Spring swap walkthrough - Tein H-Tech's

[lepich]

^^ Ops.. I did not get it right :-0

Thanks for clearing things out!

[SuperhawkLGT]

I think you can buy them for about that, try sears.

[lepich]

Yes, it was a price to buy it, not to rent. I just couldn't realise that they will give me a full refund knowing I used it.

[Guest Gitster]

Just picked mine up from Advance Auto parts. Im renting a set for $54, they give the $54 back when im done.

 

They also had a different set on sale, that I would have bought if they were in stock, for only $37.

[Guest Gitster]

Installed my HTechs yesterday. With my air impact gun, breaking the bolts free were a piece of cake. The rears were actually easier than the fronts. Its most likely a different experience on each car. Mine is an '07 with about 26k miles.

 

The most difficult part I had was not breaking the rear bolts free, but punching them through. They seemed to stop moving at the point where the threaded part of the bolt needed to be punched through the mount on the bottom of the strut.

 

My tips for the rear bolts are.

 

1) Break them loose, remove the Nut.

2) Start to punch them through until the stop at the point mentioned above. Loosen the two top nuts about half way.

3) Use a jack to compress the strut from the very bottom, or both the strut and suspension together.

4) If the bolt still wont punch, it is stuck. Take a ratchet on the inside and just aggressively start turning it lefty loosey so the threads make their way into the bottom mount of the shock. This will "break" the seal of the bolt and get it going through the back mount. Then it should pop out with ease and a good couple whacks of a hammer and punch (screw diver), still under compression form the jack.

 

Excellent write-up. I like how people said it should take an hour to an hour twenty to do the entire car. This is simply ridiculous. Leave yourself a whole day incase something goes wrong, you strip/break a bolt/nut, etc and you have to go to the dealer to replace it.

 

Im sure the next time I do it, it will probably only take half as much time. I was just very anal about seating the springs in the struts, to make sure everything was properly aligned. I redid two of them twice because I wasnt happy with the seating of the springs.

 

On the front top (camber) bolt, I took pictures of the position and tried very hard to lineup the head of the bolt. I think I did a good job, the car doesn't even feel like it needs an alignment.

 

Hell. maybe ill just wear out my RE-92s faster so I can go buy some new wheels and tires ::icon_evil:

[lepich]

Installed Cobb springs last weekend. Looks so nice now!!!

Thank you for a walkthrough. Rear and fronts came out really easy - I've

sprayed them with BP blaster a couple days ago,

repeting application night before.

 

Today I found that I have an issue with noise: making full steering wheel turn , it makes squeeze noise.. like rubber to a rubber noise.

Looked at tophat nuts - they rotate (with the rod) when I am rotating the wheels.. Is it how it should be? can somebody check if they rotates on others car?

The spring itself sits where it should be, bottom and top.

Also some "clunking" noise over a bumps.. Hope it will gone soon.

 

 

Thanks, Alex

[SuperhawkLGT]

Hows the ride with Cobbs.

[lepich]

Ride is good. It is even smoother than stock on a flat surface :-) My wife told the car is "glued" to a road now. On a rough road, it is OK (except the rattle I have) till it hits limiter. Big BOOM after that.

Now you can't run through railroad, or anything like a bumps on a road fast.. 10 mph max, I would say.. Otherwise - big BOOM, and your teeth does a ‘click’ too :-)

Looking at compressed spring ( under car's load) I can see how close coils to each other.. you can barely put a finger between them. I think they are hitting each other quite often.

 

But as for me, the ride quality much better. Much less body roll on cornering, hood not jumping or diving any more on accel/braking. So far I like them.

[SuperhawkLGT]

Don't think I would like them too much up here in Ma much. Sound nice for a smooth road though, any pics of the drop?

[Joon525]

Installed Cobb springs last weekend. Looks so nice now!!!

Thank you for a walkthrough. Rear and fronts came out really easy - I've

sprayed them with BP blaster a couple days ago,

repeting application night before.

 

Today I found that I have an issue with noise: making full steering wheel turn , it makes squeeze noise.. like rubber to a rubber noise.

Looked at tophat nuts - they rotate (with the rod) when I am rotating the wheels.. Is it how it should be? can somebody check if they rotates on others car?

The spring itself sits where it should be, bottom and top.

Also some "clunking" noise over a bumps.. Hope it will gone soon.

