OB to Lego Strut swap - rears

[rainman19154]

First.... I wish I'd read this sooner-

 

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=6365

 

After lots of back n forth this week about 'Fastcam' bolts - which I'd never heard of before - there was a write up all along. This was linked from a thread in the suspension forum.

It's a great write up: at least for me it answered my questions about camber, plus it had specific info on the Camber bolts.

 

And after reading the warnings boldly prominent at DirtyImpreza, I'm gonna take time to pull my rear wheels off tomorrow and double check my work. I did have the right idea about the camber and how I set the bolts (tip the top of the tire in -"positive camber")

But I am worried whether or not I have the tabs in like they're supposed to be, and not smashed flat or broken off. I understood how they were supposed to fit, but it was work manipulating it all together. I might have screwed them up and not realized it.

 

Once I got the struts installed and the car off the jack stand, I just did a quick clean up and went to dinner. I left the hub caps off, the lugs aren't properly torqued and the brake lines aren't fastened --- I more or less expected to be finishing up back there tomorrow.

Now I definitely will have it back up and tires off for a thorough inspection.

 

But that is all after thought. The job itself went pretty smoothly. I had meat slow cooking on the grill at the same time I did this swap. It was Saturday: I really took my time and it was still only about two hours. Not really a big deal.

 

The nuts and bolts of swapping the rears was no surprise. Having a couple of long pry bars to flex the suspension and a 4 lb sledge for appropriate love taps were extras that were great to have on hand.

I did use my 18v impact to spin fasteners in and out, but its a light tool so I had to break loose and torque everything down manually.

 

1/2" flex bar and ratchet, combo end wrenches, flat tip screwdriver and pliers -- pretty standard for the most part.

 

I did break out the hacksaw to cut the mount tabs for the brake lines. The other option would be to disconnect the line from the caliper... and that meant I'd have to bleed the brakes as well. I cut on one side of the hole in the bracket and used pliers to bend the new tab open, letting the line free. It was pretty ugly but those struts were getting tossed.

I made a clean cut on the bracket before I put the replacement struts in- I'll edit here later ---->>> What I did was put the same metal section of the hose into the open bracket and then gently squeezed the bracket enough that the fitting is captured. The grip is not tight and damaging, the anchor point is essentially where it has always been... I feel comfortable with it. It will be something to monitor and if one looks loose, I will zip-tie it.<<<<<<<

 

I do have an 18v cordless recipro saw but with the brake hose right in the line of fire, I went all manual so I would have better control of what I cut.

 

And I did find that the ABS lines aren't attached to the strut but are very much in the way. I really had to take care not to stress them with the bottom ends of the units on either side - removing and installing.

 

And when I went to take it off the jack stand on the first side, I learned the extra two inches of suspension left me cramped for lift on my modest floor jack. I had to raise the car to get the tire back on, then there was a brief moment when I worried I wouldn't get it off the jackstand.

Seeing all this on the driver's side, I plotted more carefully where my jack points were when I did the passenger's side.

Edited August 29, 2010 by rainman19154

[rainman19154]

Just a finish up note.

 

The front set took a little longer but really was not too difficult.

 

As expected the main bolts were torqued a lot harder than the rear set. Well, were tougher to break loose. I'm back to wishing for a few 3/4" drive tools.

 

I did my own Kentucky Windage on the top camber bolt and spun it all the way inside, making my own allowance for the longer legs. I set the Fastcam bolts on the rear the same way.

 

I will get an alignment but I found some other work to do first. I have a little play in my inner tie rod and that boot is torn as well. Once I've put those right, then I'll take it in to the proffessionals.