I’m installing some new DFVs and running into an issue I can’t get the rear struts out. I’ve taken the top bolts off, the endlinks, and the lower strut bolt, but there is so much pressure from the LCA that I cannot get the strut to clear. Has anyone had to disconnect the LCA or know what might be causing this? I’ve scoured multiple DIY guides and none have had this issue.

Thanks

 

I've never took out the end links, let alone the lca's in the 10 or so coilovers I've intsalled on the s2k.

Make sure both sides of the rear of the car off the ground, stick a large screw driver between the lca and the shock base and gently lift it off and out.

 

Any idea what would be causing so much tension from the LCA?



This is what the passenger side is like at the moment. The driver side still had the lower bolt attached but it is loose. The reason I haven’t removed it is I can feel the pressure from the LCA, making it difficult to move the bolt out. On the passenger side I actually had to use a hammer and punch.

 

Its the resistance from the rubber bushings. You must loosen all the control arm bolts to free things up.

This should clearly illustrate why you need to clock the bushings when you are done with the install. The bushings only have so much total travel. You want to make sure that travel is centered at the new ride height. That is what clocking bushings does.

Car on stands, level. Loosen ALL upper and lower CA bushing bolts (except for the front compliance bushing), AND the lower shock mount. AND the toe arms. Anything with a bushing.

Now jack up under one control arm, until it just barely lifts off the jack stand, unweighting that stand, stimulating that corner being at ride height suspended by the tire.

Now torque down all the bushing bolts at that corner. Be super careful. Do not place yourself under the car, as its now teetering on a jack. Repeat for each corner.

Failure to do this correctly results in odd ride heights and eventually torn bushings.

 

^What this mensch said.

Loosen the bushings first. No need to fight.

Use a paint marker to mark your alignment cams so you can put them back in the same spot. Obviously an alignment is needed afterward...but atleast it'll get you close.

And definitely clock every applicable bushing properly when you're finishing up. Or you'll need bushings soon....and putting in bushings is the worst, dirtiest, most shitty way to spend an entire GD day wasting your life.


PRO TIP:
When re-installing the new shock/spring...
Put BOTH sides shock/spring in the chassis and bolt to the shock towers first.
THEN install the lower shock bolt on each side.

That way, you're not fighting the sway bar either.

Or remove the sway bar link. That sucks to do though.

 

I have never done all that to remove/replace the shocks (well unless I was changing ride height). I put a medium sized prybar under the shock, popped it up off its mount and pulled it to the side and dropped it out. Nothing more than that. That compresses the shock and spring just a tad and allows it all to come apart. This is using an actual prybar (About an 18" one) not a long screwdriver which should never be used as a prybar since it will break and shoot particles in your face :P Never took that much effort for me on mine. I have had them out a few times without touching ride height or alignment, and others when I was changing those things and ended up having to loosen eveything anyways.Granted this may change depending on setup. At full droop my spring is loose and I am just having to compress the shock. But, in most cases even if you have a helper spring at full droop it takes little force (nowhere near enough to damage anything or require a ton of effort) to compress a little bit which is all you need.

If you are changing the ride height anyways, then you are going to need to clock the bushings anyways so those would need to be loosened to start with and you may as well just do it up front.

 

Hey guys, once I loosened up all those bolts, specifically the control arms, it popped out no problem!

As an aside, I forgot to take a picture of the brake line routing before i took out the old struts. Are they supposed to route behind or in front of the struts? I had them behind so there would be no rubbing on the strut housing, but it seemed like it was stretching out the cable a bit so I tried routing it in front. Now though, it looks like it might wear out in time with enough abrasion. Anyone recall which way is correct?

 

 

They should be routed in front of the struts, it looks incorrect in your picture.

 

Won't hurt nothin. Well I take it back, the bracket on the shock for the brake line looks dangerously close to the sway bar end link.