[30ONA]

Got new shocks, strut supports, camber bolts and rocket cover gasket enroute to my house.

Anything to look out for when installing these. Traps for young players. I've done this before on other cars, just wondering it there anything specific to look out for?

Remove wheels.
Support lower arm our axle on Jack
Remove strut
Remove strut support
Reverse while installing camber bolts instead of stock ones
Same for rear but without strut support.

Wheel alignment

[Gwagensteve]

What's a strut support?

[30ONA]

Strut mount. Top of the shock into the body. The bolts and a rubber in the middle.

[Gwagensteve]

In the front It's a bit of a pain to wrestle everything around, but manageable. Take care not to let anything droop or move around enough to pull the axle out of the diff on the driver's side.

Rear shocks are very quick and easy, much much easier than the front - you can practically do it without the car sitting on its wheels.

[henno]

The rubber strut tops are easy to tear if they are slightly old. Rattle them off rather than using a breaker bar as it shock loads the bolts off rather than twisting them until they tear.

[30ONA]

henno wrote:

The rubber strut tops are easy to tear if they are slightly old. Rattle them off rather than using a breaker bar as it shock loads the bolts off rather than twisting them until they tear.

Are you talking about these? Because I have new ones.

[atari4x4]

henno wrote:

The rubber strut tops are easy to tear if they are slightly old. Rattle them off rather than using a breaker bar as it shock loads the bolts off rather than twisting them until they tear.

dont do that^^^^

remove the strut as a unit with the strut top still attached. put the hexagonal washer thats on the top side of the strut top in a vice & undo the nut.

suzuki didn't was money making that hexagonal washer for no reason.

edit

[fordem]

The strut brace has to be removed & replaced with the weight of the vehicle off of the front wheels.

Put the front of the car on jack stands and use a jack under the control arm to hold it in place whilst the strut is out, and as Atari says, remove the strut as a unit with the strut mount still attached - you can either use a wrench or a vice to hold the large octagonal washer when unbolting the strut mount.

If the vehicle has not been lifted there is no need for camber bolts.

[30ONA]

It has been lifted.

Regarding the rocker cover gasket. Do I need to be careful of the CAS or anything else? Well I get errors if I disconnect it during the works for example?

[fordem]

Remove the coil packs, the PCV & vent hoses, and the dipstick, remove the six domed nuts and work the cam cover upwards - it'll be quite tight because of the plug tube O-rings, you can pry it up, but be very careful to do so evenly and not to mar the sealing surfaces - there is no need to touch the cam position sensor.

[30ONA]

Thanks.

[ZUZUKI]

Wasn't yours the H25A V6?
In which case, intake mainfold, crossover pipe & all sorts of other crap has to come off, just to get to the rocker covers.
Rgs, Michael

[30ONA]

J20

[30ONA]

So got the front shocks in. But the holes on the suspension tower brace don't line up. Any tips?

Also the new rear shocks are 50mm shorter than the new ones which are stock size. Will this reduce my suspension travel if I fit them?

[30ONA]

I had the car with one side of the rear axle on a stand and the opposite side of the chassis on a stand, then lowered the other side of the axle with a Jack and the new shocks are about 100mm shorter than the gap.

[atari4x4]

fordem wrote:

The strut brace has to be removed & replaced with the weight of the vehicle off of the front wheels.

[30ONA]

Yeah. The strut it's in. But the holes in the top of the new strut tower don't line up with the bar that goes over the engine and stiffens the suspension. I can't get one of the 6 bolts to line up.

[fordem]

30ONA wrote:

So got the front shocks in. But the holes on the suspension tower brace don't line up. Any tips?

If you can't get at least one side bolted up, either the mounts are the wrong ones, or they are fitted incorrectly - to get both sides bolted up the weight of the vehicle has to be off of the front suspension.

Try loosening the two bolts and install all six before tightening any of them.

Quote:

Also the new rear shocks are 50mm shorter than the new ones which are stock size. Will this reduce my suspension travel if I fit them?

Re-read your post - the new ones are what? They're either stock size or they're not, if they're stock size, then they're the right length, if they're short then they're not stock size, and yes, shorter shocks will reduce travel.

If you have a lift why are you running stock length shocks? And if you are running a lift, shorter shocks would probably be the last thing you would want.

[fordem]

30ONA wrote:

I had the car with one side of the rear axle on a stand and the opposite side of the chassis on a stand, then lowered the other side of the axle with a Jack and the new shocks are about 100mm shorter than the gap.

The shock's extended length is essentially all that limits the axle droop - if you support the frame and unbolt the shocks the axle will swing down as far as the control arms (and panhard rod) will let it.

[30ONA]

Can't get the holes to line up. Going to see if I can get a replacement strut support. The hole is more than half a diameter out of position.

[fordem]

I'm going from memory here - the two bolts that you already have lined up go through slots in the strut brace rather than holes - have you tried loosening those bolts to allow the brace to move relative to the mount?

[30ONA]

fordem wrote:

I'm going from memory here - the two bolts that you already have lined up go through slots in the strut brace rather than holes - have you tried loosening those bolts to allow the brace to move relative to the mount?

Yes. Took all bolts out and tried loose. The passenger side is where the problem is. So even with no bolts in the drivers side I still can't loosely get the three bolts in the passenger side. I think the top plate where the threaded holes are has been welded on crookedly. They've sent me a new one so I'll find out in a dew weeks when it arrives.