General lowering springs help?

[bravo_maxim]

recently purchased myself some decent lowering springs. unfortunately i cant justify spending £150 paying someone to fit them.
has anyone fitted their own?
i heard it isnt too dificult, you need a spring tensioner and thats the only specialist tool i will need.
i have a haynes manual, but am not the most experienced mechanic being 17 but im also not an idiot!

any help please would be appreciated.

maxim

o and heres a pics pics of my car for you. to prove it needs slamming

and then with the blacked out lights and indicators.

getting rid of the wheels soon, i really dont like them so they will be for sale on here soon.

maxim

 

[ChristieCruiser]

for the rear, jack the car and put it on axle stands.

using a spanner, undo the shock and lower the rear beam/hub (do both at the same time) then pull the spring and replace with the new one. (remember the plastic bit too)

then on the front use the fiat boo guide (its really useful) it will explain in detail.

 

[bravo_maxim]

hmmm so is the back easy?
looking at the file it all looks difficult, but i reckon with my haynes may be simpler.
if not il just do the back and pay half he price for them to do the front

 

[ChristieCruiser]

that back you can do in an hour MAX.

the front will take longer and is more complecated in comapirson.

 

[jug]

£150!!!! i used to charge £50 for any car and i thought that was expensive.

its very easy to do yourself.

rather than write it out again here's one of my previous efforts reposted:

to fit rear springs you

jack car up to just before the point where the rear wheel is lifted into the air
take nut off on bottom of shock
jack car up higher until shock is clear of trailing arm
slot old spring off
swap the rubber bit onto the new spring
slot new spring into position
slowly lower car until shock is back in position
bolt shock back onto trailing arm

you can do both rear springs very quickly

on the front its a bit more tricky. you need to remove the whole strut (strut = shock and spring and top parts all together).

you need to:
jack car up
remove wheel
disconnect brake pipe from bottom of shock
remove 2 nuts&bolts holding shock onto hub
remove 3 bolts holding strut onto suspension turrent (from inside engine bay)
remove strut (may need to force hub down out the way to get clearance)
remove plastic cover from top of strut
compress spring
remove strut top nut
remove strut top parts (keep them together in correct order)
slot old spring off
remove compressors
slot new spring on
compress new spring
refit top parts to strut
refit top nut
remove compressors
refit plastic cover on top of strut
get stut back into position on car
refit 3 bolts holding strut onto suspension turrent (from inside engine bay)
refit 2 nuts&bolts holding shock onto hub
reconnect brake pipe to bottom of shock
refit wheel
celebrate

TOP TIP! the top nut is often very difficult to get off. you are supposed to use a ring spanner on the nut while holding the shock shaft in position using an allen key (hex bit in a ratchet is much better). more than once i've been unable to do this. so before you do anything to the front end go to a garage and get them to loosen off the top nuts using a windy gun. all you need to do is prise the cover off the top of the strut and then the nut is there to loosen. have it on only hand tight and this will make life much easier later.

if you have abs sensors you will need to remove them before you can remove the lower of the 2 bolts holding the shock to the hub. this will almost certianly mean you have to damage or destroy the sensors because they never come off in one piece. they can be repaired using tinfoil, i've got a guide already posted in a thread somewhere so you can search for it if you need it.

 

[bravo_maxim]

oo excellent. i mite fit the back myself and then get garage to do front as my car has ABS and i really dnt fancy fudging that up. i can drive a car half lowerd half not?
we shall see though they arrived today so its a matter of time now!
thanks people

 

[Hellcat]

Not true! You can change the strut without removing the ABS sensor.

I've replaced a marea lower arm without removing ABS and it involved removing both bolts from the bottom of the shock and separating from the hub carrier.

And as if by magic.... note the ABS still connected

 

[jug]

I've replaced a marea lower arm without removing ABS and it involved removing both bolts from the bottom of the shock and separating from the hub carrier.

how can you slide the bottom bolt out with the abs sensor in the way?
(maybe your bolts are on backwards?)

 

[distortionrockets]

ive been quoted £112 by my local fiat specialist. only garage i trust

let us know how you get on because i would like to lower my car pretty soon and hoping to fit the rear springs myself and let the garage fit the front ones, hope its not too fiddly!

im only 19 so this would be a first for me too!

 

[Hellcat]

how can you slide the bottom bolt out with the abs sensor in the way?
(maybe your bolts are on backwards?)

Maybe YOURS are on backwards?

 

[jug]

Maybe YOURS are on backwards?

mine are same as haynes pic

 

[Hellcat]

mine are same as haynes pic

No maybe... yours ARE on backwards then!

 

[jug]

lol

 

[bulldog5046]

i'm with hellcat, i never disconnected my abs sensor either.

i found doing the rear a pain on the marea as i couldnt just pull the old springs out like you should be able to, i had to compress them to get them out but the new ones just slotted in

my local garage wanted £200, i just went and bought myself £140 of new tool and did it myself