turbols1_05

iTrader: (2)

Alrights guys i'm about to buy shocks and springs, but not very knowledge able in this section.Should I take it to a shop or find a write up, an do it myself.

umrjmac

iTrader: (2)

It is cheaper to buy the tools that you need and do it yourself, if you're mechanically inclined and/or have friends who have done a springs/shocks swap.

You can find walkthroughs online (http://www.ls1howto.com has a writeup, i believe).

Take a look at that and then make the call on doing it yourself or taking it to a shop.

I did mine by myself and i worked on it two evenings in a row. I did the rears first because they're simple. I did the fronts the second evening. It was simple and straight forward, i just took my time so that I wouldn't hurt the car

2001 White Ws6

iTrader: (1)

The rears are super easy...anyone can do those alone. The front ones are a tad more harder but really they just take a longer time to get done.

The most time consuming thing was compressing the spring to get the spring off the shock and compressing the new spring to put it back on the new shock. Also you'll need a impact wrench to break that shock shaft nut since they are almost always rusted to hell.

Also just remember to align the spring on the shock so that the upper a-arm slides in the holes and the shock mounts are lined up with their holes.

chupr0kabra

iTrader: (10)

I recommend getting a buddy to help you. Getting everything apart is easy. Getting the front put back together with just one person is pretty tough. You have to line up the bolts in the top, hold the shock/spring assembly in place (which is awkward and kind of heavy), then jack up the lower a-arm, get the tabs at the bottom lined up, then start the bolts. That's assuming the bottom tab DOES line up...

I've done it three times now. Twice on my own car and once on a friend's. The back takes about 30 minutes if you haven't done it before. The fronts...schedule several hours, especially if it's the first time you've done it.

I bought a set similar in design to these when I did it the first time:
http://kentool.com/Shop_MPS1.htm

They work, but it takes a while to get them compressed, and if one of the threaded pieces decided to strip at the wrong time, it can lead to serious bodily injury.

If I have to do it again (highly unlikely), I'll take the front shocks off and take them to a shop with a spring comressor. Just make sure they put a little grease/WD-40 under the spring seat and the mount, so you can twist things around to get the upper and lower bolt holes to line up.

For the record, when I did this the first time, I did not consider myself very mechanically inclined. I ended up buying a few new tools to get the job done, but it is very satisfying to do the work yourself.


-Mike

Krab

iTrader: (28)

I say do it yourself. With the write-up over on www.ls1howto.com, all you need is a couple of days to do it real slow and a spring compressor which can be rented from your local auto parts store. It's really isn't difficult, just time consuming. It's great if you have a buddy helping you out because those extra set of hands come in handy (no pun intended) when doing the front springs/shocks.

Juiced2000SS

iTrader: (1)

I did mine myself. I rented the spring compressor for the fronts and the rears are cake. The front shocks were rusted too bad to remove the nuts easily so I cut them off therefore needing new shocks. No big deal decarbons aren't the best anyhow. I did have trouble with getting the new (BMR) spring compressed and onto the shock so I took them to a local brake/suspension shop and they installed the springs for me for 30 bucks. Putting them back in was easy too.

CashMoney

iTrader: (2)

http://kentool.com/Shop_MPS1.htm <----this design of spring compressor are crap its scary when the springs buck out and you see pieces fly through a garage wall (brand new only used once). You can buy a hydraulic spring compressor from harbor freight for a little more than the ones posted above.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47890
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45860Its actually real easy to do by yourself and like previously mentioned you'll spend less buying the tools than paying a shop to do the crap. If your hard on cash you could call a local shop place and see what they charge to take the springs off your old one and put them on your new ones with their hydraulic press. You'll have to take the struts off the car yourself I was quoted 100 bucks for 4 to do it that way so I just went ahead and bought the harbor freight stuff.
Nate

2001 White Ws6

iTrader: (1)

http://kentool.com/Shop_MPS1.htm

Autozone had that one to rent and it worked for getting the G2 Spring out because there was enough room in between the springs for them to work. When it came to compressing the hotchkis springs they didn't work.

If you have a Pep Boys nearby they have a different compressor that works on any spring. They have this one... This one worked for me with the hotchkis springs. With a buddy it makes it much easier compressing the springs.

LS69TA

iTrader: (30)

I think I may just have my fronts done at a shop b/c I can't ever find anybody to help me when I need a hand, and I end up getting pissed off and throwing stuff when something goes wrong. I've got spring compressors, just no air tools. I've done it by hand 4 times on my trucks, and I won't do it by hand again.

2_wacko

iTrader: (2)

I do not have much skills in suspension, but I think I will be able to do it myself.

227Hawk

iTrader: (1)

It's really pretty easy the disassembly of the stock springs is the hardest.
The 'Drop' springs actually are shorter and assemble easy.
Hawk

delinquent543

do it urself, period. it can be time consuming but its easy. if you do try it, watch out for a few things, namely u have to unbolt (but not take off!) the master cylender to get to the front driverside shock bolts with a t-50 torx bit, can be a little hard but u can do it (trust me, it works, it just takes tome). also, taking off the "spindle arm" thing, that can be hard but only for the first time u do it. i used a massive crow bar, with the flat edge stuck firmly between the upper contol arm and the top of the spindle... it will take some work, but will pop out (literally) when you get it.. u will know what i mean when you see it. uhm, oh and hte springs, the manual spring compressors are a PITA...its time consuming.. u will either have to deal with it or use air tools, i wasnt that lucky to have air tools with me though. just some things u will need to know.

2001 White Ws6

iTrader: (1)

You can unbolt the brake reservoir thing and take it off the bolts and slide it to side to get to the torx bolts. The spindle arm take some effort to get off. Just like he said use a crow bar and get under the rubber bushing and push up on it. It'll make a loud pop noise but that's ok and it will be off. Like I said before the shock shaft nut is a PITA to get off by hand. You'll most likely need an impact wrench to get that sucker off.

Rebob5

iTrader: (3)

I took my new front struts and eibach springs to my local midas muffler. The manager assembled the new ones with the parts from my old struts, so I gave him $20 for the work that he did that I diddnt have too. The rears are very easy to do. I do all the work on my car but compressing a spring diddnt seem like something I wated to attempt.

2000Z28M6

iTrader: (13)

In the end. If you have never done it you will be committing simple mistakes that will make you wish you had just taken it to the shop. The best thing to do is have a friend with experience help you and basically do it for you while you help him and buy him lunch and sum beer!!