A simpler spring/strut install DIY -- no compressor needed
 

I recently installed a set of RCE Yellow springs. I read through a number of guides, including this well written one from DarrenDriven on here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10842

I also took note of the people that have damaged their stock struts by spinning the shaft during hat removal/install. I wanted to make sure that didn't happen.

There's no need to write another complete guide here, but I want to introduce a few short cuts that work BEAUTIFULLY on the BRZ/FR-S. Do not use this method on other vehicles as it may be dangerous, but for this particular car it is plenty safe.

The first thing you want to do, while the car is still on the ground, is get out your hollow ratchet. I picked up a Kobalt XtremeAccess. You need to have a 17mm and a 14mm socket for this. (The $39 kit at Lowes includes them). You also need a relatively long 6mm and 5mm allen wrench. I used vicegrips to hold them, but you could get one with a t-handle as well.

Now remove the top nut from the front and rear strut piston using said tools (hold the allen in place so the piston can't spin):

(see attached image 3)


After this step, you can go back to the other suspension DIY, loosen your lug nuts, etc, etc...and jack the car up. While you jack the car up, the front suspension will slowly unload itself and ALL spring tension will be released. This is not violent or dangerous with THIS CAR. It is very lightly loaded.

After the car is up in the air you can see what I mean:

(see other attached images)



The rear suspension doesn't unload completely until you remove the swaybar endlink and the bottom bolt. But once again, this isn't violent or dangerous. It's braced in there well enough and it just unloads by itself.

Now you can go back to using the other DIY. But you do not have to remove the strut hat from the front or the back. Yes, you read that right. Don't even bother removing them. Go ahead and follow everything else in the other guides though. Assemble your spring/shock/bump/cover without the hat. Once it's ready to go, feed it up into the top hole and put a few threads on with the top nut by hand. Put everything else back together and then re-tighten the top nut using the same socket and allen combo you used to remove it.

It's really that easy. I did all 4 on the BRZ, by myself, without a lift, in 2 hours from start to finish. That includes prep time.

I wish i had this before, i did mine yesterday, but had printed out the diy a while ago, just had time now. I fear i ruined some of my struts. it drives fine, but it makes so much ratltle noise. Is there anything besides a spun strut that could make these noises on bumps. It still seems to be working though.

rattling noises can be from a number of things. But you shouldn't have them. Years ago I had a clunk after a suspension install and it took me forever to find the culprit. Ended up being some sand/dirt that had gotten into the bearings of the front strut hat. After cleaning them out and regreasing, the clunk went away for good. Since you can do that while the car is sitting on the ground, I say you do that first.

But yeah, you could have blown out the struts if you let the piston spin around.

wow this looks like it would be A LOT easier than using a spring compressor...

It is. I have spring compressors and I've done around a dozen suspension installs on various cars. I hate the compressors but I use them when needed. I first tried this method on my NB miata and have since done it on an NC miata, and now the BRZ.

When re-installing the rears, use a piece of wood or something else hard to push in the strut piston a bit so you can wedge the strut into place easily. The strut takes a a few seconds to rebound so you have to be quick, but not too quick.

Love the write up! Good notes on this. especially for the in-experienced do-it-yourselfer who has not tackled this type of job.

i have worked on all sorts of cars and this "short-cut" does apply to other vehicle's too. you don't always need a lift and air tools to get the job done, however it makes it easier... SOMETIMES.

im doing suspension soon, probably after my first service.

Yeah, the only reason I put the disclaimer in about not doing this on other cars is I don't want to be responsible for someone trying it on something with lots of suspension pre-load and travel and getting themselves hurt. I can only say with certainty that it works safely for THIS car. :thumbsup:

i know what you mean!

and sometimes even if someone uses a spring compressor, does not necessarily mean that they are using it correctly, i saw someone trying to compress the spring on the strut while its still installed on the vehicle..

he was amazed on how much faster the job was once the entire assembly was removed. :happy0180:

anyways, good wrenching!


-J

Where would this shortcut be in the numbered steps of the linked guide?

- do this right before #4 for both front and back struts.
- proceed back to the normal guide.
- skip #19, 20, 21, and 22
- back to the guide
- skip #27 and 28
- in #29, you will instead be tightening the strut top bolt and not the hat bolts (because you never removed them)

in the rear:

- skip #41
- back to the guide
- in #46, tighten the top bolt, not the hat bolts (just like the front)

So good news on my part, i couldn't except that i ruined the shocks. Never failed a spring install. I lifted the vehicle and found no shock leaks So i questioned what could the rattle be> After checking over ever last step of my install i found that because i was not using a allen wrench on the shock , the bolt was not fully tightened, allowing play> Problem fixed.

So should I be loosening all four struts BEFORE lifting the car up? Because, from my understanding, lifting the car will slowly take the pressure off the springs. Excuse me if the answer to the question is the obvious one. I want to make 100% sure I'm doing it right.
:lol:

Yes, before lifting loosen all 4.

