In the progress of installing my Hotchkis springs.. I got the fronts on in a snap, no problems there..

Who the hell invented the way you install the rears? This is asinine.. after I took my first rear strut apart I found out I was supposed to "mark" a line on each piece so that you re-assemble the strut and upper perch so that the studs line up at the top and the bottom bolt lines up with the lower control arm..

Well I screwed up and they don't line up.. it's close, but not enough.. I can't seem to compress the Hotchkis springs inside the assembly enough now to try and rotate the upper perch because Hotchkis decided to use the most tightest wound rear springs i've ever seen on a vehicle.. So the top of the spring is still touching the top perch and I can't rotate it..

Any suggestions or tricks to get the top hat fixed without having to take apart the WHOLE thing.. which took me HOURS btw.. i've never spent so much time on a car to lower it until I started on my tC..

Thanks,

Jay

it's hard to explain but put the assembly in and jack up the arm to compress the spring. then tighten the nut.

What? I don't think you read a word I said.. I can't get the top perch studs to match up with the holes in the frame of the car because the top perch is on crooked.

oh i have no idea what your talkin about, i made no markings on mine prior to taking them apart and everything went in real easy. i liked doin the rear more than the fronts. it sounded to me like your problem was not being able to compress the spring enough. you were complaining about how tight they are wound and all.

Don't make any markings. Assemble the shock tower/spring but DON'T tighten anything down. Line up the top studs and then the lower section in its holster (slip the bolt in the bottom if you can). Then use a floor jack to compress the shock tower and then tighten the nut. Then release the jack and torque to spec.

Don't make any markings. Assemble the shock tower/spring but DON'T tighten anything down. Line up the top studs and then the lower section in its holster (slip the bolt in the bottom if you can). Then use a floor jack to compress the shock tower and then tighten the nut. Then release the jack and torque to spec.

exactly what i was trying to say, just didn't know how to explain it.

I kind of understand what you guys are saying..

You're not using spring compressors for the rears.. you're putting it into the car uncompressed, then putting a floor jack or something under the control arm to compress it against the car.. but here's my question to you guys; how are you tightening the top nut when you can't get to it? Once you line up the studs into the proper holes, there's no access area to the top nut.. The only way I can vision this happening is to not put the studs in their holes and just compress the studs against the metal of the frame..

Is this right?

Jay

Oh and besides, I got so frusterated I forced the top hat into fitting into the holes last night.. so I hope this doesn't hurt the strut assembly in the long run by being constantly twisted like that.. I figure it might automatically correct itself but I could very well be wrong.

Jay

What's preventing you from seeing the nut? The dust cap? Contrary to popular belief, you CAN put the dust cap back on once the strut assembly is in the car. I did it.

very simple. get your buddy, have him hold down on the top of the shock with a towel. use an impact and unbolt the nut. it will give a small jump but not enough to do anything, its very small. now for the part you made hard. place the top of the shock body into the body of your car and put your bolts on. line up the bottom of the shock and push the plunger through the body of the car. bolt the bottom of the shock. slowly jack up the suspension in the rear and make sure someone is leaning in the back of the car to align the shock's rod. once your high enough start the bolt and remove the assembly from your car and tighten.

I'll have to try this on the other side when I get a chance... sounds promising ;) Thanks for the tips. I'm assuming there is an opening underneath all of that carpet to access the top nut, eh? I didn't want to go through the hassle of peeling back the carpet.. hmm.