BXX Posted February 27, 2010 Report Share Posted February 27, 2010 This is a discussion thread for people to ask queestions about the setup/install and so on. Of course my first post will include the install how to which I will copy and redo the How To thread in FAQ. Lets start this off. Im not gonna mention what all parts you need (those are in FAQ thread but you can still ask about them and such) Lets Go!!!! -Jack up both sides of the car, support solidly on jackstands! No cinder blocks and such! -Remove the wheels. 19mm socket. -Remove the calipers, hange out of the way with a bunjy strap or whatever. 15mm for the bolts -Remove caliper bracket bolts. 1/2 drive T60 torx. Breaker bar, cheaper pipe, and heat. -Remove axle nut. 35mm, but a 36mm socket will work perfectly -Use air hammer and punch bit, knock the axle into the hub to break it loose -Pull off axle nut washer, Shoulda popped out plenty from the air hammering. -Loosen tie rod locknut now if your installing new tie rods. 22mm. Remove cotter pin from tie rod and remove castle nut with 18mm socket -Use air hammer and pickle fork attatchment to remove tie rod from knuckle -Remove balljoint cotter pin, remove nut with 18mm socket. Break balljoint loose with air hammer and pickle fork -Use prybar, pry between the control arm and knuckle to get the balljoint stud out of the control arm hole. Get axle out of the hub. -IF YOU HAVE ABS!! Remove wire/bracket from the knuckle with a 10mm socket. and unplug from the sensor now!!! -Remove upper strut mount plate cover. 15mm socket. -Carefully remove knuckle assy out of vehicle, move caliper hanger to upper mount hole. -Now is a good time to replace trans mount and engine mount on other side!!! -Remove 4 hub to knuckle bolts. 15mm socket -Install onto the modified knuckles you should already have; balljoint, hub assy w/ABS sensor if you have ABS. -Mount knuckle back to the car. First insert balljoint stud into the arm, then insert the axle into the hub with the washer and nut to keep it in place for now, then tie rod into the knuckle. Tighten all parts, make sure to install new cotter pins for the tie rod and balljoint. Dont torque the axle nut yet (it would be hard to do right now ) -I dont have a lot of pics from now on since my camera battery wasnt charged all the way and was low. But this is the order to do things. 1- Slide on coilover sleeve w/adjuster nut and torrington bearing. 2- Drop in large washer into strut tube. Insert strut with spacer and top nut. Tighten it good!! 3- Drop spring through the top, put on spring top hat, lower bearing spacer 4- From the top, put on new mounts, then upper bearing spacer and top nut with loctite 5- Bolt mount to tower. new hardware 10mm bolts with washers and nuts on top. Tighten down good! 6- Tighten upper strut nut. You should have a bit of loctite on it -Now is a good time to torque the axle nut! I torqued to 175ftlbs. I forgot the actual spec but I have to replace the hubs this summer anyway. I beleive the torque is in the 240ftlb range. -Set adjust nut to where you think it would be a good height. With my springs the lowest adjustment gave me a decent amount of drop for now! A lower spring rate will allow for a slightly lower drop and softer ride. -Mount wheel, 19mm, 100ftlb torque. Drop car on ground. Raise and adjust height as neccessary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to eaton Posted February 27, 2010 Report Share Posted February 27, 2010 that looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted February 27, 2010 Report Share Posted February 27, 2010 its too bad those camber plates dont work with a STB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 its too bad those camber plates dont work with a STB I still don't think you know how these work... The three bolts that bolt them to the body do not move so there is no movement of the main plate so you COULD rig up a STB to work with them, the only moving parts are in the center. 2 holes strategically drilled in that plate and then you press in some studs and you could bolt a Buick bar to it no sweat... Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 its too bad those camber plates dont work with a STB I still don't think you know how these work... The three bolts that bolt them to the body do not move so there is no movement of the main plate so you COULD rig up a STB to work with them, the only moving parts are in the center. 2 holes strategically drilled in that plate and then you press in some studs and you could bolt a Buick bar to it no sweat... Jamie I will be using a 2 bolt fstb that i had on my old cs. bolt it on top of the mount using longer bolts. there is movement of the top plate. Those 3 bolt holes are actually slotted to allow caster adjustment. You can use a stock front strut tower brace I guess. You would have to align it off the car. Set camber first using the inner mount. Then put the bar on and snug up the bolts a bit and tap the mount the direction you need to set caster and then tighten the bolts. It would be a damn shame to use a stock FSTB as it would cover up these awsome mounts!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Sorry, even though there is movement in the top plate though, the bolts themselves don't move, you would have to slot the hold in the strut tower for that... Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 And I did align the car today. Lemme tell you, setting camber and caster was a fricken cake walk. Just loose the 3 plate bolts a bit and then use a block of wood and a hammer to tap the mount the direction you want to set caster. Tighten the bolts. Then loosed the 4 inner mount bolts and do the same method to set camber. Tighten, re-sweep caster measurement and then set toe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Sorry, even though there is movement in the top plate though, the bolts themselves don't move, you would have to slot the hold in the strut tower for that... Jamie The bolts dont have to move... You move the entire mount plate to adjust caster. I think your confuzzled a bit. I move the plate towards the firewall, caster goes high, move it towards the front of the car, caster goes low. And the washers cover up the slots FYI. Guess I shoulda showed a pic of that first showing the slots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 No, I'm not confused, Matt is, lol... he figures you can't put an STB on them because of the adjustability... but the bolts don't move anywhere so you could still put an STB over them. Whats that STB you have off of? Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 No, I'm not confused, Matt is, lol... he figures you can't put an STB on them because of the adjustability... but the bolts don't move anywhere so you could still put an STB over them. Whats that STB you have off of? Jamie Yeah, the fstb just fits the bolts, the mount underneath would slide a bit to adjust then you sandwich it all together. The 2 bolt FSTB you see in the pic of my old CS came off the TGP I got off Pat. Dunno who actually made the bar but I know its beefy as hell and I want to reproduce them for members for like $50 each this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 wont work well with a CS vert STB anyway. I fully understand how they work, but you lose access to the adjuster with the STB in place and the studs probably aren't long enough to go through both plates and have a full nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Longer bolts would be no big deal to swap in, and that 2 bolt stb would be a breeze to make. Sorry you said studs... if you have coil overs with these then you no longer have studs and would have to swap to a bolt with a washer. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 wont work well with a CS vert STB anyway. I fully understand how they work, but you lose access to the adjuster with the STB in place and the studs probably aren't long enough to go through both plates and have a full nut. Im not using studs. Just bolts with nuts and washers. All I would need are longer ones and the STB would go one fine. Like I said in the previous post. You would want to set camber first with the STB off the car. Then remove the 3 nuts, plob on the stock STB, snug up the nuts and then bump the mount into the desired caster spec. Not really as practical as the 2 bolt STB I posted a pic of and it would cover up the nice mounts, but it can be done without issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Longer bolts would be no big deal to swap in, and that 2 bolt stb would be a breeze to make. Jamie Yeah. Im gettine the 2 bolt back off Rob and he will get the stock STB for now until I make him a 2 bolt. Its nicer and much stronger than the stock STB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Another option would be to build an STB with a turn buckle type joint in it so you could adjust it to whatever camber you have. You could also then use it to "preload" the strut towers Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 I'm sticking with my intraxs, I'd like to see his camber plate design for the stock setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Another option would be to build an STB with a turn buckle type joint in it so you could adjust it to whatever camber you have. You could also then use it to "preload" the strut towers Jamie They dont move that easily though the plate. Otherwise there would be a risk of bumping out of alignment over a hard pothole. And yes, ive hit many since Ive head the setup on Damn Parma. Nothing moved even the slightest. I'm sticking with my intraxs, I'd like to see his camber plate design for the stock setup. I like the fact I have a much better selection of springs. Not to mention I can change the springs out in less than a 1/2 hour for both sides. Im gonna pick up about 2 other sets of springs of different rates. Test them out kinda thing. I can have some soft riding springs when I wanna take a long road trip. Or medium for daily driving, or stiff when I wanna destroy corners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 what rates are you running now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 what rates are you running now? 325 very very firm under hard bumps. Avoid potholes. Normal roads, maybe slightly rough, rides like a new Corvette. Just avoid hard bumps and big potholes and its all good. I need a 10 inch spring though to give me the drop I want if I keep 325 on the front. However I can prolly get the drop I want with a softer ride by using a 250 spring. Im actually gonna swap the 325 springs to the rear and bring the rear 250 springs to the front. My front is almost too firm while the rear could use a little more firmness. That should give me a good balance and I can go off of that for other rates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 yeah I am running 350 up front and 300 in the back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 yeah I am running 350 up front and 300 in the back 350 with these mounts would be way too stiff for something driven on roads unless they are nice and smooth. Reason being your stock mount is gonna absorb some force. These wont. So its just a matter of spring tuning. Luckily the springs are decently cheap where you can try one rate and go higher or lower if you want and try that and go from there. Im sure you can always recover some money buy selling the springs that didnt work out the way you want. Trial and error and personal preference really. R&D does cost a bit of money, but at $38/ea for the springs, not that much money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 The great thing about these springs is that you can sell them to anyone with any kind of car that has coil overs. The reason I have such heavy springs up front is because the LQ1 is a heavy engine, if I had a 3X00 I could go to a lighter spring weight and get the same effect. I have actually been looking to go stiffer, but now that you point out that the stockers absorb more than these ones, I think I may hold off on going to the harder spring. I was going to go to a 400#. I don't know why I never thought about that rubber mount on the stock mounts. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 The great thing about these springs is that you can sell them to anyone with any kind of car that has coil overs. The reason I have such heavy springs up front is because the LQ1 is a heavy engine, if I had a 3X00 I could go to a lighter spring weight and get the same effect. I have actually been looking to go stiffer, but now that you point out that the stockers absorb more than these ones, I think I may hold off on going to the harder spring. I was going to go to a 400#. I don't know why I never thought about that rubber mount on the stock mounts. Jamie Yeah, the LQ1 does weight a bit more. I would say buy a set of mounts from Mark (aka dohcv6) and then see how your current 350# spring works out for ya (these mounts are well worth their money) Then again, I do drive around some rough ass roads. I should prolly put a couple hundred more miles on the setup to let the spring settle and the struts break in and see how it does them. Its also cold as hell out so im sure that may be making things a bit stiffer as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 I'm holding out till he gets those tubular control arms done. The sad part about buying those plates off him is I know I can have my laser cutter guy cut them out for probably $10 each, but I would have to buy the rest off Mark anyways, lol. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted February 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Im waiting on the tubular control arms too.. Except I need them bare steel, with poly bushing attatchment (no heims), 1 piece 'hoop' (not that cut up mess, im sure its very strong, just not pretty ) and 2nd gen balljoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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