ST coilovers installed
 

Hello to all

My purpose here is to illustrate and point out some information that i found useful thats not already out there. The installation is pretty straight forward for those who have done so before or have an idea what suspense/coilover/struts are.
My opinion on these are that for the money, you can't get anything better. I drive 90% of the time on the street and that includes some crappy roads as we all have. The suspension is just as the stock car minus the dives and squats and a substantial amount of less body roll. No noises at all except for the stiffer spring rates probably transmitting more feeling over rough pavement. Thanks to terry @Maximal for the best price(seriously) and fastest shipping.

Front camber adjustment note- the mounting point to the hub is slotted allowing you to adjust camber without needing camber bolts. These adjustments alone got my alignment on the front to OEM specs based on my drop.
Rear camber isn't adjustable via the coilovers and with my drop i got 1.8-2 degrees negative camber.

Front axle removal
-removal via top three nuts
-lower two hub mounting bolts/nuts along with removal of brake line and sway bar end link.

Front axle install
-reverse of install
-oem top hat directly onto the new strut top plate(they come with the nut on so remove to install oem top hat)
-dont leave anything except the top part of the hat, that means removal of the lower part of the top hat with rubber piece and all.
-slice open the top hat rubber insert that covers the top hat bearing so the piston shaft protrudes through, this prevents dirt from messing up your bearing. (you could do what you want with this piece, no just cut it, as long as you put it back where it belongs).
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...11115832AM.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...11115933AM.jpg


Rear Axle removal
-remove inner trunk liner
-remove two 14mm nuts holding strut
-remove bottom 17mm holding strut
-remove bottom 17mm holding lca to hub

Rear axle install
-reverse of install
-remove rubber piece from bottom of oem top hat
-may seem like its a perfect fit if you leave the rubber there but once pressure is applied, the rubber will deform giving the coil over top plate an uneven mount. Notice the picture supplied doesn't have the rubber. (trust me, you won't get noises)
-oem top hat installs directly onto top coil over plate

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...11120021PM.jpg


The car was dropped 1" front and back, leaving me with 25" front and 25" 3/8 on the rear. This is measured from the ground to the fender. May not seem like much if you judge by the fender gap but if gives the car a nicer stance in my opinion, plus i have wheels on the way so once those fill the gap more then i'll adjust height to make things flush and sealed.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...p1193845AM.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...p1021041PM.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...10112224AM.jpg


Now take note on the installation height settings for the coilovers. I set the height outside the car to midway between min and max suggestions, then adjusted from there to my liking. The results are a noise free, very comfortable ride.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...11120042PM.jpg

These are after a couple of weeks of driving. Hopefully tomorrow, depending on what time my wheels get it, i'll post some more pics of the car with them on.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...14308EE7-1.jpg

I installed them as well, and have horrible clunking the front passenger side, and the ride is very "bouncy". I have a feeling the struts are blown, from the "bouncy" ride feels like I'm just on springs.

I have an appointment for an alignment Monday after my Camberplate/LCA install, lets find out what the issue is.. Here are photos of install (I have lowered the bottom collar since taking the photo's since it was riding super high, higher than my Eibach sportline springs which is unusual I think..) and at the setting on the photo, the fronts looked like 4x4.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...74362465f8fcb4

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...cab07572927f84

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...e146d2fa183358

Halp..

I see your problem, you seem to have left the bottom part of your OEM top hat on, you have to remove it. Refer to the second picture i posted above, the coilover top plate inserts directly into the top hat making contact with the bottom of the hats bearing. In case this isn't clear, grab your OEM top hat, the part that falls down is the one that needs to be removed and you only retain the top portion with the bearing. Hence your 4x4 look, you have extra parts causing extra height.

took a pic since i had it out. This is what doesn't belong in the puzzle.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...A3F05A2DD9.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...F4F80C992D.jpg

sweet thanks for the info!!! Well I jam installing the Hotchkis camber plate right now and the directions says to use that piece, but for OEM strut. I don't think,it will match up correctly without it with the hotchkis plate

Your 100% sure about that peice not being needed for the front? I currently have it on

ST coilovers installed
 

I'm 100% sure it doesn't go there. When you remove it and match the coilover plate to the oem top hat you will see how smoothly it rotates against each other.

If you notice the second pic on the original post you will see the oem top hat without that bottom umbrella looking thing which is only to hold oem spring or similar not coilovers. The rear strut retains the that bottom part minus the rubber, as pictured in the third pic or the OP

Right because for the oem strut that piece holds the springs.

Did that cone thing on top of the strut come off? I'm still missing that piece so I had no choice but to use the OEM metal cone thing. after changing to the Hotchkiss camber plate, the clunks went away for now..

Yeah the cone top on the coilover is what mates to the bottom of the tophat's bearing.

Looks awesome and thanks for the plug!

These are fantastic budget coilovers. I've had them installed for about 5 months now, no clunking or noises whatsoever. Very similar ride quality to stock IMO.

do they feel "bouncy" to you? Or is my ride height setting affecting this?

ST coilovers installed
 

@BRZPDX I think the ride height would only affect the travel and bottoming out but nothing to do with the dampening or spring rate, those should remain constant. Just a guess though, they do mention however not to drop below a certain point in the manual. They don't feel bouncy, but at times I could use a click or two to stiffen the dampers. I have to agree with @immaculate these are one of the best for the money, very comfortable and they handle really really well, on the street at least, haven't tracked them.

They do not feel bouncy at all to me. I had a very cheap set of coilovers on my last car which bounced like crazy over stretches of repeated bumps. These are very planted in comparison. I've got roughly a two finger gap all the way around, so I'm by no means slammed, which may affect it as previously mentioned.