First, let me say that this is not a full coilover install guide, there are plenty of those out there. This how-to will address specifics I found when installing the Yellow Speeds and a couple of tips I have for those that have not done this.
Second, thanks to Rotus8 for a nice install write up and tip about the damping adjustment tool for the rear. I will be making one soon.
Lastly, it's damping, not dampening. (bang) Dampening is making something slightly wetter whereas damping is controlling something, whether it be the movement of a spring or level of sound, etc.
OK, on to it...
I had noticed a degradation in handling for a while and when I replaced my front brake pads recently, I noticed my right front strut had sprayed all it's fluid in the wheel well. I also found that one rear strut had a busted stop. Yay! Now I can finally justify coilovers! I decided to go with Yellow mainly because of price, but I'm pretty happy with the decision. They are quality units with good value for the money. Thanks to Ken for the hook up.
Installation is very straightforward with just a couple of hiccups.
The abs sensor wire bracket will not bolt up correctly to the end link mount on the Yellows because of gusseting on the Yellows. First pic is the stock end link tab, second shows the Yellow's tab and gusseting. If you are wondering about the brake line, I left it loose. I'll check on that soon when I make the final adjustments to the ride height.
I recalled something about swapping sides with the brackets from (I think) a thread on BC coils, so I tried this. What I found was that it was a pretty good fit, but the bracket would hit the end link and the shock adjustment lock ring. I trimmed off a corner and ground it down a bit where the end link would hit and it was an almost perfect fit. You can see which corner to trim from this picture (it's the driver's side mount being used for the passenger side):
Here it is installed. I used a bit of rubber hose around the end link to make sure they didn't touch (not in this pic).
Tips:
Something I found out while doing this install was that it was difficult to pull the end link from the old strut and install it on the new strut. If you use a jack, you can ease some of the tension from the sway bar and the end link will just slide out. Only jack it up enough to get the end link bolt to slide out easily. In this picture, my car is sitting on my floor jack while I use the widow-maker on the hub.
Another problem I had was getting the old struts out. Rotus8 used a metal shim to spread the lower strut mount apart. If you do this, make sure you have a fairly thick piece of steel so the bolt will not make dents in it. I used a "gimme" wrench that I got when I bought my stove. You know, those flat steel open ended wrenches. Also, make sure you open it up enough that you can wiggle the strut when you take the shim out. My struts were stuck in there pretty good, so I had to use the 2x4 and dead blow hammer method to push the hub assembly down. It didn't come all the way off, but once you can see the bottom of the strut peeking out, you can undo the three bolts that hold the top of the strut in place and rotate the assembly so the strut can come out.
Adjusting Ride Height:
Seems like it would be pretty straightforward, except I've never done this before and the instructions were a little sketchy. Basically, the front and rear adjust a little differently. The struts on this system are adjustable as well as the spring preload. To adjust the ride height of the front struts, you just lower or raise the strut assembly (spring and all) in the strut bottom. You don't touch the spring preload at all (unless you want to, I guess). The rear strut adjusts the same way, however, since the spring is separate from the strut, you need adjust the height of the seat also. The instructions are cloudy on this, but I think they were trying to say that you need to keep the ratio between the strut and spring the same. At this point I did a little math and tried to figure out the ratio from the strut and spring seat out of the box. After some trial and error, I think the best way to do this is figure out how much lowering you want via the spring seat and install the spring and replace the bolt that holds the spring carrier to the hub assembly. Now adjust the strut's length so that you compress the spring only a little to get the strut up into position.
I got about 2" down in the front and 1.5" in the back. On the front strut, the strut lower is 3" down from the top of the strut (where the rod goes into the strut). In the back, the spring perch is 2" up from he bottom and the strut is showing about 6" of thread.
Second, thanks to Rotus8 for a nice install write up and tip about the damping adjustment tool for the rear. I will be making one soon.
Lastly, it's damping, not dampening. (bang) Dampening is making something slightly wetter whereas damping is controlling something, whether it be the movement of a spring or level of sound, etc.
OK, on to it...
I had noticed a degradation in handling for a while and when I replaced my front brake pads recently, I noticed my right front strut had sprayed all it's fluid in the wheel well. I also found that one rear strut had a busted stop. Yay! Now I can finally justify coilovers! I decided to go with Yellow mainly because of price, but I'm pretty happy with the decision. They are quality units with good value for the money. Thanks to Ken for the hook up.
Installation is very straightforward with just a couple of hiccups.
The abs sensor wire bracket will not bolt up correctly to the end link mount on the Yellows because of gusseting on the Yellows. First pic is the stock end link tab, second shows the Yellow's tab and gusseting. If you are wondering about the brake line, I left it loose. I'll check on that soon when I make the final adjustments to the ride height.
I recalled something about swapping sides with the brackets from (I think) a thread on BC coils, so I tried this. What I found was that it was a pretty good fit, but the bracket would hit the end link and the shock adjustment lock ring. I trimmed off a corner and ground it down a bit where the end link would hit and it was an almost perfect fit. You can see which corner to trim from this picture (it's the driver's side mount being used for the passenger side):
Here it is installed. I used a bit of rubber hose around the end link to make sure they didn't touch (not in this pic).
Tips:
Something I found out while doing this install was that it was difficult to pull the end link from the old strut and install it on the new strut. If you use a jack, you can ease some of the tension from the sway bar and the end link will just slide out. Only jack it up enough to get the end link bolt to slide out easily. In this picture, my car is sitting on my floor jack while I use the widow-maker on the hub.
Another problem I had was getting the old struts out. Rotus8 used a metal shim to spread the lower strut mount apart. If you do this, make sure you have a fairly thick piece of steel so the bolt will not make dents in it. I used a "gimme" wrench that I got when I bought my stove. You know, those flat steel open ended wrenches. Also, make sure you open it up enough that you can wiggle the strut when you take the shim out. My struts were stuck in there pretty good, so I had to use the 2x4 and dead blow hammer method to push the hub assembly down. It didn't come all the way off, but once you can see the bottom of the strut peeking out, you can undo the three bolts that hold the top of the strut in place and rotate the assembly so the strut can come out.
Adjusting Ride Height:
Seems like it would be pretty straightforward, except I've never done this before and the instructions were a little sketchy. Basically, the front and rear adjust a little differently. The struts on this system are adjustable as well as the spring preload. To adjust the ride height of the front struts, you just lower or raise the strut assembly (spring and all) in the strut bottom. You don't touch the spring preload at all (unless you want to, I guess). The rear strut adjusts the same way, however, since the spring is separate from the strut, you need adjust the height of the seat also. The instructions are cloudy on this, but I think they were trying to say that you need to keep the ratio between the strut and spring the same. At this point I did a little math and tried to figure out the ratio from the strut and spring seat out of the box. After some trial and error, I think the best way to do this is figure out how much lowering you want via the spring seat and install the spring and replace the bolt that holds the spring carrier to the hub assembly. Now adjust the strut's length so that you compress the spring only a little to get the strut up into position.
I got about 2" down in the front and 1.5" in the back. On the front strut, the strut lower is 3" down from the top of the strut (where the rod goes into the strut). In the back, the spring perch is 2" up from he bottom and the strut is showing about 6" of thread.
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