I just finished my install using this DIY. Took me... 4.5 hours. But I had never done anything like this before.

any problems? How hard was it? I've never done this kinda thing and the shop is quoting me double what the springs cost to install.

This would work very well for the fronts. I thought about this after i had done my first front, but it was too late. Also i didnt have a hollow ratchet. I will be buying one if i ever do this again, as this way is superior to what i did. Although on the rear i think it would make the strut harder to remove because it would increase the length of the whole assembly.

I used my impact gun, but i was careful not to hold down the trigger. Also i lubed the top bolt first. I set the gun on high power, and lightly tapped it in short bursts, this worked pretty well. Also, i just stand on top of the spring and when the top bolt finally comes off, the strut only shoots a few inches. Its not under that much pressure, this is what i've done for years with my hondas. please note that on other cars this is definitely not safe. but on this car, its not a problem.

I like this, well done.

It really wasn't that big of a deal getting the rears out using this method. Yeah, you have to push down on the hub a tad, but it was easy. Getting the rears back in also wasn't too big of a deal. You do have to compress the strut a bit and push the assembly in faster than the strut rebounds. It took me two tries...really not hard.

WOW! Thank you! Keeping this for future reference!

The instructions are pretty comprehensive, and sometimes it took me a good minute to match the pictures on the DIY with the actual car parts, but it all makes sense when you actually do it.


Things to note for a newbie like me:

Instead of using a long allen wrench to hold the shaft in place, I used a hex screwdriver... which essentially, IS a super long allen wrench. It worked beautifully; no vice required.

I'd say the hardest parts were removing the 17mm bolts from the rear control arms (steps 37 - 42) and putting it all back. It took a bit more force and wriggling than I expected. It definitely helps to have a buddy work with you here.

Make sure you orient your springs correctly. My springs (Swift) have their sticker logos upside down, which was a bit confusing at first.

When I jacked my car down, I did the front first, and my jack ended up getting stuck under the car. You'll have to let down the rear first before letting down the front. Otherwise, the car will tilt down and there might not be enough clearance to move your jack out from under your car.

Lastly, the Swift front springs were considerably shorter than the stock springs, so when the car was jacked up, the strut assembly was not yet high enough to fit into the top screw hole. As a result, the entire hub would slant downward toward me when I tried to install the wheels onto the car. So while a friend of mine lined up the strut assembly, I lowered the front of the car with a jack to the point where the weight of my wheels would have no clearance to fold the assembly down. Pretty much, my car was at a height so that when I installed the front wheels, the wheels were already just barely touching the ground.

^That paragraph seems confusing. I'm sure you'll understand it if you actually run into it.

All in all, I'm definitely happy that I was able to do this rather than bring it to a shop. There's this weird sense of accomplishment when you are able to take apart your own car, upgrade it, and put it back together. DIYs like these are why I love this forum so much.

nice job! Sometimes I forget to mention some of the little details that I consider kind of second nature. Like using a jack to raise up a hub assembly to push the shock upward and into place, or using a secondary jack so you don't get one stuck under the car, etc. I've done suspension installs on probably 10 cars now so I'm used to those little quirks ;)

These instructions worked PERFECTLY! Thank you so much! One additional plus about doing it this way (at least this worked for me...I make no guarantees) is that you don't actually have to remove the front struts. You disconnect the lines and the sway bar and you can pull the strut down and rotate it out far enough to swap the springs and bump stops without removing the strut at all! Didn't get a pic, but it should be obvious once you get to that point. Also, use a jack to lift the rear control arm so the top of the strut goes through the hole. That way it holds it in place so you can start the nut inside the trunk. helpful if you're doing the job by yourself!

oh haha, I didn't even think about that EXTRA EXTRA shortcut on the front! Nice job!!! :thumbup:

This would work for the front and rear? I was thinking about disconnecting the sway bars since the OP said that the rears didn't completely unload when the sways were still on

I dont like how easy this DIY is, need to find something more difficult and dangerous.

Short answer:
You don't have to disconnect the rear sway bar. You do have to disconnect the front. I'm not sure if you can just loosen the strut bolt in the rear and pivot it out, but I found it was just as easy to remove that bolt (very easy access)

The long answer:

So, the way I did it was:

- Remove top bolts from all 4 struts (using the allen wrenches and open sockets)
- Loosen lug nuts
- Raise car into air and put on jackstands
- Remove wheels
- FRONT:
1) Unclip ABS sensor wire (2 spots on both sides)
2) Unbolt brake line from strut assembly (both sides)
3) Disconnect sway bar end links (both sides)
4) Pull DOWN on strut assembly until the top rod pulls out enough to where you can rotate it TOWARDS you
5) Slip off old spring/bump stop
6) Put on new spring/bump stop and ORIGINAL rubber hat (not sure what it's actually called, but it's lightly press-fit onto the top of the spring)
7) Maneuver rod near hole
8) Lift up on the rotor to compress the suspension enough to get the nut started on the rod (top of strut tower inside engine bay)
7) Put everything back together again
- REAR:
1) Remove bolt from hub/control arm
2) Remove bolt from strut/control arm
3) Pull DOWN on strut/control arm until rod clears the hole
4) Slip off old spring/dust shield/bump stop
5) Slip on old spring/dust shield/bump stop
6) Maneuver control arm/strut down so that the rod is near the hole
7) Reinstall bolts for hub/control arm and strut/control arm
8) Use jack to push up on control arm enough to allow you to start the nut on the rod (top of strut tower inside trunk)
- Replace wheels and lightly tighten lug nuts
- Gently lower car onto ground
- Tighten up nuts on top of strut rods

