Coilovers Install info 95 Subaru Impreza LX AWD

[Sarasdad]

I purchased a set of coilovers for my 1995 Subaru Impreza off of Ebay. Well to make a long story short they came with no instructions on how to install them. I ask a local garage where I have my brake work done haow much he would charge to install them $300.00! that I do not have. Can anyone send me information on how I can do this myself? .....Thanks

[LjasonL]

Yeah $300 is way too much. I'd do it for $75 or so if you were nearby.

I'm assuming you mean those little coilover "conversion" things with a threaded sleeve that slides over the stock struts? This is not a hard install.

1. remove the wheel

2. Remove the lines mounted to the strut. I think there are 2, they are on little brackets that unbolt

3. Unbolt the bottom of the strut from the hub behind the brakes. Should be 2 bolts.

4. open the hood and undo the 3 bolts around the black rubber strut top

strut assembly should fall free and you can work it out. An Impact hammer (air powered lug nut tool) will be handy for this next part

5. 1st look at the strut and remember what order all the parts go on. Move the little plastic cover around so you can see all the parts. Make a drawing if you have to to remember. Then lay the strut on the ground with the top facing AWAY from you. Stand on the bottom of it with one foot and use the impact hammer to loosen the nut in the middle of the black rubber strut top. Keep a loose grip with your hand as far out of the way as possible. It WILL spring apart when the nut comes free. It's not strong enough to throw parts across the room or something, but do this somewhere you can see where the parts go, not in the grass.

6. take the stock spring off and put the "coilover" on. The sleeve part goes on the bottom.

7. Have a friend hold the strut facing straight up in the air and put the black rubber top mount back on. Have them push down on the top mount as hard as they can and as soon as it's compressed far enough slip the nut on with your fingers and use the impact hammer to tighten it down.

8. put the strut assembly back in the car by the 3 top bolts. do not tighten them down yet

9. put the bottom bolt back in at the bottom of the strut, then you will have to pull downward on the brake and wiggle and work stuff around to get the top bolt in. It will fit if you work everything around right.

10. reattach the brake lines and put the wheel back on and lower the car back onto the ground

11. Now to tighten the top 3 bolts down. Be super careful or you will break them. They only require 12-14 lb/ft of torque. If you don't have a torque wrench, tighten all them down but stop when you start to feel resistance. You will only tighten it about an 1/8th turn past there. It will feel like you haven't tightened them enough but don't tighten them further. This is the step you're most likely to mess up.

Done! Expect to spend about 40 minutes to an hour on each corner if you're using hand tools for most of the work. If you don't have a friend available, you will probably need a spring compressor. At least you would with normal springs, those things might adjust low enough to not need one.

If you don't have access to an impact hammer, you're gonna have a hell of a time getting the strut top off and on. You will need a socket wrench with an open center that you can stick an allen wrench through. It would look like this drawing, where the blue is the socket wrench and the red is the allen wrench going directly through the middle of the socket wrench (pay no attention to the dots). Trust me, you want to use an impact hammer.

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[ssjwizard]

i had to replace a CV on my impreza recently. ive also done some other work with struts i HIGHLY recomend a spring compressor. you can go borrow one from autozone the deposit is like 46 bux. you just hook it on one of the upper coils and hook the bottom then tighten with wrench or impact driver it will pull the spring so that it wont spring apart and will keep it held perfect while your working on putting it togeather. return tool and get your money back and all is well.

[Sarasdad]

Thanks for the reply and the info. I am hopeing I have a local garage to do the job for less than $100.00. If not I am going to tackle it this week end.

Sarasdad

Originally Posted by ldelaysionl

Yeah $300 is way too much. I'd do it for $75 or so if you were nearby.

I'm assuming you mean those little coilover "conversion" things with a threaded sleeve that slides over the stock struts? This is not a hard install.

1. remove the wheel

2. Remove the lines mounted to the strut. I think there are 2, they are on little brackets that unbolt

3. Unbolt the bottom of the strut from the hub behind the brakes. Should be 2 bolts.

4. open the hood and undo the 3 bolts around the black rubber strut top

strut assembly should fall free and you can work it out. An Impact hammer (air powered lug nut tool) will be handy for this next part

5. 1st look at the strut and remember what order all the parts go on. Move the little plastic cover around so you can see all the parts. Make a drawing if you have to to remember. Then lay the strut on the ground with the top facing AWAY from you. Stand on the bottom of it with one foot and use the impact hammer to loosen the nut in the middle of the black rubber strut top. Keep a loose grip with your hand as far out of the way as possible. It WILL spring apart when the nut comes free. It's not strong enough to throw parts across the room or something, but do this somewhere you can see where the parts go, not in the grass.

6. take the stock spring off and put the "coilover" on. The sleeve part goes on the bottom.

7. Have a friend hold the strut facing straight up in the air and put the black rubber top mount back on. Have them push down on the top mount as hard as they can and as soon as it's compressed far enough slip the nut on with your fingers and use the impact hammer to tighten it down.

8. put the strut assembly back in the car by the 3 top bolts. do not tighten them down yet

9. put the bottom bolt back in at the bottom of the strut, then you will have to pull downward on the brake and wiggle and work stuff around to get the top bolt in. It will fit if you work everything around right.

10. reattach the brake lines and put the wheel back on and lower the car back onto the ground

11. Now to tighten the top 3 bolts down. Be super careful or you will break them. They only require 12-14 lb/ft of torque. If you don't have a torque wrench, tighten all them down but stop when you start to feel resistance. You will only tighten it about an 1/8th turn past there. It will feel like you haven't tightened them enough but don't tighten them further. This is the step you're most likely to mess up.

Done! Expect to spend about 40 minutes to an hour on each corner if you're using hand tools for most of the work. If you don't have a friend available, you will probably need a spring compressor. At least you would with normal springs, those things might adjust low enough to not need one.

If you don't have access to an impact hammer, you're gonna have a hell of a time getting the strut top off and on. You will need a socket wrench with an open center that you can stick an allen wrench through. It would look like this drawing, where the blue is the socket wrench and the red is the allen wrench going directly through the middle of the socket wrench (pay no attention to the dots). Trust me, you want to use an impact hammer.

.. _____________
.. |
.. |
.. | ________________________
| | |________________________|
| | |
|__|