Quote:
Originally Posted by Boss330
So how did this turn out? You managed the rears ok?
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I finally got the rears done. Took a couple of days
. I needed a swivel to get to the top of the strut tower bolt in the back. I was actually able to take out the rear strut without removing anything else. I had to be pretty rough on the brake lines, which I know isn't the best thing. Once again, this was a 2 man job. I was able to push down on the rear wishbone to get the strut over and out.
I used a local shop this time to swap on the new springs. Kind of tricky because the spring and rubber mounts were moving as the springs were shorter. Made it very tricky to reinstall without the rubber seat moving out of position. Getting the top of the strut threaded back on took 2 people as I had to maneuver and hold the strut from the bottom as someone screwed on the nuts from the top.
I thought that may be the hard part, but it wasn't by a long shot. Getting the bottom of the strut (with that long bolt) to line up with the recieving knuckle was next to impossible. I spoke to a few mechanic friends and had the idea of putting on some lugs and having a heavy friend step on it (to lower the arm to hopefully meet the bottom of the strut. With jumping and all, it still wasn't enough. I than unbolted some of the inner wheel well and get a spring compressor on the strut. I compressed it a bit and than had a friend stand and jump on the hub as I was under this jacked up car. Talk about risk!! Luckily I was able to thread it in without cross-threading it or dying. Lol.
After a test drive I wish I hadn't lowered the rears. Now the car feels notably stiffer. It handles better and more confident; however, I liked the balance before. I also don't like how low the rear looks in relation to the front. I can get only 1 finger in the rear wheel well but almost 3 in the front. That is after the front springs had over 1 month and 100+ miles for break-in. Oh well, I will keep cruising and see how it goes.
One last anomaly. The rear passenger side sits 1/4" lower and the wheel gap looks less compared to the rear drivers side. Not sure what that is about
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