My suspension overhaul/installation

Hi everyone,

I thought I would go through my suspension overhaul and fill people in on how the install went. Short version is it sucked! I knew it would be difficult and time consuming but we ran into some problems early on that I wasn’t anticipating. Parts I installed were:

• KYB GR-2 Struts (KYB GR-2 Shocks were installed a year and half ago and were still in good shape)

• UPR Shark Steel CC Plates

• Summit Racing Rear Control Arms (upper and lower with urethane bushings)

• UPR 8.8 Spherical Upper Axle Bushings (to help prevent bind on the upper torque boxes)

• FRPP C-Springs with Energy Suspension Poly Isolators

We did the struts, front springs, and CC plates first. First problem I encountered was that both of my front springs were broken on the bottom coil and they were rusted into the Control Arm. Had to hammer them out (which took awhile) and then chipped/sanded all the rust out of the spring perch in the control arm. I had to do that for both front springs. The new springs/struts/CC plates went in easily. Now to the Rear end.

Both of my lower control arm axle-side bolts were seized in the stock rubber bushing sleeve. Completely rusted together...This was the biggest pain in the a$$. We had to grind both ends off of each bolt (this whole process of trying to get the bolt out and then realizing they were seized and needed grinding took about 4 hours). Then on to the stock rubber bushing on the upper axle side. I knew those were going to be a pain. We grinded the lip off the bushing housing and hammered the sides inward enough to hammer it out of the bushing housing. Installing the new axle bushings was a bit of a pain as well but not too bad (would have helped if we used WD-40 or something to lube them). The total process took from 4:00pm Sunday to 1:00am Monday. Then about 9:00am to about 2:00pm Monday afternoon. That totals to about 14 hours. Again, a lot of that time was cleaning out the front control arms from the broken springs, the seized control arm bolts, and the upper axle bushings.

The improvement in the ride is tremendous. It actually feels better and smoother than the OEM ride (granted i had 150k+ on all the stock bushings/springs, and I had 2 broken springs etc...). The rear end is much stiffer! I just got it aligned today so hopefully I'll be able to update handling/launch improvement later on. Sorry for the novel but I know some of you wanted to know how it went. If you have any questions please ask away. I will try to post pictures…

My ultimate goal for this setup was to have a more firm, more predictable ride. It was never meant to be a race setup...just a mild street setup. I never track my car; it gets me to work and back every day. I think I accomplished my goal well.