Well I've been at it since 9am but I'm done now!
The rear was easy, didn't take long, was done by 11am. The front was much more of a bugger though, took a fair bit longer
Due to finding out exactly how to dismantle it so that I can get the shocks out/in!
Will let some photos do some talking..
Taking apart rear suspension:
As it is normally
ARB link detached, top wishbone detached from hub, swung downward
It's gone!
Old vs new shock/spring units
New rear units all fitted!
On to the front:
Much the same to dismantle, but it's a fair whack more fiddly. Instead of detaching the top wishbone from the hub you need to detatch the ball joint bracket/tongue bit from the lower wishbone by undoing a horizontal bolt (easy), and a vertical one which is located in an in-set bit in the wishbone, in order to access this you need to prise the bottom of the damper unit out of the way and wedge it out of the way with a screwdriver. Getting this bolt back in again is rather fiddly as you need to make sure the ball joint lip is lined up! Once this bolt is undone, the ball joint can be swivelled away, and the two wishbones move independently. This means you can get a bit more play in the movement of the shock once it's unbolted, and can pull it out!
This is what it looks like with the above performed
And the new shock finally in place - took some wedging/swearing/swearing/prising! But then I am a n00b.
And the top adjusters
And there we have it. My first foray in what I'd consider to be 'major' modification/work on a car, and I feel I did quite well. I know I could do it in a third of the time now, anyway! I am very much learning as I go along so my "mechanical techniques" will improve with time, no doubt. I'm very good at sitting, looking at something for a while, whilst pondering my next move to make sure I do it right!
OK so how's the suspension, I hear you ask?
In short, it's much improved!
It’s a lot better through corners. Much stiffer, roll now seems to be non existent. I’m sure it does definitely need the geometry setting up. I did notice perhaps a little lack of grip when cornering, in particular when going round a tight corner in Tesco petrol station carpark..! I assume this is an effect of the probably hugely out of whack geo settings. Another thing I noticed is that it’s a tiny bit bouncier – noticeable when going over speed bumps etc. Certainly felt a lot more planted when I nailed it through a few twisties, though!
I have no doubt all of the little quirks will be erased once the geo settings and ride height/stiffness have been tweaked properly!
There is a slight issue with the damper units though, which I recieved in an email from Performance5 after I'd finished doing the rear..! - There's an issue with the bottom mounting bearing/eye in that the spacers inside a bit too short, meaning there's a clonking when going over bumps etc - which was apparent. A solution is being worked on however, and P5 have offered to rectify it for me FOC if I take it to them, which is good of them
So I am going to do this before I have the geo done, since they're not far from each other.
Very happy thus far, though, and I'm sure it'll only get better!
Some pics!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
all the meets recently have clashed with holidays etc!
Oh well 