Ok so I had just recently added the Tokico Illumina series shock to my ride and I LOVE them. The only thing that was a problem was that the bracket for the rear seat-belts blocked access to the damping adjustability. "There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!" Anyways...(screwy), yea, so this is what I did:
After you unbolt the rear seat-belt guide bracket, please forgive me for I do not know the actual name for this piece (if anyone knows it please post it), simply take a piece of tape and fold it over on its-self so that you crate a double-sided stick texture. Like so;
Then proceed to replace the bracket like so;
Now you are left with the tape stuck to the upper part of the mount and give you a good reference point on where to make your hole. Since measuring and actual location is quite difficult in this scenario;
Now take your punch and at around the middle of the tape, make your mark so the bit doesn't travel;
Start off by using a 5/16 drill bit, it will make your drilling life a lot easier. If you are using a drill press, then you will need to make some sort of mounting apparatus (shown below), you might have a hard time drilling into it if you don't do it this way;
To get a somewhat of a secure mount with my press I did this;
Ok, so after you drill your first hole you will then need a 1/2 bit. Please make sure you have use some type of oil to help dill this hole, you can put a lot of stress on the bit and possibly even ruin your bit;
Now after you drill out your access hole, you might want to reinforce the weld that you almost completely drill out. You may not have to do this but I STRONGLY recommend doing it for safety reasons;
Should look like this when you are done, not the best weld in the world but I know it made penetration. (Welding is like sex, you need good penetration)(humpleg)
Those rubber caps that go over the strut I simply cut out a tiny hole in them and put it back in place.
Next give it a little zap zap with some spray paint to make it that OEM look and blot it back on. The hole was a little off center but I was happy with it, you can always take a burr and shave off a little extra to make it center (wink);
And your DONE!!
If you would like you could cut out a hole on top of the plastic piece so you have complete access to it, but I opted out of this part as I didn't want to destroy the piece.
Good luck, have fun, and be safe.
After you unbolt the rear seat-belt guide bracket, please forgive me for I do not know the actual name for this piece (if anyone knows it please post it), simply take a piece of tape and fold it over on its-self so that you crate a double-sided stick texture. Like so;
Then proceed to replace the bracket like so;
Now you are left with the tape stuck to the upper part of the mount and give you a good reference point on where to make your hole. Since measuring and actual location is quite difficult in this scenario;
Now take your punch and at around the middle of the tape, make your mark so the bit doesn't travel;
Start off by using a 5/16 drill bit, it will make your drilling life a lot easier. If you are using a drill press, then you will need to make some sort of mounting apparatus (shown below), you might have a hard time drilling into it if you don't do it this way;
To get a somewhat of a secure mount with my press I did this;
Ok, so after you drill your first hole you will then need a 1/2 bit. Please make sure you have use some type of oil to help dill this hole, you can put a lot of stress on the bit and possibly even ruin your bit;
Now after you drill out your access hole, you might want to reinforce the weld that you almost completely drill out. You may not have to do this but I STRONGLY recommend doing it for safety reasons;
Should look like this when you are done, not the best weld in the world but I know it made penetration. (Welding is like sex, you need good penetration)(humpleg)
Those rubber caps that go over the strut I simply cut out a tiny hole in them and put it back in place.
Next give it a little zap zap with some spray paint to make it that OEM look and blot it back on. The hole was a little off center but I was happy with it, you can always take a burr and shave off a little extra to make it center (wink);
And your DONE!!
If you would like you could cut out a hole on top of the plastic piece so you have complete access to it, but I opted out of this part as I didn't want to destroy the piece.
Good luck, have fun, and be safe.
