Tried To Fit Coil Overs Today. Couldnt Do It Help!

[Brettster]

Hi all

Tried to fit my NEw Tein coilovers today but couldnt get the old rear suspension unit out :(

I used the guide on the knowledge base and I used spring compressors undid all the nuts

still not enough space to get the unit out

can the rear arm go any lower?

I tried to remove the bolt holding the anti roll bar but I couldnt get that bolt out.

spent 6 hours and ended up putting the car back with original.

so any tips?

or good advise?

thanks :)

[BESTY]

hi mate,the way i done mine was this,rear,removed the three top retaining bolts in the boot,jacked up the car,took the wheel off,leave the spring clamps in the garage for now,undid the two bolts that secure the strutt to the car body near the top,removed the large bottom bolt,got my mate to stand on the wheel hub and volla it came out,then fit your new strutts in the reverse order,the front ones i did the same method,no clamps to get them out,doesnt do a thing,removed all the fixing bolts top and bottom,put the car on full lock and they came out.

hope this helps. :)

[Scorpion]

As Dave says above or if you haven't got any mates a strong bar and a couple a bits of wood will suffice wedged in between the body and pull on the lever.

[Brettster]

OK so i'll forget the spring clamps

My mate did jump on the rear wheel hub

but it made no difference

maybe he wasnt heavy enough

Im a big fat tub of lard so I'll have a jump on it tomorrow. just hope I dont break anything

Did you not use a ball joint splitter for the front uprights either?

thanks for the tips :)

[BESTY]

no splitters used,just done what i said above,you only need spring clamps if you want to fit new springs to your origonal shocks. :) try petes method wid the bar as a lever,sounds good to me. :)

[Brettster]

Well I tried agian today. Still no luck .

even with my girth of 18 stone + it wouldnt move far enough down to enable the strut to be removed, either from the top or from the bottom. tried a bar but really didnt have enough leverage to move it, my jumping on the wheel hub moved it more.

so can anyone reccomend a good garage in the Leeds area to have this done?

I really hate paying out money for stuff I can do myself but looks like i have no option this time :(

[Brettster]

Well Im thinking now that perhaps you had it easy because you have sport spec springs? they are a bit lower?

oh i just propper :tsktsk: off with it now :(

[Rob]

if u compress the spring fully then push the shock so that too compresses then u can remove the shock no probs - other option is to undo the camber setting bolt so the lower arm then is free but mark it before hand so u can get it in roughly the same position - remember to get the alignment dont after tho.

[Brettster]

thanks Fluff

we tried the spring fully compressed but the shock is very sprung its self and it was impossible to compress it by hand.

on the rear wishbone there was a bar attatched with another short bar, I thought that was the antiroll bar?

but I couldnt get the bolt out of that.

I didnt try to undo any other bolts

[AltezzaScott]

I always use the long handle from the jack to give a few more inches to get the OEM suspension out, and likewise get the new stuff in...

[TonyGoose]

When i did mine, i couldn't push the arm down low enough either....

Until i disconnected the anti roll bar... Then it wasn't too hard.

Don't have to compress the spring on the car...

Just remove the whole spring / shock assembly together.

[marcus]

ok if you undo the 3 nut on the top of the strut and the big blot at the bottom, and then push down on the wheel it should just full out , if not get someone to pull on it and it should come out ;)

[Brettster]

Thanks again guys

I guess I should have one more go at this

is there a knack to removing the antiroll bar?

I couldnt shift the bolt from the lower arm

the nut came off and the the bolt rotated freely

just would not pull out.

[ColinBarber]

Did you have both wheels off the ground? Anti roll bar comes off easier if it's not being loaded on one side.

[Brettster]

I did try that to see if we could get the rear arm lower but not to try get the bolt out.

I feel that I really should give this another shot.

thanks guys :)

[Scorpion]

If in doubt "give it a clout" with a club hammer that will do the trick

[TonyGoose]

I did try that to see if we could get the rear arm lower but not to try get the bolt out.

I feel that I really should give this another shot.

thanks guys :)

If i was a bit more local, i'd pop over and give you a hand...

[Brettster]

aww thanks tonygoose :)