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Ouch!

 

That's what he does. He is helpful though.

 

You had it right...last word--first line of your post..If I go a day and don't **** off someone, it's a wasted day...

Sorry...I am short so I get 'short' once in a while.

 

I am tall, but I don't see how that relates to thread answers.

 

Its pretty easy, this car is actually one of the easiest I've ever worked on. I can see how the rally teams swap out the assemblies in just minutes.

ON scooby mods, look up the P1 install in the GC8 section. Or the STi suspension install, I think. That's where you 'll find it. Its not in the WRX section.

Here are some tips on install in no particular order:

You'll need a 12mm socket for the strut top bolts. these take only 14.5 lb/ft of torque so be very careful when snugging these back down upon reinstalling. A torque wrench is key.

you'll need a 19mm socket for the cleavis bolts. that's the 2 big ones on the bottom of the strut. The fronts are easy but the rears can be breaker bar challenging. ON the rear you have to turn the bolt rather than the nut because the nut is wedged behind the hub assembly. So make sure to use lots of penetrating spray lube on all these to help out.

You'll need the 12mm socket to remove the brake line and ABS sensor bracket.

Once the strut assembley is out, use a 17mm impact socket/wrench to remove the top mount nut. You don't really need spring compressors as these are not under lots of tension but have a buddy hold the strut top and keep his weight on it as you impact the nut off the top. you will need to grasp between the springs to keep the piston from spinning as you knock the nut off. Once off, make sure everything is working smoothly and that you install the front springs on the front, etc. as well as the dust boots and bump stop. Do not cut the bumpstops. This is an integral part of the suspension. If the manufacturer says you need to cut, then the spring is poorly designed and you shouldn't buy it anyway. Just IMO. Anyway, very critical in reassembly of the unit, the upper spring perch needs to be properly aligned to the strut. There is a series of 3 holes on there. The middle hole needs to centered (when looking from above, down the length of the strut) between the, for lack of the correct term, blades/bracket that holds the two bolts. Just sight down the hole and try and get that spring perched centered up. Next, have your buddy push the top hat down with his weight on it while you thread the 17mm nut back on the strut top. then give it wack with the impact wrench. you will once again need to hold the piston to keep it from spinning. Just tighten till you can't tighten no more. Technically, you should use a pass through type of torque wrench to properly do this but the impact wrench has served me perfectly well on over 20 installs.

After its assembled slide it back into the chassis and snug everthing up. make sure you properly align the camber bolt. BTW, its the top one and it uses the washer. Notice the hash marks on the bolt and the strut itself.

The rear is a bit more involved in that you have to remove the rear seat in a sedan. I think a total of 6 bolts, all 12mm. Removal and assembly is like the front. Be careful to properly align the top hat here as well. The rear brake line only uses a clip to hold it all together.

You'll could also need a 19mm box wrench for both the front and rear.

Those are the main tips I have, I'm sure I'm forgetting something! Though hopefully nothing critical.

i also make sure to drive the car a few miles and retorque the 12mm strut top bolts again before putting the rear seat in and stuff. Use a torque wrench.

 

very helpful post Arnie. will installing my Sti struts and RS-R springs next week. thanks
-Dan

 

I dont know about doing this without a spring compressor (you can rent them for free @ autozone). I am not saying that I know of someone with a WRX that has hurt themselves doing this but I've heard of people being killed by trying this with other cars. Dont risk your friends or your life trying this without a free spring compressor. When I did it I had to compress the .... out of it to releive the tension. Im not saying that Arnie is wrong because if he has done it 20 times he has allot more experience than me and has allot more knowledge but I dont know Arnie. I hope you dont take this the wrong way Arnie. Remember not all of us includeing myself are experts so dont beleive everything you read on these posts. Also Arnie is correct about needing an impact gun to get the nut off of the strut shaft. I didnt know about this (because the info I got didnt tell me) untill I already had the spring compressed. You dont want to scratch the piston rod or it may cause strut failure. Dont use some junk torq wrench because it may be inaccurate and cause you to strip a camberbolt like I did with an Autozone rental.

good luck


Arnie Im not tryin to be a dik and I hope this doesnt .... you off. Im sure you are probable right but I just dont trust people I dont know when it comes to possible serious injury. You could be right and I could just be freaked out for no reason but who knows.

 

MO REX - you know where you can stick your comments... just kidding!

Seriously, you are correct, the use of a spring compressor is always recommended when assembling and disassembling struts. Because you never really know under how much pressure those springs are under. Basically all of the WRX springs I've worked on (02/03/04) have not been under very much pressure. Just a slight pop of the hat when the nut comes off. The fronts are under a bit more pressure than the rears. Having your body weight on the hat (wear gloves to protect your fingers/palms ) when you loosen things up is enough. However Legacy springs, for example, are under quite a bit of pressure and compressor is a good idea. I used to like using a spring compressor mainly on installation because it made aligning the perch easier without having to wrestle with holding the hat down and keeping things aligned. We've gotten proficient enough that we can just push down on things. With shorter springs you usually don't have to compress as the spring is so short that the hat pretty much drops deep enough to get to the threads.

Oh, one other thing I usually do when doing a suspension install...jack the car up entirely. 4 jackstands. And remove all four wheels. This gives you easy access to all the bolts. I usually spray the rears first to loosen things up, let them penetrate for awhile. Then i work on the fronts first as they are the easiest to get off. by the time you get to rears, the spray penetrant has had a chance to work its way in. Also do one side at a time so that you always have a complete installed set as a point of reference if you can't remember something.

also, if I haven't stressed this enough, the rear 19 mm bolts (without the use of air tools) can be really tough. They are seriously torqued down.

 

Ill second that. Thanks for being understanding and not getting all peed off. Your a good man.

 

No problem. there wasn't anything you said that I found annoying. You make good points, especially regarding not knowing who the hell I am and the advice I'm giving. Sometimes people get too self righteous about their advice and make comments that help no one but **** off lots. What's the point in that? I appreciate that you give a damn if you've offended me. That sort of courtesy is getting to be a rarity on these boards. Perhaps I should edit my post a bit. It does sound a bit like "this is the only and best way to do it". And I can't stand it when people sound that self righteous!

I'm no guru or professional mechanic but we've pretty much had a suspension install every other weekend for the last year or so. That probably adds up to more than 20 I guess. So far, we haven't had any problems. I think we've only had one case of knocking after an install. We even did an SRT-4 with ground controls this last weekend. That's a fun car. Very fast, handles very well out of the box. Owner just wanted to reduce the *** in the air look.