How-to: Eibach Rear Springs Removal/Reinstallation

[Beachdrifter]

Hey guys,

This X-mas break I will be installing Eibach Springs in my car. I figured I would document my experience and take pics for all to see. This is my first time doing anything like this on any car, so I am a newbie, and hope this helps other newbies.

I will explain what I have done, and if anyone else has recommendations feel free to post.

So far I have started and finished only the rear passenger side spring.... so here we go:



^^^ First, jack the car up as you would normally. Always use jackstands. I rented spring compressors from AutoZone, and put them on the old springs as shown in the pic. A good rule of thumb is to get the compressor span-range to 4 coil rows to sufficiently compress the coil.
I also sprayed a lot of PB Blaster on the nuts to ease removal.

Compress each side alternating to have even compression. Once the coil is compressed to the maximum ability of the compressor, begin to loosen the nuts above the shock tower. Then loosen the nut below the strut.

BEFORE removing the strut, replace one of the nuts on the top shock tower to keep the strut assembly in place while you free the lower strut from the bolt.

It was useful to use the jack just below the strut as I freed the lower strut. This will prevent the strut shooting out with residual spring tension and the jack will "catch it"; this will allow you to slowly lower the strut.


^^^ Once the strut is loose, you can take the strut apart. Very simple. Notice how compressed the spring is. Uncompress the spring.


^^^ Here is a great pic to show the uncompressed springs by comparison; stock vs eibach.


^^^ Reassemble the strut assembly and compress the new spring. (Notice I did not use the 4 rule of thumb; my mistake, as I corrected this later. In this pic I used 3 and it was not enough to sufficiently compress the spring)


^^^ Again, use the jack to aid you in lifting the strut assembly into place, especially while you hammer in the bolt through the lower strut. You will have to play around with this part and jiggle it through. Spray some PB blaster on the bolt to make it go through the hold easier.


^^^ Here is a good pic of the strut assembly and compressors. Notice the compressor spanning 4 rows on each side. Once the strut assembly is in place, uncompress the spring, each side alternating. The spring should sit nicely and fill the entire shock tower when uncomressed.


^^^ Once it is in, and fully uncomressed, tighten the lower strut nut and also the upper shock tower nuts. You may have to use the jack to jack up the strut to reinstall upper nuts again.

And voila, it is done.

_______________________

Ok, I did not use any power tools and it took me 4-5 hrs to do one spring. Granted I have never done anything like this before, so I am hoping the next one I do tomorrow will go quicker.

I am not sure if I am going to tackle the front springs myself or not, but we'll see.

When all is done I will show pics of the car and show how it is lowered.

Please, use this procedure at your own risk. I am not responsible for damages or injuries that may occur to you. This is what I did to my car and it worked fine. Keeep in mind that compressed springs are very dangerous. Take your time, be safe, and do not rush!

Hope you guys enjoyed this post. I will do the drivers side rear tomorrow. I will update this thread with pics as needed.

--Randy

[Hollywood2311]

*edit* Nevermind, you did the rears...

[mark v]

Uh.... stock springs are not red.

[Ilan]

Pictures don't seem to work for me. Can you upload them here?

Edit... must have been geocities as they're now ok.

Nice write up.

[Hollywood2311]

*edit* and they work again. Haha

[BrianP]

Are those original shocks?

[DMage]

Some of the pictures are not working. Randy, thanks for taking the time to do this writeup, maybe I'll rethink about doing this myself when I get around to it...

[Beachdrifter]

Originally Posted by BrianP

Are those original shocks?

I'm assuming they are originals. But i will remove the pics off the geocities site and use an image dump place ..not enough bandwith. Sorry guys.

--Randy

[Way of Cain]

Wasn't that Chrome's car in a former life? If so, color doesn't mean anything as to what is stock or not.

[mark v]

Ahhh.... True. Chrome colored everything he could touch.