help.. tryin to do springs.. total night mare

alright, gonna be a quick post cuz im about to shoot myself... im doing the sportline springs on my nsrt4, and i cannot, under ANY circumstance reinstall the fronts.. the bottom strut bolts (the two big 18mm) on the strut are about 2" lower than the bolt holes on the hub.

i looked at the DIY and it seemed easy. i have done suspension before without problems..

i am using my stock struts with the springs..

i have NO clue how i am supposed to compress the strut 2" to get it to line up.

if anyone can help, please do, im so fvcking frusterated im about to bash a window out..

 

I am not sure how the Neon Front suspension is set up, but it sounds like you may need a Coil compressor, should be able to pick one up at a local auto parts store. It will compress the spring and allow you to re-bolt everything.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=43753
or
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=3980

 

they are a b**** to compress......

 

that would help out alot yes...that or a couple guys.....

 

im trying to use the coil spring compressor, but the long threaded part of the compressor keeps binding up in the strut tower. if i flip it the other way i can't get any tools over the bolt to turn it.

ive already popped the driveshaft out twice tryin to wiggle/pry it to line up..

 

well then I dont know what to tell you.....mu were hard but not that hard....

 

jesus man you weren't fucking around when you said you were having issues.

Keep on keepin on I am about to do a spring install next weekend

 

damn, that friggin sucks..

i have no clue why they are so hard.. it shouldnt be THIS hard to get it back on.. its to the point like it feels i did something wrong..

but i have the top of the strut bolted up, with the center bolt in and everything.

i even took off the tie rod to give me more room to mess with..

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGg..

 

i dont think i would have as much trouble if i could compress the spring while its in the wheel well.. any one have any secrets to doing that.. i compressed the springs to remove stock spring, and i compressed the sportline to assemble the strut/spring combo.

what i have no clue of though is how to compress the spring while the top is bolted up to get the bottom to line up..

i have the spring compressor thats listed in your second link srt8u. what happening is the long threaded part faces up, so you can grip the nut with a wrench/socket then when you tighten it the long threaded part gets longer and presses against the top of strut tower making it impossible to use.

trying to put the bolt on top, with long threaded part on bottom makes it impossible to grab the nut end...

someone for the love of GOD give me some miracle advice.. at this point i would put the stock suspension on if i was able to, or go but a set of coilovers if i could pick em up today..:bang:

 

Make sure you didn't mix the front springs with the rear springs.

It has happened before and you'll end up needing axles if you do this.

Also I'm running Sportlines on stock struts.

Is the control arm/brake hub sitting lower then the strut bolts you are trying to put on? Which are the two main big bolts which connect the brake hub with the strut unit correct?

If correct, that's what your trying to do is get these aligned so you can put the bolts through. Its been a few since mine have been done so I don't recall how we did them. All I know is the rear was more of a pain to use putting back on then the front.

 

Also, don't bolt the top of the strut hat completely to the body of the car. Thread in atleast two of the studs or three if possible.

This it states in the how-to.

Double check everything. Seems something is not right.

 

my control arm/hub bolts are about 2 " higher than strut bolts.. so the strut bottom needs to go up about 2" or so.. just tried putting the compressors on again and its still about 1" shy.

the springs say F on front, R on rear.. and the style of the springs are different enough to be able to tell which is which.

basically, if i jack up the control arm/hub it will make the gap worse.

the rear didnt need much compression to get them on. just a little prying to get them into place.

 

We never compressed my springs. We didn't even use a spring compressor when we took the stock springs off and installed the Sportlines. Just used an air gun of course.

Once the Sportlines were mounted on the struts we went and installed them without compressing the spring. Once there on the strut is just a matter of re-installing them and bolting everything else back up.

How loose are those nuts on the top hat? You need some play to be able to put the two main bolts at the bottom.

 

i tried them loose on top, tight on top, even none on top at all, just to see if i could compress it enough to line it up.. still a no go.. the springs are shorter than my stock springs, so i have no clue why the hell its so hard.

if the control arm was angled like 10degrees farther down in the relaxed posisition, everything would line up.. right now im only about ~1" from it lining up. i have the bottom of strut resting on driveshaft (not boot) which is about 1" higher than when i had springs uncompressed

 

here are a couple pics of as FAR as i can compress it, with the spring compressors in the only spots they can be in.

 

now that you have it to that point have you tried like mentioned before. Putting a floor jack under the control arm and GENTLELY push it up.

How do you compress that spring compressor?? Mine all had nuts on bottom to hit with an air ratchet

 

alright, now im fvcked lol.. i got it ALL assembled, but now i cant get the last compressor off.. the first one came off pretty easy by using two nuts on the bottom and 'locking them', but the second compresor will not budge for the life of it.. GRRRR..

i know this was the WRONG way to do it, but i see no other way : (

im about to cut the spring compressor off the spring just to have it done

 

not to put salt in your wounds but you are supposed to DE compress 1 a little then do the other and alternate till it they are off. With that much tension be very careful if you cut it.

Slyder

 

Usually I'm able to push down on the hub and get the assembly no problem, springs can seriously be a 45min job with air tools. I guess the fist this I would check is if those springs are longer than the stock ones, I sincerely doubt they should be, make sure they are the right springs and the front and rear aren't mixed up.

 

i tried alternating the compressors, but it seems like one is somehow bound up.. this sucks..