Installing my Goldlines and Illuminas this weekend. w00t!

[MrDiggler]

Goldline and Illumina combo installed. Underwhelmed.

Never swapped springs or struts before, so wish me luck. I'll post my observations on the install and the driving experience over the next days/weeks. I'm curious to see how these do with the AXR bracket. I know I'm not the only one who's installed this combo, but I'll throw up a pic or two of how Sparky sits with the new springs. While it's up on the stands I'm going to put my drilled rotors and maybe my GT-spec trailing arms on too. What else I got up there in the attic that needs to be put on...?

 

[ChopstickHero]

if you've never touched your endlinks before, spray those endlinks down with alot of pb blaster! they are known to seize and you will need to cut them off or pry them off.

are the goldines progressive or linear springs?

 

[MrDiggler]

It appears the fronts are linear and the rears progressive. Thanks for the tip on the endlinks. They are soaking as we speak.

 

[jmv]

i've always liked the drop on the goldlines, but have never been sure of the performance aspect. F progressive R linear seems backwards, most are the opposite.... are you sure you got it the right way around??

 

[DE31]

our "spring buyers guide" thread says all eibachs are progressive...

 

[MrDiggler]

I just realized while working on the car that I posted that backwards! Front linear, rear progressive on the Goldlines. Going to edit that, lol.

 

[DE31]

not sure why i thought you had eibachs.... damn must be this really bad headache that will soon lead to a runny nose.... hows the install going/

 

[MrDiggler]

Whew. I'm done for the night. I've been so tired things are taking much longer than they should. I had a hell of a time with the rear deck. A couple of posts said to remove the five front clips and then just pull it toward the front of the car. They neglected to mention that you first have to pop the hidden rear deck clips up out of place by lifting the deck. Common sense said there was more to it than what I was reading. Then I discovered someone rounded one of the front endlink nuts. I had to hammer a socket over it in order to remove it. The other three I had to pop loose with a 1/2" breaker bar, but they're in great shape. Some of the spindle to strut nuts are too tight for me to even get with the breaker bar, and I'm not going to fire up the compressor & impact while my wife's asleep...so I'm going to get some shuteye. Things should go smoother tomorrow.

 

[jmv]

yeah some peoples struts go pretty easy it seems like, but for other people it can be a total b****. I guess its probably even worse when you're further north. Hope it all gets finished up pretty easy!! looking forward to driving impressions and pics.

 

[MrDiggler]

My "factory" bump stops are already cut way down! They're right at 1". I expected to see a full 2-2 1/2" piece in there. WTF? Maybe they're done that way for the RB springs. I'm sure as hell not going to cut it any further.

 

[sandspeed]

i'm looking forward to seeing how your speed looks with the goldlines/illuminas combo, should be awesome.
I'm still riding on the tein springs/stock struts combo and i'm getting tired of them so I hope the illuminas are badass because i might purchase them.

 

[MrDiggler]

I did a bunch of research before making this choice and am expecting to be happy. One thing I'm about to be able to determine for sure is the difference in the perch height of the stock rear struts vs. the Illuminas. IIRC, the Illuminas rear perch is supposed to be lower. The fronts are pretty much identical to the HP's. I'll put up some pics of each side-by-side shortly.

 

[sandspeed]

I did a bunch of research before making this choice and am expecting to be happy. One thing I'm about to be able to determine for sure is the difference in the perch height of the stock rear struts vs. the Illuminas. IIRC, the Illuminas rear perch is supposed to be lower. The fronts are pretty much identical to the HP's. I'll put up some pics of each side-by-side shortly.

Right, I was thinking that the illuminas would balance out the drop better than the stock msp tokico's. With my tein s-tech springs the rear actually sits higher than when i was stock which is annoying. Again, good luck with the install bro

 

[MrDiggler]

Been making progress, however slowly. Although I've successfully built an engine, until today I'd never done struts/springs or brakes, lol. I'm taking my time. I used to have a corner service station who did brakes and suspension work so cheap there was no point doing it yourself, but they closed this summer.

Attached are some pics of rear Tokico HP vs. the Illumina as well as the original RB MSP springs vs. the Goldlines, both front and rear. I know there are pics up somewhere of the struts, but figured it couldn't hurt to put 'em here too. The front struts are essentially identical in dimensions, unlike the rears.
Notice how the front springs are the same height & the rear Goldlines are actually taller than the RB's? If they're slightly stiffer, how is this going to lower the car, lol? One pic shows a complete strut with the new drilled rotors. There's also one of my engine bay showing off my polished intake piping & valve cover, heh. Next will be the heatshield and then I'll have to finish polishing the tranny case. Rainy day stuff.

Some observations/tips... If your coil spring isolators (rubber donuts) are the originals, plan on replacing at least the upper front and lower rear while you are in there...which means, order them ahead of time! I almost ordered all new ones but thought mine would still be in good shape, and damn if the the upper front and lower rear are cracking all over. Since I'm uber anal retentive, I actually washed all my isolators and my dust covers in warm soapy water, dried them and then drenched them in armor all. I also used some ES formula 5 prelube where the springs will ride inside the isolators. I hate squeaks.

I'm heading to see the TN Titans vs. the Ravens in Nashville tomorrow, so I won't be finishing up the rears until tomorrow night. I'll post pics as soon as everything is together and settled in.

 

[DE31]

well since they're progressive im guessing they lower because the first few inches of compression is actually softer than the stock RB. as it gets settled down to its normal height it should feel the same as stock but with less roll because as it gets compressed more it gets stiffer?

just a guess on why the two springs are almost same height. at least for the fronts....

 

[MrDiggler]

well since they're progressive im guessing they lower because the first few inches of compression is actually softer than the stock RB. as it gets settled down to its normal height it should feel the same as stock but with less roll because as it gets compressed more it gets stiffer?

just a guess on why the two springs are almost same height.

Yeah, I figured as much myself. Even though the fronts are both linear (IIRC), the Goldline has one more turn in it. Check out how many more the rear has.

 

[jimmybrite]

I had to cut 2 endlinks when I installed my coils.Anyhow the endlinks are cheap at the dealer anyways, Now I cant wait to put new struts in, but I think i'll go with adjustable endlinks and anti-seize this time

 

[MrDiggler]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that in addition to the short front bump stops, there are NO rear bump stops! Is anyone elses stock MSP like this?

 

[Brian MP5T]

Been making progress, however slowly. Although I've successfully built an engine, until today I'd never done struts/springs or brakes, lol. I'm taking my time. I used to have a corner service station who did brakes and suspension work so cheap there was no point doing it yourself, but they closed this summer.

READ THIS PLEASE
​

I noticed that the Paint Dots on your Pillow mount are in the wrong place. You have just induced alot of camber in the struts for nothing.. You will never be able to get a good alignment. Jack up the car and undo the 4 bolts that support the mount. Push down and rotate the pillow mount until they point towards the rear outside of the car respectfully. So the Passenger side dot faces back and to the passenger side mirror. and the drivers side faces back and the drivers side mirror.

 

[Brian MP5T]

(See Point #3)

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showpost.php?p=930236&postcount=1