Haven't come across anyone mentioning how much it costs to get lowering springs installed

anyone have an idea?

thanks

 

waist of money if you dont do it yourself

 

I was quoted $215.

 

just to make sure, you have to get your car realigned right after you install new springs rite? I had a shop put the springs on my Z24. But i do not want to pay to have it done to my cobalt.

 

they're very, very easy to do. the rears are a piece of cake. if you have jackstands and basic hand tools you can do most of it no problem. for the rear, all you do is lift the car off the ground, take the wheels off, and you'll see the strut, can't miss it once you get the wheel off. you'll see that it's connected by 2 bolts, one at the top, one at the bottom. unbolt just the top one, and it's easiest if you do both sides at once, because the rear springs are only compressed by the weight of the car. once you unbolt the top bold on both sides, you can push down and pull the springs right out. there's nothing holding them in. just make sure you have something underneath for support so that you don't push it too far. but it's nothing to worry about. when you take the stock springs off, you will see 2 pieces that come off with it, the bump stop (which is at the top) and there's a bottom piece as well. pull them both out, and put them on the new springs. put the spring in it's place, lift up the axle, and put the bolt back in. that's it. first time i ever did the rears, took about a half hour by myself, and majority of tht time was getting the car in the air and taking the wheels off.

for the fronts, you will need spring compressors, which if you don't have or a friend doesn't have, you can rent from pretty much any car shop. lift the front, pop the hood, and you'll see 3 bolts holding the springs/struts in. get the wheels off, loosen the bolts, and the whole thing will come right out. put the spring compressors on untill you can move the spring easily, and take off the top bolt. this will be easiest if you have air tools, but if you don't, it's still no a problem. you just have to hold the strut steady so it doesn't spin when you loosen the bolt. halfcent shows a great trick if you don't have air tools.

once you get that bolt off, take off the spring, put the new spring on, again tighten with the compressor, put the bolt back on. put in place, tighten the 3 bolts, put the wheels on, call it a day. once you take off the ebrake you'll see the full drop. if you were local i would totally help you with your springs, i don't like to see people pay for things that are so easy.

if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, and don't have a friend that can help, try loooking for soeone local from this site. i'm sure people wouldn't mind heping a member out. trust me, once you see how easy it is you will be telling other people to not pay to have them installed.

good luck!

 

This is really good info...you just helped me too...lol

 

also... do a quick search, there is a GOOD how-to, with PICS. thats what I used to do mine.... I had never done it before, and was timid, but looking back afterwards, it was easy as hell.

 

awesome, i'm glad i helped! it's really not that hard, but when you're not sure what you're doing it can be a little scary because you think you're going to mess somethng up. but it's like all the easy things on this car (exhaust downpipe mani, intake, etc) once you do it you realize that there's really nothing to mess up. If you understand righty tighty lefty loosey, you're good to go

 

You dont NEED alignment. but since it will be off you will wear your tires unevenly and faster and will not reap the full benefit of the drop (handling wise)

 

cost me 0 but some of my time

 

Yeah DIY it, there is a nice how to, you will save money, you will learn something and you will have a sense of accomplishment.

 

^ So true

 

so what about shocks.... how long are peoples lasting with sportlines? specifically, the 2.2.

 

Go to do it yoursef, its free!

 

i never knew anything about car untill i got my cobalt. i barely knew how to do an oil change but it's nice when you learn how to do things on your own. you look at cars differently when you start to learn more about them. i used to just think of them as a way to get places, now i want to keep learning about how they work, and why they do what they do. i try to do everything i can myself, but i haven't done anything major yet.