Mohahaha - They have arrived!

[Retepetsir]

I ordered my Spax springs from Demon Tweeks on Wednesday (as part of the group buy, along with a panhard rod which has a 3 month lead time), and they came yesterday....

I ordered some KYB shocks also on Wednesday, and they came today.....

Lovely! :k11motorsport:

Photos taken using my camera phone:

Unfortunately I wont have time to fit them for a few weeks (uni projects and exams), but they will be fitted along with new bigger brake discs and calipers .

Fingers crossed it'll be good!

 

[SR_Micra_Boy]

Oooooo sparkly sparkly, lol....

Wot brakes u going for, and wot drop are the springs?

 

[kneival]

Ye right! I bet you fit them this weekend ;-)

Remember you need some spring compressors and a special tool for undoing the nut on the shocks

Or you could use some big grips and some rubber to protect the shock like I did, not the best way however :-]

 

[Retepetsir]

I have all the equipment required to fit them. For undoing the big nut on the shocks, I basically need a breaker bar.

I WONT be fitting them this weekend, as I have exams all next week and have work to do.

Neil - I'm using CraigD's old 1.6 Primera/100NX brakes with vented discs.

The springs have a nominal drop of 35mm, but soon settle down to 40mm. That might be interesting with the stuff in the boot...

 

[micra man]

Sounds good that mate. Good luck with fitting them, seems like the motors coming on a bit now.

 

[kneival]

Good luck with the breaker bar the nuts are not tight.
However the shock will turn when you try to undo it!
Doh :-]

 

[Retepetsir]

Which nuts are you talking about? I meant the ones that connect the shock to the axle, not the ones at the top! It's not that tricky, I'm done it before .

I'm going on the guide in the K10 guide section about lowering a car, and the Haynes manual.

 

[Lou]

with the same springs and standard shocks, 2 up, all my ice in the boot, wow, it was low! on steelies, bout a 4 inch drop! eeek

 

[Retepetsir]

I'm on 15's - but they are the same diameter as my existing 13" wheels (lower profile tyres)!

It'll be interesting, but worth it I hope

The new shocks will hopefully improve the ride no end

 

[Ben]

yeah, im ordering mine in a weeks time, spoke to you bout that lol. So has ur panhard rod turned up? Thought it wasnt even going to be in the country for 3 months - nice though, should be kool on

 

[Retepetsir]

Sorry - I order both the springs and panhard rod, but only the springs have come.

I still have to wait 3 months for the panhard rod

 

[kneival]

Ah right I meant the bolt that keeps the spring on the shock on the front suspension. :-]

I found it bloody hard to remove as the shock spins and there is no where to grip it properly, used a some large mole grips and some thin rubber so I didnt damage the shock.

There may however be an easier way, just I dont know it! Will be interested if you have a better way of doing it...

 

[Retepetsir]

The Haynes manual says "Use a short box spanner together with an adjustable spanner to hold the rod itself."

I can see how it is difficult, with the nut recessed into the upper mounting!

I'm not too bothered about damage to be honest, as I'm putting on new shocks anyway!

How long did it take you then?

 

[kneival]

It took about a day, its hard work!

But its very very nice doing the work yourself and seing the results :-D

Thinking about it if I had wound the spring compressors up really really tight I might have been able to get to the top nut with a spanner and adjustable, but there must have been some reason why I didnt...probably because I dont like spring compressors that much!!!

With the old shocks I just used mole grips on them, same as you I didnt care if they were damaged, but with the new ones I used some material so they didnt get damaged. It worked well.

The other alternative is to buy a special tool for the job, I think its about £15?

http://www.fine-tools.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NS-YF6015

Not 100% sure that would fit, but it looks about right :-]

Oh and a torque wrench is a must too, one that can do up to 90 I think? :-]

 

[Retepetsir]

Yup - got torque wrench, and am definately considering buying the special tool!

 

[Arnold]

So much for keeping her standard Pete lol

 

[Retepetsir]

Well you know...... :kungfu:

I was after some alloys anyway, and managed to nab Craig's! Then it looks a bit stupid/high on 15's, so I was going to lower it! Then I discovered that one of my rear shocks was giving in, so I thought sod it, and ordered some gas shocks as well.

Craig also gave me his bigger brakes - so that should be it

Got loads of other subtle things to do tho, like tints to fit, invertor, interior trimming, etc. Just no time :down:

 

[j.a.kelly]

i got the spax spring kit, very impressed at the difference it made...how much were the shocks??

JK

 

[kneival]

Retepetsir - Its hardly a mod tho - they should have come out of the factory like it - he he.
Lowering it and putting bigger brakes on makes a very nice difference to the car and its fairly cheapish to do!

If you do buy that tool and it works I wouldnt mind sending you a fiver if you post it down to me so i can torque mine up correctly, then I might stop checking them every month! Then would post it back :-D

 

[Craig]

You don't need a special tool, I just gripped the little bit a t the top with some mole girps and then screwed up the nut with a spanner.
Lofering is very easy but you mioght need a hand with the lower bolts though

 

[kneival]

Was that with the spring compressors tightly on Craig?

 

[Craig]

To take it iff it was, to put it back on I used the weight of the car to do it I think

 

[Retepetsir]

RE: RE: Mohahaha - They have arrived!

Lofering is very easy but you mioght need a hand with the lower bolts though

I have a chainsaw in the shed :laugh:

Retepetsir - Its hardly a mod tho

It is when you had absolutely no plans to modify the car externally, and then end up lowering, alloys, new shocks and new breaks all in one go .

 

[djlee_dj]

sounds good fella

get pics up straight away

btw who said it would 'settle' to 40 ?

with a panhard rod and upgraded shocks , you shouldve went for powercoil cusom road srpings ... youl want it lower

 

[Retepetsir]

They are rated as 35mm, but apparently settle to ~40mm after a few days, which is fine by me.

I would have liked to have gone for other springs, but I have a budget to stick to! With alloys at £350, shocks at £150, panhard rod at £40, it quickly add's up!

The Whitelines were my first choice, but were special order only, and in the group buy were only £120. I needed some springs asap, so just went for Spax with the discount, £75 which is rather good! I could also have gone for KYB's, which I didnt realise.

 

[Retepetsir]

And with the weight in the boot, on standard springs I only have around a 45mm gap anyway, so it'll be interesting going lower on 195 tyres...!!!

 

[Nismo HK11]

What are the excel-g shocks like? Are they noticebly better than brand new nissan shocks? Thinking about getting them but worried lowering springs will bugger them up like standard ones. Would this happen??