I posted this over at Team SR. The post is:
http://www.teamsr.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=17&t=000109
You're gonna need just basic tools.
-17mm wrench
-14mm wrench
-17mm socket
-14mm socket
-12mm socket
-10mm socket
-3/8" drive ratchet
-Torque Wrench
-screwdrivers (phillips and standard)
-coil spring compressor (either rent or buy one from any local automotive store like Pep Boys or Autozone)
Now..you can use just these basic tools, but remember it's gonna be tough, unless you have power tools. Otherwise be sure to have a couple of cans of WD-40 laying around to loosen up some bolts and nuts.
<b>Lowering The Front</b>
1. Jack up your car on whatever corner you wish to start on, I started with the front drivers. Remove the dust cap with your straight screwdriver from the top of the strut (under hood). Loosen the 17mm nut (it is caked with grease in there), DO NOT remove the nut. Remove the 4 14mm nuts from the strut tower.
2. Remove the wheel, it makes a good safety device to put under the brake disc (not really necessary unless you expect to knock your car off the jack). Remove the 10mm nut that attaches your brake line to the strut. Now for the hard part, wedge your ratchet or wrench on the bolt side of the 17mm strut bolt. Use the other on the nut side to break loose the bolt These bolts are on very tight, so make sure you have some muscle built up, if you're using regular tools. Remove both bolts.
3. Remove the strut. It is not real easy, but the strut can be massaged out of your wheel well without any other parts removed.
4. Use your coil spring compressor to shrink your spring a bit so that it relieves the pressure on the top of the strut assembly. It's gonna take some muscle and a little time to get it to compress with just basic tools. Make sure to read the instructions that come with the spring compressor and use the safety hooks. Make sure to compress the spring evenly or bad things could happen. Once it is compressed you can remove the 17mm nut that you loosened previously. Remove the swiveling plate and the top strut plate, then the spring.
5. Remove the spring compressor from this spring and put it on your new spring. Place the spring on, making sure the notched portion of the bottom and top spring plates coincide with the ends of the springs and that the rubber is in place. Replace the swivel and the nut. You won't be able to completely tighten it yet. Remove the spring compressor.
6. Reassembly, they go back in the same way they came off. Make note of the larger "bump" on the swivel plate. You can see where it needs to go back in (I believe toward the outside of the fender). Replace the top 3 nuts but do not tighten them yet.
Replace and tighten the lower bolts. Now tighten the three on the top, and the 17mm nut in the shock. Replace the 10mm bolt and brake line.
<b>Lowering The Rear</b>
This is basically the same, with a few exceptions.
1. Remove the hatch to cabin spacer.
Remove the 5 phillips screws that hold the plastic trim to the car (The bit that holds the spacer).
2. Underneath you will find a metal panel with 3 (I think) 10mm nuts and 1 phillips screw. Remove this piece as well.
3. Now you have access to the dust cap and 3 strut nuts. These nuts are 12mm instead of 14mm, but the nut under the dust cap is 17mm. The dust cap is a little different, rubber instead of plastic so you don't need the screwdriver to remove it.
4. Removal is the same on the bottom end with the exception of the brake line, and the anti-sway bar link. The brake line is removed by removing a small clip with screwdriver and hammer. The brake line slides out after the clip is removed.
5. Remove the sway bar link by using the 14mm wrench on the ball joint side and the 14mm socket on the nut side.
6. When you pull the strut out it will be more difficult due to the sway bar link. The spring comes off the same and goes on the same.
7. Put it back together as you took it apart. The "<b>L portion</b>" of the brake line clip goes up or you won't have any tension and it will fall off. The top plate can only go one way here by the way it is shaped.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote><b>Also is an alignment recomended afterwords?</b><hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=1 id=quote>
It depends. Some people like to wait a couple of weeks before getting one done because they want their springs to settle before having everything all fixed. Otherwise, if you don't really care about that small of a drop (like a .1-.3" drop) for settling, then get an alignment done right after lowering the car.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote><b>Are normal tibby jacks good enough (safe) or would two floor jacks be better?</b><hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=1 id=quote>
Well, you're gonna need a couple good floor jacks. You could get a good floor jack and use that for your body lifts, and then use the regular Hyundai Jack for the small suspension parts. I would truly think about getting 4 jack stands though. That way, you can lift the entire car right up off the ground.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote><b>If im going to go with 17's..should I look into a lower spring? Rather than the 1.2 Eich. ones?</b><hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=1 id=quote>
It's all personal preference dude. Some people like just the basic drop, while others want their car down in the weeds. You have to look at the Pro's & Con's of each type of spring.
The Eibachs don't have that low of a drop, but they're one of the best when it comes down to handling and ride quality. Also, you can get away with keeping your factory struts/shocks with an Eibach drop, and your suspension won't suffer too much.
Going with a bigger drop spring like B&G or H&R (both have a 1.5" drop), or even Intrax (2") gives you get a better drop height, but then your ride quality might suffer a little without aftermarket struts/shocks.
Also, you should have no problems at all running with any of the springs I listed here, with a 17" rim and tire combo. But then again, it all depends on your offset and the width of the rims.
