Susp. installation

[dben]

Okay I read the suspension diy, and i have my kyb agx shocks and h&r springs in hand. The only problem is that I can't use the spring compressor yet, because i'm missing something



I don't have that black part (at the top of the picture) to hold down the spring. When I remove my old struts, do I just take that part and swap it onto my new ones?

[d112crzy]

yes.

[dben]

okay i just answered my own question when i read the diy for the 100th time in a row. sorry!

edit: thanks d112

[d112crzy]

you shouldnt need a spring compresor for your new strut/spring assembly. its to take of the stock ones that you need it for.

[dben]

i have kyb agx shocks and h&r springs, and i'm trying to thread the nut that goes at the top of the shock, but the metal rod keeps rotating with the threads. we compressed the spring as much as we could, but the rod still rotates, even with a vice grip.

any help? my car is currently in shambles.

[d112crzy]

you shouldnt need the compressor when putting your aftermarket suspesion together. just push it on there.

[dben]

i tried just pushing it on there, but i can't thread the nut back on. the rod of the shock rotates with the threads, and it doesnt tighten

[Rustyshakleford]

You should be able to put a wrench on the flat part of the shaft to stop it from spinning then you can tighten that nut up, i just use my air gun it zaps the nut right on.

[dben]

Well the flat/threaded part of the strut is covered by the cap and the bumpstop and all that jazz.

Anyways, I finally got a vice grip on, and i started threading the nut, however I have another question. Should I tighten the nut all the way until there is no thread left (leaving a lot of thread at the top), or leave like 1/4" of thread at the top.

[chinkyaccord]

tighten the nut all the way. all the excess thread should be at the top of the nut.

[dben]

that's going to be like 2" of excess thread sticking out. the stock ones don't look like that.

[dben]

plus, i can barely tighten the nut anymore and i've only got 1/4" of excess thread.

[dben]

i need some more advice. I still can't turn the nut, i'm just stripping the top of the rod trying to vice grip it still. Is it not compressed enough? Should I just install it on the car and tighten it after, would that make it easier? This sucks!

[H23Accord]

I am not sure on the KYBs, but you will need to use an wrench I believe on the top of the shock at the top of the shock right below the part where you would stick the adjustment knob on. On stock shocks you actually use an allen wrench where the adjustment device now resides on adjustable shocks. While the above is in place, take a crescent wrench and wrench that nut that is on the threads ALL THE WAY DOWN. You will have as mentioned a lot of threads left. Just keep wrenching until you can't anymore. Now I don't know if your shocks are similar to the KONIs you have pictured above, but there is a second nut that is provided in the KONI setup that you are suppose to thread down over top of the nut you just recently threaded down. The second nut is used like a lock nut and you only need to tighten it a little more than finger tight. At this point you should be done and ready to install it onto the car.

[dben]

i did use an allen wrench on the top of the stock shock, but on the kybs, that's where the adjustment thing is. so there is nowhere else to put a wrench, becuase the rest of the rod is threads or just smooth round rod. Do i pop off the adjustment thing on the top?

I did finally get the nut on a little better, but only becuase I compressed the springs down a lot. I just feel like i'm doing something wrong.