Hello everyone,

So I bought Tein Monosport coilovers that were on a Black Friday sale and was wondering if anyone can give me advice on how to properly tighten down the bolts after installing them. I used the search function and found some diy coilover instructions but both instances have conflicting information.

This one says you're supposed to preload the suspension before tightening down all of the bolts: https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/441...coilovers-diy/

And this one says you only have to tighten the top bolts while the suspension is under load: https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/978...-and-thoughts/


I asked my co-workers who have installed coilovers before and they also say that only the top bolts should be tightened after the suspension is under load. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

 

Tighten everything down when the car is on the ground

 

Very bottom bolt and the top bolts need to be torqued under load. Use a jack to lift that corner of the car off the jack stand to create the proper amount of load.

 

...so with any bolts you messed with still loose, have the car level on 4 jack stands, then jack under control arm at one corner, until that corner just lifts off that corners stand.

Now, be very careful here because car is now not resting on one of the stands, and its a bit unlevel. If stands aren't on firm, level ground, car could fall and yes, kill you. So be very careful. Don't take chances here, wait until you can do this right, and safe.

Now then, with that corners weight on the suspension, you can torque down upper and lower shock bolts, as well as anything else you may have messed with. Sway bars links, control arms mounts, etc. If for any reason you touched it, torque it with suspension loaded.

Sent from my SM-G920P using IB AutoGroup

 

Safety first! I always get it about 1-2mm off the stand, and leave the stand in place in case the jack fails.

 

I wouldn't use the control arm to jack the car, at all.

 

Thats a good point AE...I wouldnt either. I used the crown bolt/nut on the lower ball joint with a piece of wood so as not to damage the bolt face. The further out toward the rotor you can get the jack the better, as it provides more leverage and less strain on the components.

 

Yup, that would work. My car is pretty low but I was still able to tighten the lower control arm - shock bolt with it on the ground.

 

Yup, that's exactly what I did for my coils. Car feels great after a corner balance and some shock tweaking.

 

I bet no one ever clocks the front rear lower control arm bolt. Oh well that's the only bushing that will never tear because it's the only one that's split in two.

Usually you only need to clock(pre-load) the top control arm, sway bar links, shock top hat, and shock mount bushings for one reason, and one reason only. Usually when you make a large suspension change you get the car aligned, and when you align the car, you usually loosen all the lower suspension bolts with the weight of the car on them, bam auto clock(except for the front rear lower control arm bolts, no one ever touches those).