*edit*
Rob..feel free to use this in the new FAQ section if you want! <img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>
http://www.teamsr.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=17&t=000109
You're gonna need just basic tools.
-17mm wrench
-14mm wrench
-17mm socket
-14mm socket
-12mm socket
-10mm socket
-3/8" drive ratchet
-Torque Wrench
-screwdrivers (phillips and standard)
-coil spring compressor (either rent or buy one from any local automotive store like Pep Boys or Autozone)
Now..you can use just these basic tools, but remember it's gonna be tough, unless you have power tools. Otherwise be sure to have a couple of cans of WD-40 laying around to loosen up some bolts and nuts.
<b>Lowering The Front</b>
1. Jack up your car on whatever corner you wish to start on, I started with the front drivers. Remove the dust cap with your straight screwdriver from the top of the strut (under hood). Loosen the 17mm nut (it is caked with grease in there), DO NOT remove the nut. Remove the 4 14mm nuts from the strut tower.
2. Remove the wheel, it makes a good safety device to put under the brake disc (not really necessary unless you expect to knock your car off the jack). Remove the 10mm nut that attaches your brake line to the strut. Now for the hard part, wedge your ratchet or wrench on the bolt side of the 17mm strut bolt. Use the other on the nut side to break loose the bolt These bolts are on very tight, so make sure you have some muscle built up, if you're using regular tools. Remove both bolts.
3. Remove the strut. It is not real easy, but the strut can be massaged out of your wheel well without any other parts removed.
4. Use your coil spring compressor to shrink your spring a bit so that it relieves the pressure on the top of the strut assembly. It's gonna take some muscle and a little time to get it to compress with just basic tools. Make sure to read the instructions that come with the spring compressor and use the safety hooks. Make sure to compress the spring evenly or bad things could happen. Once it is compressed you can remove the 17mm nut that you loosened previously. Remove the swiveling plate and the top strut plate, then the spring.
5. Remove the spring compressor from this spring and put it on your new spring. Place the spring on, making sure the notched portion of the bottom and top spring plates coincide with the ends of the springs and that the rubber is in place. Replace the swivel and the nut. You won't be able to completely tighten it yet. Remove the spring compressor.
6. Reassembly, they go back in the same way they came off. Make note of the larger "bump" on the swivel plate. You can see where it needs to go back in (I believe toward the outside of the fender). Replace the top 3 nuts but do not tighten them yet.
Replace and tighten the lower bolts. Now tighten the three on the top, and the 17mm nut in the shock. Replace the 10mm bolt and brake line.
<b>Lowering The Rear</b>
This is basically the same, with a few exceptions.
1. Remove the hatch to cabin spacer.
Remove the 5 phillips screws that hold the plastic trim to the car (The bit that holds the spacer).
2. Underneath you will find a metal panel with 3 (I think) 10mm nuts and 1 phillips screw. Remove this piece as well.
3. Now you have access to the dust cap and 3 strut nuts. These nuts are 12mm instead of 14mm, but the nut under the dust cap is 17mm. The dust cap is a little different, rubber instead of plastic so you don't need the screwdriver to remove it.
4. Removal is the same on the bottom end with the exception of the brake line, and the anti-sway bar link. The brake line is removed by removing a small clip with screwdriver and hammer. The brake line slides out after the clip is removed.
5. Remove the sway bar link by using the 14mm wrench on the ball joint side and the 14mm socket on the nut side.
6. When you pull the strut out it will be more difficult due to the sway bar link. The spring comes off the same and goes on the same.
7. Put it back together as you took it apart. The "<b>L portion</b>" of the brake line clip goes up or you won't have any tension and it will fall off. The top plate can only go one way here by the way it is shaped.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote><b>Also is an alignment recomended afterwords?</b><hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=1 id=quote>
It depends. Some people like to wait a couple of weeks before getting one done because they want their springs to settle before having everything all fixed. Otherwise, if you don't really care about that small of a drop (like a .1-.3" drop) for settling, then get an alignment done right after lowering the car.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote><b>Are normal tibby jacks good enough (safe) or would two floor jacks be better?</b><hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=1 id=quote>
Well, you're gonna need a couple good floor jacks. You could get a good floor jack and use that for your body lifts, and then use the regular Hyundai Jack for the small suspension parts. I would truly think about getting 4 jack stands though. That way, you can lift the entire car right up off the ground.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote><b>If im going to go with 17's..should I look into a lower spring? Rather than the 1.2 Eich. ones?</b><hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=1 id=quote>
It's all personal preference dude. Some people like just the basic drop, while others want their car down in the weeds. You have to look at the Pro's & Con's of each type of spring.
The Eibachs don't have that low of a drop, but they're one of the best when it comes down to handling and ride quality. Also, you can get away with keeping your factory struts/shocks with an Eibach drop, and your suspension won't suffer too much.
Going with a bigger drop spring like B&G or H&R (both have a 1.5" drop), or even Intrax (2") gives you get a better drop height, but then your ride quality might suffer a little without aftermarket struts/shocks.
Also, you should have no problems at all running with any of the springs I listed here, with a 17" rim and tire combo. But then again, it all depends on your offset and the width of the rims.
*edit*
Rob..feel free to use this in the new FAQ section if you want! <img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>
