BagheeraLGT Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Oh, ok. Thanks cvagnone. Good luck and best wishes BagheeraLGT. Hanslo thank you my friend. And thanks to cvagnone for offering your assistance. Ill keep you all udated on my suspension swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 Just want to share some info between threads. There is some discussion about trimming stock bump stops over in the lowering spring recommendations/suggestions thread: gk1 that was a great read. I read the whole damn thing and next i'm going to read the thread by 'stretch' linked in there. I'm a little surprised there isn't more talk on this forum about trimming bump stops. Unless there is a good reason not too, I fully intend to trim the fronts when I do my install. I'll have to exam the rears some more since it appears that it may not be necessary to trim the rear bump stops. For those who have already installed their suspensions, read the thread provided by gk1. It explains how to trim bump stops right on the car without having to disassemble anything. Since the discussion is about the Impreza RS I don't know how well everything applies but it might. Thanks, Hanslo Link provided by gk1: http://www.rs25.com/forums/f9/t76419...surements.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 I wouldnt recommend it, people do it to bilsteins to soften them up. the stockers are pretty soft and can barely take a lowering spring as it is, if you trim the stock strut stop ur wheels will probably smack the inside tire well very easily, but that's just an educated guess The link provided by gk1 mentioned above talks about this too. For the Impreza at least - it looks like the springs wouldn't allow this even without bump stops at all. I'm assuming it would be the same for us. Hanslo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagheeraLGT Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 update on my situation..... got the car back in my driveway yesterday. am hoping to get the suspension swap done next weekend. will provide before/after pics. enjoy the weekend fellas ________________________________________________ We can't trust the sword of a thousand truths to a n00b!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenfamily Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 General impressions on the Ralliteks with saggy butt shims (3/8in): The car is definitely a little lower than stock (not noticeable unless it's next to another legacy). I couldn't get the jack from under the front wheels until I put some wood under the front tires. The stance is perfect for me. The front end is slightly lower than the rears. The car doesn't sit when I accelerate, and there doesn't seem to be any nose dive. There is significantly less body roll. My son and wife said that the car was a lot smoother on the roads (including the interstate, bridges, rough surfaces). We took a 70 mi trip to richmond to go to a meet, and the car handled a lot more predictably. I'll let you all know how much drop I got when I measure it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 General impressions on the Ralliteks with saggy butt shims (3/8in): The car is definitely a little lower than stock (not noticeable unless it's next to another legacy). I couldn't get the jack from under the front wheels until I put some wood under the front tires. The stance is perfect for me. The front end is slightly lower than the rears. The car doesn't sit when I accelerate, and there doesn't seem to be any nose dive. There is significantly less body roll. My son and wife said that the car was a lot smoother on the roads (including the interstate, bridges, rough surfaces). We took a 70 mi trip to richmond to go to a meet, and the car handled a lot more predictably. I'll let you all know how much drop I got when I measure it. Congrats. I'm hoping to get the same results you are experiencing with my setup. Hanslo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goneskiian Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Sounds like the Eibach's and Ralliteks are a very similar drop and ride. Wonder how much Rallitek really changed the Eibach spec... Glad to hear you're liking them zenfamily! I really should try to interpret my fuzzy measurement pictures. :lol: Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenfamily Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 I just went out and measured the wheel wells. I think I messed up the initial measurement. I'm at 25 3/4in front and back. If anyone could measure their stock wheel well height, that would be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 I just went out and measured the wheel wells. I think I messed up the initial measurement. I'm at 25 3/4in front and back. If anyone could measure their stock wheel well height, that would be helpful. I just measured mine. My driveway is not level so I didn't expect these measurements to be very helpful - I was expecting the left to be lower than the right but I got 25 7/8" on all except the right front which was 26 3/4". I'll measure them again when I get to work tomorrow morning since the parking lot is probably much more level. Hanslo Sorry for the delay. Just measured again at work. The rears were still 25 7/8". The left front was 26 1/4" and the right front was 26 3/8". