Nickster, ima piggy back on your thread here if you dont mind. Id hate to make yet another newbie question standalone thread. This one happens to mention the product im considering.

like every other person here i have big plans for my ride, but i differ in that i want to start from the ground up. I have aftermarket rims for wider tires already. I have my brake situation lined out. Now on to suspension.
as im completely in the dark for what i need i feel that i should explain this wont be a drag car. It will not see a track. Just a quicker DD.

im eyeballing the exact set that is in this thread, and the $1900 umi comp kit. Granted, that comp kit is probably the end all be all "this is it". But i feel that for what im building its overkill, and for my application this viking set will be just fine. Am i off completely or does that sound about right?

 

The UMI c/o kit is pretty awesome and is contributing to some fast road race, auto-x and corner carving street cars.

With that being said, we sell a ton of Vikings which are also no slouch. I'd trust Viking for the driving style you mention no problem-o.

-- Ramey

 

i hear where youre coming from Ramey. And if i was competing it would be a done deal. But as im just looking to enjoy my 30min commute everyday im more or less just looking to redo my suspension with something that will give me more than stock help.

 

urbz, i was in your boat. I'm gonna open up a can of worms here, but i was pretty dissatisfied with my vikings. if u want to talk more specific send me a pm cause ill probably forget about this thread