Eibach Sportlines on the BRZ - Blown Strut
 

Decided to lower the BRZ this weekend with the Eibach Sportlines and had them installed at a buddy's shop. After getting them installed, i noticed stiffness in my rear left and a clunking noise after each bump.. Brought it back and determined it was a blown strut right away..

Noticed there was a few guys on here that blew their struts after installing these springs but after a few thousand but not immediately.

Anyone else blow them right after installation?

Did the bump stops get installed? I'm curious because this is the lowering route I was going to go with.

I made sure the bump stops were replaced with the ones provided by Eibach.

Possible that they fit them in wrong? Im going to bring it back tomorrow and check it out..

There's a thread somewhere on this happening due to twisting the shaft during installation, still searching for it

found it

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...=eibach&page=3

Most likely an installation error.

I'm going to go with an impact gun being used.

I had mine on for thousands of miles included track use, zero issues with the damper. Every case I've seen so far has involved installation with an impact gun on the shaft nut.

if you used an impact gun it will blow your shocks due the the shaft spinning inside.

a special tool is needed to disassemble the struts

When I changed the springs on my current car I improvised on the "special tool" and simply used a tap spanner with an allen key through it to hold the piston rod/shaft steady. Works great and costs zero dollars if u already have a set of tap spanners at home.

That sucks man, I've had mine for the track and about 6km with no issues.

The spring install DIY recommends an air impact wrench. Is that a mistake?
Step 22.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10842

Huge mistake!

See this post in that thread for some of the suggested tools for removing the top nut: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...1&postcount=50

I use impacts to remove everything else but not that top nut on these OEM struts. I have used impacts on other cars without issue and it's not a sure bet to cause issues on this car either but it's clearly possible based on the number of people who have had this issue.

It also likely depends on who's using the impact. If you do just short bursts with a break in between you likely have better luck than someone just letting it hammer away until the nut is off or fully tightened, etc.

For a sure bet, use hand tools for that nut.

Fitted a set of eibach springs on a buddy's new GT86 last night, and was surprised by how easy it was to remove the top nut for the front strut. What I did was to simply use a long allen key to hold the shaft in place, then fit a deep offset ring spanner around the top nut. With the wheels still on the ground, crack the top nut loose a little. Needed a little force but my ring spanner was long enough to give sufficient leverage. Once this is done then only jacked the car up and proceed with the rest of the strut removal process as per normal.

Rear top nut too deep for my offset spanner to reach in, so had to remove whole strut first before I was able to remove the top nut. But with my buddy holding the strut firmly, it wasn't too difficult to get the job done.

I guess no matter which way you do this (hand tool or air tool), the most important thing to remember is that you must always avoid spinning the shaft.

The only "issue" I had was that I was unable to torque the top nuts back to factory spec. But you should be able to judge going by how much tightness was on the nut when you loosened them. They should be tight, but not He-Man tight.

stock shocks and aftermarket springs is a no no