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+--- Thread: word to the wise (/showthread.php?tid=2225)
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word to the wise - ScottyB - 05-03-2005
i'm writing this to give everyone a quick reminder on why you should never start a project without a good idea what you're doing and the exact right tools, and why it's nice to own two cars and a garage.
i went to change out the shocks on my car, parked serenely outside, on sunday at noon. i figured out how to compress the spring enough to get the shock loose, but after the shock had dropped down (lower fork and upper mount disconnected) i couldn't get the spring compressed anymore because the springs on my car are like 12-14 inches long and have about a half inch of clearance between the upper a-arm and the spring. being a not smart individual i press on, trying to get this spring compressed. for nine hours.
monday i have the spring compressed enough to just barely poke the shock shaft through the upper mount. but not quite enough...so i tighten the spring a little more...and the compressors slip on the spring and budge together on one side, bowing the spring to the opposite side. this tighten-slip-bow excercise continues for hours. Dave, Boobies and Jay, being the men amongst men that they are, stopped by to help for a while. eventually while torquing the spring compressors the entire spring spins on its lower perch and pops out of the upper perch. the remaining hours of today are spent trying to compress the spring little by little so it can be spun back into place, then pinched on one side to be popped back into the upper perch. my dad also calls to tell me that he hopes im not working on the car because he found a friendly mechanic that can change out my shocks next for next to nothing. thusly monday ends exactly where it started, except that i'm pissed.
today (tuesday) i am getting this f****** spring compressed, or ill do it with my own hands if i have to. the stock shock never even made it off the car so its an excercise in wasting 3 days to get my car from stock to stock again. and to think i should be drinking and/or studying for the remaining week of school! :twisted:
if anyone feels compelled to do a drive by laughing, chase court in sunchase is where the fun is at.
i also request that an annual memorial wrench day be held in my honor to commemorate my idiocy in wrenching on one spring for 3 consecutive days.
- ViPER1313 - 05-03-2005
I have an impact wrench you can use on that spring compressor (or a good one from Autozone) - that should compress the living hell out of it :twisted: .
- ScottyB - 05-03-2005
ViPER1313 Wrote:I have an impact wrench you can use on that spring compressor (or a good one from Autozone) - that should compress the living hell out of it :twisted: .
thanks, but unfortunately i have to take it slow with this thing. those compressors like to move around :?
- Mike - 05-03-2005
can't you take the shock/spring combo off the car without using the spring compressor? then when it is off, compress spring and remove.
- ScottyB - 05-03-2005
Mike Wrote:can't you take the shock/spring combo off the car without using the spring compressor? then when it is off, compress spring and remove.
nope. shock/spring/fork too long, and the suspension won't droop anymore. many people have told me to do this and i can't believe my suspension won't allow it.
or let me put it this way. there might have been a way to do it like that, but i already f'ed up and now i have to fix it as it is.
- Mike - 05-03-2005
loosen the pinch bolt and the suspension should just drop away... you might need a ammer to loosen it from the shock. get pics, i can't believe you could f it up enough to not be able to do it the right way.
- .RJ - 05-03-2005
Remove the shock fork - refer to my Koni Install thread
If you really need to, unbolt the swaybar.
- ScottyB - 05-03-2005
Mike Wrote:loosen the pinch bolt and the suspension should just drop away... you might need a ammer to loosen it from the shock. get pics, i can't believe you could f it up enough to not be able to do it the right way.
its loose. the way the shock is situated, its dropped down so that the shaft is sitting below the top mount and the fork is jammed onto the cv boot. i can't move the shock up because the spring is so long is still pushing on the lower perch.
- .RJ - 05-03-2005
i need to see a pic of this - if you remove the shock fork you will have plenty of room
- Dave - 05-03-2005
seriously, we tried yesterday. There isn't enough room to get the fork off the shock. It is all bound up (or was when I had leave) and very slow going. Hopefully we can make some progress today on it.
- DierwulfBL - 05-03-2005
we ran into that problem doing suspension on an integra, except we just used a grinder and cut the spring since we were putting new springs on, which you obviously cant do since you dont have another set of springs
- ScottyB - 05-03-2005
the fork jammed on the bottom....
![[Image: wOTA3MTQ5NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg]](http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wOTA3MTQ5NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg)
the shock stuck at an angle at the top.....
![[Image: wOTA3MTUwNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg]](http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wOTA3MTUwNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg)
and you can see how the top nut that goes over the shock shaft is, strangely, the only means of dropping the shock from the upper mount. that bolt sandwiches two rubber mounts, one on top and one on bottom (other shock shown)
![[Image: wOTA3MTUxNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg]](http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wOTA3MTUxNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg)
i realize my mistake now that i looked at your Koni install RJ....i could have just loosened those three bolts at the top and it would drop down as a system. again, i am an idiot.
my goal at this point is to compress the spring enough to get the shock back into it's top mount. once its in there i can get the lower fork on.
- .RJ - 05-03-2005
Yeah get the shock back in there as it usually is - drop the fork, then remove the 3 nuts at the top of the shock assembly, not the nut the secures the shock to the upper hat (the middle one)
- ScottyB - 05-03-2005
as it is, it would be awesome if i could drop the fork, but i can't compress the spring enough to have room to get the fork off the shock. still just trying to compress it enough to have some way to move the shock around...
very embarrassing.
- Mike - 05-03-2005
doh.... i see what you did now
good luck with that 
- ViPER1313 - 05-03-2005
Push down on the fork while pulling up on the shock - there should be plenty of room. Use a big fucking hammer to knock that shock out of there. Then the spring should just fall off because you incorrectly unhooked the shock from the mount before getting it out of the fork. You should also be able to pull on the shock and reattach it to the mount if you want to.
- Mike - 05-03-2005
ViPER1313 Wrote:You should also be able to pull on the shock and reattach it to the mount if you want to.
They can't do that because the spring is still exerting force on the shock. They'd need to be strong as shit to compress the spring by hand enough to make that happen.
- ViPER1313 - 05-03-2005
With a spring compressor on the spring and the shock piston fully extended the bottom shock mount should not even touch the spring. If you cant lift the shock up enough because it is stuck in the fork, put a hydraulic jack under the fork and lift up on the whole assembly.
- ScottyB - 05-03-2005
ViPER1313 Wrote:With a spring compressor on the spring and the shock piston fully extended the bottom shock mount should not even touch the spring. If you cant lift the shock up enough because it is stuck in the fork, put a hydraulic jack under the fork and lift up on the whole assembly.
first problem, the spring is literally like 14 inches long, maybe 16. the spring then plowed the shock into the cv joint because it was pushing on the lower perch. if i raised the fork with a jack, the fork would slide outwards and push against the hub, lifting both the fork and the hub! yargh!
- ScottyB - 05-03-2005
VICTORY!!!!
Dave and Jay helped me smash the upper a arm off the knuckle....then we had enough room to take the fork off and slide the shock out.
![[Image: wOTA3NTY2NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg]](http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wOTA3NTY2NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg)
compressed the spring even more out of the car....
![[Image: wOTA3NTY3NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg]](http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wOTA3NTY3NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg)
eat shit shock!!11!!1
![[Image: wOTA3NTY4NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg]](http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wOTA3NTY4NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg)