Help me put in my new Revalved Bilsteins!
03-16-2007, 10:37 PM
#1
Help me put in my new Revalved Bilsteins! Alright I'm off work all weekend and wanted to attempt putting in my new shocks all around. Honestly I've never done it before but that goes for everything I've done on my car. The write-ups have guided me through all my mods, and being able to post up in these forums! Anyway I've already read the the write up on ls1howto.com and it seems easy and I'm positive I can do the rears by myself. Just one question...does the suspension have to be loaded to swap the shocks or do I put my SFC on the jackstands?
For the front I'm gonna buy a pickle fork and rent a spring compressor and use my hand tools. Will this be suitable? What do I rent exactly, a coil spring compressor or a strut compressor? Will the fronts be easy for a beginner like me? Like I said I'm sure I can do it but just want some extra help or tips from you all.
For the front I'm gonna buy a pickle fork and rent a spring compressor and use my hand tools. Will this be suitable? What do I rent exactly, a coil spring compressor or a strut compressor? Will the fronts be easy for a beginner like me? Like I said I'm sure I can do it but just want some extra help or tips from you all.
03-16-2007, 11:20 PM
#2
On The Tree
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Bloomsburg, PA
Posts: 138
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I just got done swapping out my shocks to some revalved bilsteins yesterday. I had the complete sub frame (402 swap) out of the car so it made things a little easier to work with. From my understanding the suspension should not be loaded. Go ahead and rent a strut compressor b/c the coil spring compressor on will not work. Take your time b/c the nuts on the top of the shocks are most likely going to be rusted bad. I had to cut mine apart with a dremel tool. In fact on the second shock the first thing I did was to cut the top part of the bolt off to make it easier to take apart. Once you get everything apart find a shop in the area and have them mount the springs for you. It only cost me $30 for both and saved me a ton of time. Good luck on your install and take your time those springs can kill you. If you have any more questions just pm me with your number and I will give you a call. (I will check my mail tomorrow at 10am)
-Jared
-Jared
03-17-2007, 09:26 AM
#4
TECH Junkie
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: MA
Posts: 3,934
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by porksoda
Alright I'm off work all weekend and wanted to attempt putting in my new shocks all around. Honestly I've never done it before but that goes for everything I've done on my car. The write-ups have guided me through all my mods, and being able to post up in these forums! Anyway I've already read the the write up on ls1howto.com and it seems easy and I'm positive I can do the rears by myself. Just one question...does the suspension have to be loaded to swap the shocks or do I put my SFC on the jackstands?
For the front I'm gonna buy a pickle fork and rent a spring compressor and use my hand tools. Will this be suitable? What do I rent exactly, a coil spring compressor or a strut compressor? Will the fronts be easy for a beginner like me? Like I said I'm sure I can do it but just want some extra help or tips from you all.
For the front I'm gonna buy a pickle fork and rent a spring compressor and use my hand tools. Will this be suitable? What do I rent exactly, a coil spring compressor or a strut compressor? Will the fronts be easy for a beginner like me? Like I said I'm sure I can do it but just want some extra help or tips from you all.
-Remove swaybar endlinks in the rear. The instructions dont say it for the rear. It's probably an obvious step, but I forgot to do it and couldn't figure out why my rear end wouldn't drop down
-I didn't need the pickle fork. I removed the nut on the ball joint and then hammered the joint upward on the end of the bolt.
-The nut that connects the shock to the upper shock perch is often hard to remove, very rusted. It could lengthen the install time
-The torx bolts on the drivers side shock tower is hard to get to and sometimes hard to remove. I just slid my master cylinder totally out of the way. Loosened both bolts on the master cylinder and used a bit of force to push it to the side so I could have total clearance to the torx bolts. Then I had to cut one bolt anyway because it was seized. This whole part took me multiple weeks
03-17-2007, 09:28 AM
#5
TECH Junkie
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: MA
Posts: 3,934
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I also rented the macpherson strut spring compressors from Autozone. It's like 40 bucks, you keep them for as long as you want, and then return them when you are done to get your 40 dollar deposit back. Just throwing that out if you don't want to pay a shop.
! Trending Topics
03-17-2007, 03:40 PM
#8
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Vancouver,[KITSILANO].B.C. Canada *WestCoast*
Posts: 8,810
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Yahelou
just be very careful with the front springs and the compressor, if it isnt done right the spring can shoot out knock someone out.
03-17-2007, 03:41 PM
#9
TECH Junkie
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: MA
Posts: 3,934
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The macpherson spring compressors seemed very safe when I used them and are heavy duty. You need to fight with them for a little while with stock springs. But yeah, make sure you use them right or you could send a spring through the wall.
03-17-2007, 03:49 PM
#10
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Vancouver,[KITSILANO].B.C. Canada *WestCoast*
Posts: 8,810
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by z28bryan
The macpherson spring compressors seemed very safe when I used them and are heavy duty. You need to fight with them for a little while with stock springs. But yeah, make sure you use them right or you could send a spring through the wall.
03-17-2007, 04:54 PM
#11
i bought some $20 spring compressors from auto zone,worked for me just fine.you just have to do it on the floor,hold it with one foot,and do both sides back and forth,you wont have any problems unless you try to do too much on one side at a time,try to keep it equal.
do not use a pickel fork,loosen the castle nut to the top,do not take it all the way out,then take a large hammer and wach the side of the knuckle,4-5 hits and it will fall out like butter and the nut will keep it from falling all the way out.pickel fork WILL damage the boot.
do not use a pickel fork,loosen the castle nut to the top,do not take it all the way out,then take a large hammer and wach the side of the knuckle,4-5 hits and it will fall out like butter and the nut will keep it from falling all the way out.pickel fork WILL damage the boot.
03-18-2007, 03:44 PM
#15
Help!!! Alright I got the whole spring assembly out which wasn't a problem. I put the spring compresors on and started compressing them. I got them completely maxed out and compressed as much as they will go but the perch up top is not loose at all like ls1howto.com said it should be. Do I need to compress more coils because I could only fit 3 coils in it. I just don't want to take off the top bolt and have the perch shoot off at someone or something.
03-18-2007, 04:07 PM
#16
You should grab more than three coils...these are Autozone compressers. The LS1 HOWTO install sucks!
Read this one:http://www.greenfries.info/Koni_shocks.htm
Read this one:http://www.greenfries.info/Koni_shocks.htm
Last edited by gollum; 03-18-2007 at 04:13 PM.
03-18-2007, 04:25 PM
#17
I read that one too but the only problem I have is compressing them. I do have those spring compressors but I'm trying to compress my Eibach Prokit springs and I can only get 3 coils. I guess I could try and get 4 but thats for sure the max since the coils get too close to even get anything between them. Damn Sundays for no shop being open to do it for me. Hopefully that 1 more coil will compress it more.
03-18-2007, 06:31 PM
#18
TECH Resident
iTrader: (6)
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Levittown, PA
Posts: 965
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I mounted the bottem part of the spring compresser on the bottem of the spring perch, and grabed as many coils as possible above this. I had no problems, but probebly wouldn;t recommend doing this as it can be very dangerous. I took special care to make sure that the compressor was stable beneath the perch and not moving toward the sides. To get the new springs on you should only need to compress it a little anyway.