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 Made some progress today. I was getting impatient so I went ahead and swapped the springs. I have a spare set of completely assembled stock suspension that I bought used. Unfortunately I only have the most basic tools and no garage. I worked on this in my basement by myself. Fortunately I was able to get the top nuts off with a regular 17mm socket wrench. I had to wack the wrench handle sharply with a hammer to imitate the action of an impact wrench. Surprisingly it worked. I'm not going to write a walkthrough since a couple good ones already exist. I did take a some side-by-side pics for comparison. The rear Eibach springs were only about 1/4" shorter than the stock springs both before assembly (pic1) and after (pic2) - Eibachs on bottom. The front Eibach springs were about 1" shorter than the stock springs (pics 3,4) - Eibach on right. I forgot to take a side-by-side after assembly as I got distracted by a bump stop issue. (See next post). I used spring compessors for both disassembly and reassembly. I think for safety's sake you should use them for disassembly - especially the fronts. I can't say for sure how hard they would pop off without them but I had to compress them a fair amount. For putting the Eibachs on you probably don't need them but I didn't have anyone to help me push down while I screwed the top nut back on. I do have a couple of questions: What does a blown shock look like? Mine had what looked like grease around the base of the shaft and on the lower perch. It was black and very gummy. It would not wipe off, you had to srape it off. One had a lot and the other three had some. I'm hoping this is just normal greasy run-off. They have about 19k miles on them. Secondly. How far down do you screw the top nut on? I was able to screw it down to about 1/4" of threads showing without any problem. After that the shaft started to turn but I'm sure it would screw down more. Thanks, Hanslo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 Trimmed the bump stops on the front struts. Pic1 shows the stock bump stop. Pic2 shows what it looks like after I cut it. I had a hard time deciding which half to use. Pics 3,4 show how I cut it roughly in half. The half on the left is about 1/8" shorter but much more firm. Pics 5,6 show how much I could compress them with my thumb - I could hardly compress the shorter, firmer half at all. I decided to use the softer half since, if I do hit the stops going over a bump, I don't want it to be too abrupt and harsh. Unfortunately, the internal diameter of the stop isn't uniform. I didn't realize this until I had already cut the first one in half. The softer part has a wider internal diameter - about 9/8" compared to about 7/8" for the firm half (see pics 7,8) which allows it to slide and spin freely as compared to the other half which fits on the shaft snuggly. More unfortunately, the bump stop is what holds the dust cover up. Since the softer half of the bumpstop is free to fall to the bottom of the shaft, the dust cover does too. I ended up using a foam gasket/o'ring from a CD spindle case as a washer to hold the dust cover up - terribly ghetto but effective. I don't know how long it will hold up or if it even matters. I also hope that the bumpstop doesn't get completely chewed up due to it being loose. I'll keep an eye on them (if that's possible) and if they look like they are getting damaged i'll probably have to swap out the other firmer halves. Hanslo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenfamily Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Spring Walkthru Try this thread. It has some great pictures and includes some torque specs. We have gas shocks, so I imagine that that would be grease from another source. I didn't cut the bump stops since our springs don't give a huge drop. Look at the orientation (there's a picture in the thread) when you reassemble the strut. Last thing, use a pencil/paint pen to mark the alignment bolt. Use a line on the head of the bolt that you can match up to the strut (ball park it). I actually used a pencil and outlined the strut to knuckle assembly, and it worked out. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 Spring Walkthru Try this thread. It has some great pictures and includes some torque specs. We have gas shocks, so I imagine that that would be grease from another source. I didn't cut the bump stops since our springs don't give a huge drop. Hope this helps Good point. That makes me feel better. I subscribed to that thread for when my father and brother help me swap the suspension. I will not attempt that on my own. I'm not super proud of my bump stop mod. It bothers me that it is so loose and that I had to insert that stupid foam washer. I'm not even sure that the foam washer is going to survive. Thanks Zen, Hanslo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GULLABLE0NE Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 any fitment issues with H-techs on stock kybs? i want to run the H-techs on the kybs till i blow the struts then i would like to go tein flex coilovers. any complaints about the H-techs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goneskiian Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 any fitment issues with H-techs on stock kybs? i want to run the H-techs on the kybs till i blow the struts then i would like to go tein flex coilovers. any complaints about the H-techs? None that I've heard of. This sounds like a fine plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagheeraLGT Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 havent forgot about you guys or the thread/ my update.....as of now the front of my car sits on tien h techs on KYB struts, but i havent switched out the back yet. im working on getting some spacers, but if i cant i will just do the swap without them and hope for the best. one sad thing is that i blew a tire since i started the swap, and now have 4 new snow tires which will affect my height measurements and any changes that i went through. ill do my best to compare heights and stance for everyone. hopefully will finish with the rears