New England B.S. Thread

Factory 5 Cobra kit
2000 Jaguar XJ8
2005 4Runner
1953 Willys Wagon

I miss the Jag. Tempurpedic seats with a 400 HP V8. Fun, big, long car

I also miss the Cobra. Nothing like a big block V8 roadster

 

1992 Toyota Camry LE
2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT
2008 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport

1994 Honda Ngihthawk 750
2006 Suzuki SV1000S

 

75 chevy laguna 350ci
93 grand am 3.8 v6
01 dodge dakota quad cab 3.9 v6
07 mazda3 5door 2.3 I4 5 speed
10 tacoma

I miss my mazda i had zero issues with that and i beat the shit out of it. i put the mazdaspeed short thorw shifter in it and it was a blast

 

Any of you guys use the no spring compressor method when changing out the front coilovers?

 

That method scares me. I bought my coils assembled but if I hadn't, I would be taking the old shocks and new shocks to a shop and have them do a quick swap using their machine. They should be able to do it quickly and cheaply.

 

Not reccomended there is alot of stored energy in those springs and then there is the issue of putting them back together

 

Never done it that way but I have a spring compresser if you feel like borrowing it drive up to mass

 

That was my plan at first. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with that method. Someone told me its easy, and it looks like he knows what he is doing. Probably above my skill level to try it this way, but there is a youtube video of someone doing it and it looks simple.

 

This is the way to go, pull them out drive up in a friends car with the old and new swap them at John and done nice and safe

 

It is simple, it uses the truck as a counterweight to keep the coils compressed. The part that scares me is when you put it all back together. I don't see how you can get the top nut through the holes without having to put your fingers or something to guide the top of the shock lined up. You now have your fingers in or very close to a compressed shock that's not really held in place by anything. That's that part that scares me about it. Especially because lift coils are stiffer than the stock coils.

 

Thanks for the offer. The gas might be more expensive compared to just bringing the coilovers to a shop. Although i would like to learn how to do it. Why cant you guys live in western mass! Boston area is a hike for me.

 

It's cheaper just to go buy a compressor set and do it yourself . I think I paid $60 for mine . I've used it 4 times and I let my boss borrow it to do his wife's car last month .

 

You won't learn much just swapping the spring over, it's just compress the spring, remove the nut and top plate, replace them on the new shock, retighten the nut and you're done. Literally, one nut. The bulk of the work is the tear down and reassembly on the truck.

 

I wasn't thinking about that I was thinking out of the truck. I have seen guys just let them fly

 

Although I believe you said you were doing ome springs ? My compressor won't work on those . I tried when I installed Miguel's lift . Or I should say we installed it was a group effort .

 

Oh... yeah, don't do that method, that's extremely dangerous and idiotic. I assumed he was talking about the method where you put the jack under the LCA, jack up the truck, loosen the top nut, put a jack stand under the frame and as you let the LCA jack down, you release the tension on the coil.

 

Why won't they work on OME coils?

 

The coils are to thick and close together for my tool to fit .

 

Worked on my eibachs but couldn't get it between the coils on the ome

 

I am looking at some now. Anything you would recomend? Also can you guys think of any other specialized tools i might need or that might make things easier for me? So far i have picked up a 250 lb tourque wrench, breaker bar, metric impact sockets (i will use my buddys electric impact in areas i can get it) i have a good assortmet of metric sockets and open ended wrenches (5-19mm) also just got a pair of jackstands that extend up to 23" and a craftsman floor jack.