Awesome write up.

 

im one of those paranoid about hurting myself or someone else lol ive heard some horror stories about springs hurting peeps...from a few friends

but i could rent the spring compressor and have no worries

geez this is tempting lol springs themselves are not that costly its always the installation that sucks your wallet dry...TheDanger rocks he already offered to help too so I may just do that some time...course I do have a few friends who are auto gurus one worked at Velocitytrends before.

very very very good writeup, Im 99% sure I can do it ..and thats saying a lot cause im a newbie

 

If it makes you feel better, i'm 17 and i did it on my own. Of course when i was 16 i had a knowledgeable friend show me how to change my springs on my Toyota Echo (same suspension set up as the xB/xA). I changed from stock > Megan Racing springs that night and watched how he did it.

A few months later i bought Tanabe df210's (for the xB) and swapped them onto my Echo and sold the Megan Racing springs. Then i took the Tanabe's off, traded in the Echo for the xB and then put them on the xB. Not hard at all but by yourself it WILL take some time. Some people says it takes 2 hours but for me it's taken almost 4 hours. Thats getting all my tools out, jacking up the car ... and removing the window cowl with wiper assembly takes some time. Some people choose not to do it but it's a lot easier with it removed to work on the front struts, and you can get a torque wrench on the nuts to makes sure their torqued down properly. Good luck.

 

This is really a great help for people who want to install their own springs and sve a couple hundred bucks. Thanks for posting it!!!

One thing that might be added....When you remove your struts in the front-SUPPORT YOU WHEEL HUB(ROTORS)!!!! If you let them hang it can cause you inner axle boots to tear, and the clamps to pop off, leaving nice piles of thick grease under your car (and not on your axle joints where they need to be).
This happened to someone (guess who ), and even tho I could fix it alright, it's not fun- and it turns the job from 2 hours into about 6...

 

Where does the grease come out from? Where the rotors are or underneath the engine? I never knew about supporting them and i didn't do it when i changed my springs. I want to check and make sure that it didn't happen. When i changed the springs on my last car (Echo) both times i didn't do this and there was a bunch of grease all in my engine bay and on my firewall and i couldn't figure out where it came from

 

well i fubar'ed my front spring install

one strut boot has a hole in it and the other was getting close too it

i did not know that the front coil spring seat upper and the strut rod was keyed

the struts are fine but the front coil spring seat upper and boot are fubar'ed

so went to the dealer to order new ones all four pieces cost less then 60 dollars

will take pics when i take it apart again

this time it only took my 2.5 hours to take every thing apart and put back together

 

well i some what knew i went wrong when i had to get a another alinement done 2 times in two months last year

so last friday i took my struts out and check my shotty work :?

passenger side



driver side



so yeah thats a pretty way below subpar of a install i did last year :?

thats cause i never knew that the strut rod is keyed :?
thats one major detail that every body left out :?




so now i have gottin the new parts replacement parts installed every thing is lined back up, every thing is back up to par

the bad install resulted in the car drifting off too the right pretty, glad i got that **** fixed right this time and it only costed me $58.90 for the replacement parts from the dealership

 

I was going to wait until spring for my sring install, but today i got "the itch" and had to put the hotchkis springs on and it really is only a 2 hour job using all hand tools, If i had a air commpresed spring commpresser it would have only taken about an hour or hour and a half.

 

i have a problem!
its REALLY hard for me to undo the front suspension
i been into an accident before and all the bolts are HARD as hell its like nearly impossible to take it out
i got the back ones in easy, but i dont wanan be riding on just the back ones all the time


need help/info

 

Use a breaker bar, it's quite easy to do.


Or just slide a pipe over your wrench handle and use it.



Which bolts are you talking about?

 

nvm i think i figured out the problem...

it was those two 19mm ones by the abs

i was stupid not to remove the wheel
yaya dumb mistake... but ima do it right 2maro thanks

 

oo actually this might be stupid but ya
i bought the tanabe df210s ... which ones are the front? which are the read?

 

look at the size of them. comare the shape of the tanabe's to the stock shocks.

 

Looks pretty straight forward...I ahve an 06 xA, and will be getting my Tein S Techs Wednesday....will the install be the same as this? Any differences?

 

basically exactly the same.

 

Very straight forward installation writeup, I installed GoldLine 2" drop, looks awesome, rides awesome. Minor noise coming from all 4 springs, but after driving around for a few hours, noise is going away. Keep the awesome writeups coming.

 

Thanks to the write up my friend and I installed Tein H-Techs & the OTG rear hub spacers in 2 hours flat. It sits a lot better now and ride quality is improved a little bit. I'm happy.

 

Hornet on a flower thats strange, I didn't notice mine were keyed but I'm not pulling to one side or another and don't hear any noises so I'm assuming all is well..

And after thinking about it, everyone does mention to make sure the OUT of that metal piece and the tab of the boot face towards the outside of the vehicle that may have been the issue.

 

I used these instructions today and with the help of my wife I got it done in 2 hours. I could not have done it without these instructions!! Thanks for your effort!!

 

does anybody know how bad thier camber/toe was after lowering it about 1.75 in? is it necessary to buy a camber kit?