phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

I wish I knew everyone's org name...

I got there around 12 and there were a few guys there working on Kevin's car. It was up but nothing was taken off. Ryan was working on a rear-end squeek.

4 other cars showed up for drops, but in the end we only did 3 after I got there because Kevin (WaydeMax)'s coilovers were a disaster. With the AGXs you have to grind or file the lip on the front struts to ao 2" OD. We had to use a hand file. THis took him over an hour to do both struts. Meanwhile it took 3 of us to figure out how to get the rear sleeves on the struts. There was a thick isolator that we had trouble getting to sit correctly. In the end we had to use a spring compressor and the air gun to get it to rest properly. The bolt-up operation was smooth, but it was not as low as it could have been. By then there were other cars to do so we left the adjustment for later. It does look GREAT, though. Well worth the time and effort, if you ask me!

DC Maximas- JUST SAY NO TO COILOVERS!

We started on my car and another max @ 6:00 last night after a 6-hour coilover installation with Ground Controls and AGXs... Working on 2 cars @ once, nose to nose made thisngs go a little faster.

After Louie went out of his way to do my rotor install, the whole thing went together fairly well. Unfortunately when I went on the test drive I had some thunking from the rear. I plan to work on it when it stops raining.

I cannot thank everyone enough for the time and effort put in yesterday. The only reason that my car is not perfect is because I did not put the rears in tight. I will look it all over and hopefully be in good shape.

As of right now the front end is quiet and feels nice and tight with no harshness. The rear is a little bouncy, but I assume that is because things are not tightened down properly. By the time we realized this, it was 10:00 at night and my trunk was reassembled, AND all of the old parts were piled in there. My own stupidity.

So here is the situation:
The rears "thunk" when I go over a bump. Most likely, something is not properly tightened down. I should have re-checked the bolts in the trunk once I had the wheels on the ground. By the time I drove it I had already put in the trunk liner and the sub/amp combo, plus the OEM parts were all boxed up in there. It was late (10:00) and I wanted to get home but I still had an hour and a half drive ahead of me. I had been there since 12:00.

I THINK that it is either the 2 mounting bolts or the center (shaft) bolt that is loose. When I lift the rear it makes the same noise as when I "bounce" the rear, so it is just something not tightened properly.

Then only other thing that it could be is that Louie (SLC I30t) and I left out the rubber bushing that looks like a 10-12 point star. It looked like it would not fit on there and leave room for the top bolt so we left it off. When I check the bolts I will see if they are all tight. If that is the case I will have to pull the whole assembly to see if the absence of the washer and bushing might leave enough space to create the thunking. I just don't know...

Again, thanks for all who helped out. If you were there, please post here. I know who you are in real-life, but for some of you I never got your org name. I remember Ryan, Jason, and Louie, but most of the other names escape me.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what is could be?

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Thats your problem, you can't just leave components out. Without that part there's no way you could have tightened up the shock. Fix that and the rear will totally change.

Here's a diagram for you, make sure it's assembled exactly like this.

TheMax95

how much did you pay for the H&R springs? from where?

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

That was our first thought, but when we put it on there there were not enough threads on the top of the piston shaft to tighten the topmost bolt.

Do you think that if I pulled the assembly off of the car that the weight of the car will have settled the assembly enough that I will have room to add the bumper and still get the nut on all of the way?

BTW, Tom- the front rotors were my brake problem. The old ones were definately warped. We replaced those, now when I pull the rear suspension to fix the thunking I will most likely do the rears as well and bleed/flush the whole system...Thanks for all of the advice and help!

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

$150 shipped from an org member. THey had about 10K on them. There is a set for sale now in the 4th gen forum. $150 shipped is fairly normal for these, although a set a week or so ago went for a lot less...

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Maybe the dust cover wasn't seated all the way down, but all of those bushings and washers will fit with enough room to catch the nut. You'll see the play as soon as you take the assembly apart and I'm sure by now the weight of the car has settled everything down. Without that bushing, you've got to have about one inch of free play back there, thats not good and is definately the cause of your noise.

Let us know how you make out, I'm glad the rotors helped you out.

Lime

The people who installed my original Tokico and H&R missed a bushing. Then a few months later that shock failed. No offense, but why were you people installing suspensions and leaving things out? Isn't that best left to pros?

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

LOL. The way that that reads, one could construe that you were asking whether or not leaving parts out was not best left to the pros...

Seriously, I know that this is not an excuse, but although it was my forst install it was not the first for a lot of other people there. We had been working on these cars for 10+ hours. When it did not fit we assumed that the dustboot design was such that it made up for the bushing and that it was not necessary. It is not that we did not try to include the bushing, but when we put it together the bushing simply DID NOT FIT on the end of the piston shaft. Now that the weight of the car is on it it may have settled enough that if I remove it carefully it (the nut/bolt) will fit, or I can re-install everything on the strut assembly with the spring still compressed, thus ensuring that I will have room to fit the bushing on before the nut/bolt.

I am not a mechanical numbskull- we have to learn somehow. I know how it was SUPPOSED to go, but it simply did not fit there. We were so confused that I one point I rechecked the part numbers, but my parts matched up with a set of blown Tokicos that came off of another car, so I know it was the right part...

I do appreciate everyones comments, regardless of whether or not they are critical. Obviously I did something wrong, and I appreciate the efforts to help.

padam07

iTrader: (3)

I just replaced the suspension on my mom's 95 max saturday night so I have it fresh in my mind.
Like everyone is saying, that rubber bushing is necesary. the reason it didn't fit when you put the new shock in was because you did not compress the spring enough. Make sure that you compress the spring as much as possible. Once you do that you will have enough space to fit that bushing.

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

Did you use (or re-use) OEM dustboots?

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

You don't need spring compressors for H&R's. Just a little help from a buddy to catch the nut after you push down on the mount a bit.

Actually you don't need spring compressors for the stock rear SE springs either. There not under much preload at all. I've done enough installs to realize that. Saves a lot of time.

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

I feel like a newbie @ suspension (I am) but I am fairly mechanically inclined once I have played with something once. I could do the whole thing again without much trouble.

Of course, doing the rear springs again will let me practice...

MaxWolf

iTrader: (1)

and how could you have gotten it lower?

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

By dialing-down the coilovers. Sorry if you were confused- that comment was in reference to WaydeMax's Ground Controls, not my H&R/ Tokico combo...

padam07

iTrader: (3)

Actually I forgot to buy new boots before I started to do the project and by the time I figured that out it was to late to get new oem boots. I ended up re-using the front boots but bought a set of universal boots for the rear because the existing bots were in pieces.

rmb

Make sure you still have some sort of bumpstops in the rear. Bottoming out shock hard = instant wrecked shock.

-RMB

padam07

iTrader: (3)

Everything was left stock. I only replaced the oem struts/shocks with replacement parts. Thanks for the info.