That is a rubber isolater to prevent metal/metal contact and NVH between the spring and top hat. If that isn't properly seated or slips during assembly, you will hear unpleasant noises as you're driving around.

Thanks! And I think you're talking about the top hat? (referring to original rubber hat) So after putting the new springs on and stuff we reassemble everything, put the car down then tighten the top bolts? After tightening with open end wrench and allen key, would it be okay to use a normal torque wrench or would that cause the rod to spin? Sorry I've never swapped springs before and don't wanna blow my struts

Without a fancy tool there's no other way to torque the nut. Most people I've spoken to suggest a very short 1s zap with a low-output torque wrench or German torque spec using the Allen/pass-through on the top nut (until it's gudentite).

Aw dang, but I guess gudentite should work haha :thanks:

Or if you're brave enuff....you could use a vicegrip plier on the shock shaft. Just make sure you wrap the shaft nicely with some rubber (maybe old bicycle inner tube) and get a friend to hold the plier steady whilst you torque the top nut with a torque wrench.

You can also fab something up using a 17mm socket you don't want: file flats into it so you can grab with a 17mm crowfoot attached to your torque wrench's head. Stick Allen key through hole at the top to secure shaft. All sockets have a small hole on the back end, so it doesn't need to be a fancy pass through socket either! That would cost you probably $20 for the socket and crowfoot, plus time spent filing.

I've used this method plenty of times and have never damaged the shaft doing it. I use a few pieces of rubber wrapped in a rag. Then I clamp on and cross my fingers.


FWIW, I'm not too concerned with torquing that top nut to exact spec. But I'm pretty good at feeling "close" torque values by hand.

It seems this method might work while replacing the tophats with the whiteline com-c models, no reason I can see not to. I understand that the tophat would have to be dropped as an additional step. If so, this could save a good bit of time on the install.

Has anyone tried this?


EDIT:

I used this method to change out the springs today, but did not try the whiteline com-c tophats. I was short on time, but should be able to attempt it soon.

Thanks for posting this! I did mine today. Piece of cake. I did find it easier to remove the rear sway bar bolts, so I could pull the control arms down. That made it easy to just pull the strut out.

Just installed a buddy's Pro-Kit using these helpful tips, super easier than when I did mine!

To confirm, you can indeed tilt the rear strut to swap in the new spring/dust boot/bump stop. Only need to be unbolt 3 things to do this: strut top nut, LCA to hub knuckle bolt, and stabilizer bar to endlink bolt. No need to remove nor loosen the bolt holding the strut body to the LCA:

Links to the tools needed to remove the dreaded top nut.
 

Hi. Thank you for this diy. I ended using spring compressors (Free loaners from Autozone) but the info I really needed was how to remove that spinning top strut nut. Like you, I don't like using an impact wrench on that top nut because spinning the shaft can damage the strut and lead to a leak.

I know you show the tool to loosen it but I had a hard time finding it. I ended up using this from harbor freight tools: http://www.harborfreight.com/21-piec...set-67974.html

For the rear strut the tiny hole presents new problems. I needed to use the included extension socket to tighten the rear. If you do not properly tighten the top hat you will hear a clunking noise. I am writing this from experience. :bonk:

Another mistake I made was OVERTIGHTENING the top nut. If you do this the spring will sit on the correct grooves but twist slightly. You'll know when you do this because turning the steering wheel to one extreme will produce creaking noises from the springs.

Another mistake I made was buying an electric impact wrench (don't do it!!!). I ended up spinning one of the strut shaft. I will check for leaks later. Most tire shops do not have computers with the FRS alignment numbers and do not do custom alignments. You will need to find a custom alignment shop. I ended up taking it to the toyota dealership. Took a half day and cost $90. I have heard lots of good things about http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/west-...OmvgsyqPMW2mow West End alignment in Gardena, CA.

For those that wanna know, the front strut can be oriented out as mentioned in an earlier post. Just push down slightly on the hat and pull it directly towards you. Just be careful not to scratch the paint near the wheel well when pulling it out.

:w00t: Thanks for this picture. It really shows how much simpler this install is. You can skip at least two major parts of the original diy.

I'm wondering if doing the install using this "simpler" method would negate the need for alignment work?

Or would you still need to send the car in for alignment regardless?