 

 

Thanks, Alex

Did you put the spring seat on correctly? One thing this write up doesn't tell you about is the way it has to be oriented during re-assembly.

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63643

[lepich]

^^ I'll check.

Thank you for pointinig on this.. I've tried to mout it for best fit with a new spring.. Not sure it is facing outside with this 2 holes.. BTW, these 2 holes (on a pic) are from the top of seat, or on the bottom ? Looks like on top.

Also will snap some pictures this weekend.

[lepich]

Actually, it was not aligned right way..

I've rotated them , but it does not help.. small clicks still present - but only can hear when window open, coming from outside.. With closed windows - it is quiet.

Will call cobb next week.

[lepich]

Update on click noise- wrapped coils with electrical tape - and it gone.

Not good for Cobb's spring reputation, But now it is quiet as stock and I am happy. :-)

[SuperhawkLGT]

Interesting. You didn't take it all apart again did you?

[lepich]

Right. I did not. Just jacked it up, and wrapped tape aroung coils.

Here some photos for your:

 

http://www.koloskov.com/temp/1.jpg

 

http://www.koloskov.com/temp/2.jpg

 

http://www.koloskov.com/temp/3.jpg

 

http://www.koloskov.com/temp/4.jpg

[FJuan]

Your car looks sweat!! I don't think I've seen a black car that shinny before, and it's a little hard to determine the wheel well gap. My springs should be here tomorrow and I can't wait. Thanks for the write up, it should make things go smooth.

[FJuan]

I see the wheel well gap now, my work computer screen sucks. It's looks much better now on my laptop.

[Guest Gitster]

Here my car on H-Techs, Rota T3s 18X8, and Kuhmo SPT 235/40/18 ....

 

http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/6705/2740621510077408844S600x600Q85.jpg

 

http://inlinethumb53.webshots.com/5492/2971108510077408844S600x600Q85.jpg

 

http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/6830/2000774540077408844S600x600Q85.jpg

 

http://inlinethumb10.webshots.com/5449/2444921910077408844S600x600Q85.jpg

[lepich]

H-tech looks great! Only one concern (for me) - rears too low. I was afraid if I'll have in trunk some heavy things or a man on the rear seat, rear will be lower than front. which is not good, on highway especially.

But now, with cobb, I want front just a little higher.. 0,2 inch would be great.. Hitting holes would be easier..

[FJuan]

Looks good Glitster, that's the perfect wheel gap I'm looking for. Not to low. Should be getting them today!!

[Guest Gitster]

Nice man. And thanks guys.

 

 

I have some rubbing in the rears. I didnt hear it alot this morning, only on my first drive yesterday. Its non-existent on the highway which is my main concern.

[ScoopMan]

Nice job Git! Aside from the rubbing, how is the ride and handling? You put them on the stock struts, right?

The drop looks significant, I thought the H-techs dropped less than an inch. Those 18's close the gap though.

Got any close ups of that Bad Ass grill?

[FJuan]

^^The H-tech has a .9" drop all around. It's the S-tech that has the 1.25" drop in the front.

 

Installed the springs this past weekend, and what a big dif. over stock. A nice suttle drop without have the slammed look. Took about 3.5 hrs to complete by myself.

 

Here's a very crappy pic after I did the install.

[SubLo]

H-tech looks great! Only one concern (for me) - rears too low. I was afraid if I'll have in trunk some heavy things or a man on the rear seat, rear will be lower than front. which is not good, on highway especially.

But now, with cobb, I want front just a little higher.. 0,2 inch would be great.. Hitting holes would be easier..

 

Yeah. I had/have the same concern with my H-techs. But after 100 miles in NYC traffic, speed bumps, and trunk full with welder, jack, chop saw, and generator, there has been no rubbing or bump stop hitting luckily.

 

More importantly, the back is really low - tucked ala M3. I'm hoping the front will settle over time. Really it doesn't matter because I just ordered the BC Coilovers so I could determine/adjust my own ride height and relationship front to rear. Guess I'm nitpicking.

[Guest Gitster]

Nice job Git! Aside from the rubbing, how is the ride and handling? You put them on the stock struts, right?

The drop looks significant, I thought the H-techs dropped less than an inch. Those 18's close the gap though.

 

No more rubbing after the springs have settled. :confused:

 

Dont ask me. I just installed the Perrin RSB as well and it was clunking for a bit now i hear nothing. Im going crazy. I gotta replace the end links soon anyways.