Here's how the StreetRaceTech coilovers are installed on the rear of an LX. The entire process takes about 45 minutes per side. First, raise car, place jack-stand into pocket in front of rear tire, and remove tire. The first thing you'll do is remove the nut that holds the bottom mount for the rear shock. It's an 18mm nut. Then, completely remove the two top shock mounting bolts. They are 16MM. Now you want to remove the nut holding the inner end of the lower control arm - the large stamped metal arm that holds the spring and shock. After that nut has been removed, place your floorjack under the control arm, and lift it up just enough to remove the pressure being caused by the spring. Don't actually raise the car with the jack at this point - merely counteract the pressure from the spring. Remove the bolt securing the lower control arm. It's 15mm. Now you can release the floor jack, and the entire lower control arm will pivot down. The arm will drop low enough that you can simply pull out the spring and the rubber top and lower mounts that held the spring in place. Now that the pressure from the spring is gone, you can remove the bolt that held the lower end of the shock in place. There is now enough clearance to completely remove the shock as well. Now that the stock spring and shock are gone, simply raise the control arm back up by hand and reinstall the bolt on the inner end of the lower control arm. (18mm nut, 15mm bolt).
Now to assemble and install the coilover itself. The first box holds the shock and the spring perches. The first thing you'll want to do is spray some white lithium grease (available at any auto parts store) on the threads inside the upper spring perch. By doing this ahead of time, you'll be able to adjust ride height later by hand - no tools required. After spraying the threads, thread that piece all the way to the top of the shock. Next, you'll find a bag filled with the required mounting hardware. THe kit includes a black top mount, a blue anodized riser, a pair of offset bushings, a short 1/2" bolt with thin lock nut, and a longer 1/2" bolt with lockwasher and locknut. The black metal piece wil fit very snugly over the bearing at the top of the shock. It is then held in place with the shorter 1/2" bolt and the thin lock nut. Next, you'll assembly the lower spring perch, which consists of the cone-shped perch from the shock box, and the anodized aluminum riser from the parts kit. When mated together, they look like this: Slide the spring onto the shock body, then install the lower mount as shown: The two offset bushings go into the bearing on the lower end of the shock: Ultimately, you'll be useing the longer 1/2" bolt, lockwasher and locknut as shown. Now that the coilover is assembled, you slide the lower end of the coilover into the pocket that previously held the bottom of the factory shock. IMPORTANT NOTE: The reason the bearings are offset, is to shift the shock slightly backwards and out of the way of the halfshaft. make certain the longer bearing points toward the front of the car, and the shorter bearing goes toward the rear. That ensures additional clearance to avoid the halfshaft. Use the new, long 1/2" bolt, lock washer and locknut to firmly secure the bottom of the coilover. Now, reuse the two factory 16mm bolts to mount the top of the coilover. When the top and bottom mounts are tightened securely, thread the top spring perch down until it makes contact with the spring. You will then keep twisting by hand, until you've gotten your desired ride height. There is a grove running down the length of the thread shock body, and there's an allen headed set screw to ensure the spring perch doesn't travel up or down the threads over time.
Again - total install time for the above was 45 minutes (per side) and that included opening the boxes and assembling the coilovers. With a little preparation in the house ahead of time, your installation may be even quicker. Tools list: 15mm wrench (both factory bolts in lower control arm) 18mm wrench (both factory nuts in lower control arm) 16mm wrench (both factory bolts at top shock mount) 2 - 1/2" wrenches (both coilover bolts included with kit) Hammer (may help to tap loosened bolt out of factory shock) Jack stand Floor jack White lithium grease - to make adjustment by hand possible
ogod those make me happy in the pants. If you ever have a four corner solution for the SRT-4s you will have me as one of your first customers.
i am going to order these and need some direction on what springs are going to be the best to use. i am looking for 1/4 mile traction with the same handling as stock (srt8 charger) and maybe a smoother ride around town.
Very clean, nicely done. Only suggestion I have is to add torques for all the nuts and bolts. And did I miss the optional roller bearings that go in the seats?
Hmmm....I'll look into torque specs. And by roller bearings, did you mean thrust bearings? We didn't use any on this install, but they are available. I'm using them on my car at the moment. They make ride height changes even easier.
Yea the thrust bearings (which looked like they were made with rollers instead of balls right?). I figured you were working this up to use as your official installation instructions so you might include that option and just note that step "If you are installing the optional thrust bearings they go here ->". Also lots of people read the install instructions before purchasing and you'll sell more thrust bearings... Torque specs are good. Everybody cranks things too tight. If people have them installed somewhere the guy who sweeps the floors is going to use an impact wrench. Saves you having to deal with bolt/nut failures, crushed bearings, etc.
