I want the H&R Springs but are they hard to install? I am wondering if i would be able to do it myself and if so what do i have to watch out for when doing it?

 

Just Purchased H And R Springs And Going To Install In A Couple Of Weeks Cant Be That Bad To Intstall If You Have A Spring Compressor

 

Yea your going to need a spring compressor, and air tools wouldnt hurt, should take anywhere from 2-5 hours.

 

The spring compressor is the key to removing your stock springs. Be very careful as compressed springs are VERY dangerous.

 

Ya definately need a compressor for the front struts. The way I did it was physically remove the struts from the vehicle (remove wheels, remove brake hardware, remove axle nut, remove tie rod end, push axle through, and remove 2 lower strut bolts, 3 strut tower bolts, and out she comes) then I used a pneumatic compressor here at work, or you can rent the ones you tighten down with a wrench. A lift would be recommended but not necessary. Just throw the front on jack stands and start unbolting. As for the rear springs, just get the ass end up in the air, setup some jack stands, and then jack each side of the trailing arm up and remove one bolt on each side for the rear shocks. Then let the trailing arm down and it'll swing far enough you can take the rear springs out. Takes a little yanking, but they'll come. Then just replace and go get an alignment.

Edit: This is all on a base coupe. I'm sure the front is the same, I'm not sure how different your rear end is setup, but if it's a trailing arm then it's easy.

Edit2: Also don't forget to trim the bumpstops! I put mine all back together then noticed the little red card in the bottom corner of the box that has instructions to trim the bumpstops. I said screw it and took it out for a drive and it bottomed out HARD, so I had to remove the front struts again and remove the springs to get the bumpstops out, was just a major PITA so read instructions first hehe.

 

The spring compressor...you just compress the springs in this machine and then take it out and put them on the car??

 

should nto eb that hard too do if u know ur way around a car it should be easy

 

No you have to remove the whole front strut assembly from each side(as stated in my above post), then compress the spring and take a 19mm(i think) nut off the top strut plate, then decompress the spring and catch the strut, and remove the spring. While your spring is out you have to pull that plastic boot off because your bumpstop is hidden in there. Take the bumpstop out and cut the required length off (i think it was like an inch up front, and 1.5 in the back) and then reinstall all that. Hang your spring in the compressor, put your strut up through and line it up with the spring so it sits the way the old one did(I made a mark where the end of the coil sat so I knew where the new one went), compress the spring and thread the nut back on till it stops, decompress the spring and then torque the nut tight. You have to have spring tension on the strut plate otherwise it will just spin because it's on a bearing. Then your front ones are done, you just reinstall them reverse of how you took them out.

Edit: If you don't know what you're doing, just remove your struts yourself and take them to a shop and just have them swap the springs for you. Couldn't charge you more than 50-80 bucks, only takes maybe 20 minutes to do. Coil springs can be EXTREMELY dangerous if you **** up. If you're the least bit hesitant in your abilities, take it to a qualified technician.

 

when me and another ion owner were taking his spring off the strut we took off the top cover without compressing the spring and it popped off with a little force. it was pretty funny...there is some tension loaded in the spring but nothing like people make it seem. With the things people say it made it seem as if the spring was going to shoot half a mile.