Guide - Fitting Lowering Springs

[singlespeed]

Only difference I noticed, is that the bolt you are undoing on 5B.. On my car there wasn't any kind of bracket like on yours, just the two large bolts and it was off! Was really simple, just the springs were abit awkward

cool. Just added a note about the 1.2 not having the ARB

 

[BlackTwingo-i]

Okay cool what is that for anyway? Extra support for the stiffer chassis or something?

 

[weebob]

Top job mate, looks good.

Anti Roll Bars are a bar that links up both sides to help resist bodyroll

"The primary function of anti-roll bars is to reduce body roll by adding to the roll resistance of the springs.
An anti-roll bar, also referred to as a stabilizer or sway bar, is a bar or tube which connects some part of the left and right sides of the suspension system. On independent suspension systems, the connection point is usually the lower control arm.
Most cars have a front anti-roll bar, and most sports cars are going to have both a front and rear bar. After market bars are going to be stiffer than the stock ones."

 

[BlackTwingo-i]

Oooh ARB means anti roll bars, if I knew that I would of understood! cheers!
When you lowering yours 25mm weebob

 

[weebob]

Oooh ARB means anti roll bars, if I knew that I would of understood! cheers!
When you lowering yours 25mm weebob

yours does look the shiznit. Unsure if my old mans spine could take any more.

Exhausts on the cards first

 

[BlackTwingo-i]

Sounds good, shame you didnt get ALs buckets!

 

[JE_GT]

I noticed the GT didn't have any droplinks to undo either when I put my spax springs on yesterday... was a piece of piss to get the strut off! whole car was done in under an hour..

 

[singlespeed]

I noticed the GT didn't have any droplinks to undo either when I put my spax springs on yesterday... was a piece of piss to get the strut off! whole car was done in under an hour..

Under an hour :shock:

Without a 4 point lift or ramps etc, messing about with jacks / stands and, doing it as a first time run, I normaly allow 45min - 1 hour for the rear end and 1.5 - 2 hours for the fronts. If it takes less time, it's a bonus.

 

[JE_GT]

lol, I forgot to mention there were 3 of us on it... luckily everything on my GT is in pristine condition and just came straight off without any hick-ups so that helped alot. If I were on my own it would have taken me about 3-4 weeks.

 

[BlackTwingo-i]

Me and a friend did just the fronts in 4 hours, was mostly just me but I needed help with the spring compressing and undoing the strut top nut
Did the backs on my own in an hour.. Hands still abit dirty after endless scrubbing!

 

[maggi200]

Good chance to get all the salt off the underside of the car then!

Looks great, I love this car!! I want these wheels for winters next year

 

[maggi200]

As a part of fixing my car to prevent the scuttle leaking... Renault have actually glued it down! Ffs

Taken me ages so far and it's still not off!!!

 

[Callum-stirling]

I bought mine from Karl about 6 weeks ago, I have the full fat with cup pack and it was the best thing I ever did. Didn't think it would handle much better but it's amazing how much difference it makes. I rented an impact wrench for 20 quid for the day and it took me about 3 hours all round so it wasn't too bad.

 

[steveo]

thanks for this guide, it helped me replace my snapped spring today!
my bit of feedback will be about the 21mm bolts holding the strut to the lower arm

1) when you hammer out the 21mm bolts (because they are splined) it is best practice to leave the nut just on the end of the bolt to hit the hammer against. If you hit a hammer directly onto the bolt you will most likely damage/bend the threads and have trouble when re-assembling! Older cars will suffer more for this as the bolt become more seized.

2) you can use a jack to take the strain of the lower arm (+ drive shaft, hub, disc brake and caliper). This helps to take some of the strain out the 21mm bolts when removing, and especially helpful when trying to get everything lined back up when putting it all back together!

 

[Callum-stirling]

thanks for this guide, it helped me replace my snapped spring today!
my bit of feedback will be about the 21mm bolts holding the strut to the lower arm

1) when you hammer out the 21mm bolts (because they are splined) it is best practice to leave the nut just on the end of the bolt to hit the hammer against. If you hit a hammer directly onto the bolt you will most likely damage/bend the threads and have trouble when re-assembling! Older cars will suffer more for this as the bolt become more seized.

2) you can use a jack to take the strain of the lower arm (+ drive shaft, hub, disc brake and caliper). This helps to take some of the strain out the 21mm bolts when removing, and especially helpful when trying to get everything lined back up when putting it all back together!

I damaged the thread on one of my lower strut bolts with a hammer so yes be very careful !!!!! I had to order a new one.

 

[maggi200]

I also did the same. The issue was the guide says 'tap' so I tapped with a rather small hammer.

No such issue when I got a big hammer with a head much bigger than the bolt :lol:

Didn't bother me much though as I needed to replace a drop link at the same time. The bolts are ~£7.50 plus vat each

 

[singlespeed]

thanks for this guide, it helped me replace my snapped spring today!
my bit of feedback will be about the 21mm bolts holding the strut to the lower arm

1) when you hammer out the 21mm bolts (because they are splined) it is best practice to leave the nut just on the end of the bolt to hit the hammer against. If you hit a hammer directly onto the bolt you will most likely damage/bend the threads and have trouble when re-assembling! Older cars will suffer more for this as the bolt become more seized.

2) you can use a jack to take the strain of the lower arm (+ drive shaft, hub, disc brake and caliper). This helps to take some of the strain out the 21mm bolts when removing, and especially helpful when trying to get everything lined back up when putting it all back together!

Good points I do that out of habit so neglected to mention it.

Notes now added into the guide. Thanks for the feedback :mrgreen:

 

[Dsign]

Tip added to this guide :

After completing with the whole process of fitting lower springs one may want to loosen all the rubber bushes from the front wishbones and from the rear axle, put the car onto an elevator on which the car will sit on the four wheels (as it normally sits on the street) an then tighten the bushes.

This will help you have a nice ride over the bumps, keep your bushes undamaged for a longer period of time and make them work correctly.


I hope everyone understood me. I'm not a native english speaker so be nice to me

 

[Twingoroe]

Just got some for my gt, anyone know where I can get them fitted? Wigan, bolton area? Also whats best size spacers get for the gt? I want them as wide as I can get without loss of handling! Cheers!

 

[Universe]

Just got some for my gt, anyone know where I can get them fitted? Wigan, bolton area? Also whats best size spacers get for the gt? I want them as wide as I can get without loss of handling! Cheers!

About 20mm is safe