this weeknd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagheeraLGT Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 so i finally got my full Tien H tech swap on KYB struts done (no saggy butt shims). With the help of another member, we did the front a few weeks back, and were able to complete the rear swap this weekend. I dont have measurements to the wheel welds but have some pics which should give anyone considering these springs an idea. My thoughts on Tien H techs: Do not add significant harshness to the ride. They are a stiffer spring, so a stiffer ride is inevitable, however i feel that Tien did a good job managing this. Body roll is decreased (note i coupled my upgrade with Perrin 22mm F&R sway bars) so i dont know how much of a factor my springs are compared to my sways. I believe that the combo is unbeatable when coilovers or konis arent really an option for you. Getting back to ride quality, you feel a bit more irregularities in the road, but nothing too drastic. Im not constantly driving a family around, so i really wouldnt mind a harsher ride, but i honestly believe that it is managable by most reasonable ppl. The drop is not as extreme as I would have liked, but i kinda knew that would be the case before the install. I needed a suspension upgrade on a budget and was able to find some new Tien H techs for $150 shipped ass opposed to buying swifts (what i rly wanted but couldnt find a cheap set.) Here are some pics and I hope you enjoy. Note 1: I did not use saggy butt shims, but i feel that my stance is rather even. Unless the back settles alot more, i am happy with my stance without my shims. Note 2: I ended up blowing a tire inbetween my before/ after pics. In the befores im riding on Potenza G009s and in the afters im on Dunlop Wintersport M3s. Shouldnt make too much of a difference (both are 215/45/17) but i thought id mention it. Pic 1: Front Before Pic 2: Front After Pic 3: Rear Before Pic 4: Rear After Pic 5: Full Stance After (note, very slight butt sag if at all) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bochinam Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenfamily Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Looks really good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagheeraLGT Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 thanks guys. feel free to donate to my spring setup for Wheels & Tires so i rly feel 100% secure taking corners hard in the warm weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 Looks great. I'm sure it's more fun to drive now. I'm hoping for a similar stance with my Eibachs. I've had cobb sway bars for about a year, i'm getting new tires tomorrow (conti-dws in 225/45/17) and then my springs on Thanksgiving. So I should be able to compare the incremental effects of each upgrade as its added on. Hanslo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslo Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 Originally posted by BagheeraLGT: .....Body roll is decreased (note i coupled my upgrade with Perrin 22mm F&R sway bars) so i dont know how much of a factor my springs are compared to my sways..... Any problems with fitment like Joon525 experienced? Originally posted by Joon525: Just warning you guys who are looking to purchase the H-techs. I had them on stock shocks at about 25-30,000 miles and they were fine with the stock rear sway bar. I got the Progress rear sway bar and it started hitting the rear lower control arm on larger bumps. I had to cut off a tiny piece of the sway bar to clear the lower control arm. If the H-techs were a little stiffer this probably or Progress slightly changed the shape of their bar this would've been avoided. Just letting you guys know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagheeraLGT Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 SO far ive noticed no fittament problems with the rear bar. I have though, heard a knock from the front bar when going slow around turns when I really have to crank my wheel. I have factory endlinks, so it cant be an endlink thing. I did notice that upon install the OEM and Perrin FSBs were slightly different in shape, while the Rear bars were identical except for the level of thickness. That is what i attribute my front knock to, however i do find it somewhat odd as alot of members are running a perrin 22mm FSB and have not reported any fittament (knock) issues. Even in my situation though, it is slight at most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvagnone Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 well Joon is talking about the rear bar knocking, Mike i thought u were expereincing it upfront which i would blame on the whimpy front endlinks, you may not be getting it in the rear because you were smart and got the AVO brackets. Your car probably has some more settling to do atleast in the rear. were able to get ur alignment yet? curious if it was your old struts because your front did look ike it may have been slightly bent when we took it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagheeraLGT Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 ^yup, it is the front bar on mine that knocks rarely. It could verywell be the stocker endlinks which i have kept on. Ill be able to say its that for sure, if i ever upgrade to raliteks or karboys. My car is at the shop today for the alignment, so hopefully i can let you know tonight what the deal is with the alignment and my struts. If the struts are bent, ill prolly part out the components and try and bring the strut housing to a scrap metal place or junkyard. Think i could get any bank there for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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