Just finished installing Tokico Illumina's on my i35, impressions and some questions
09-18-2008, 11:42 AM
#1
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Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,529
Just finished installing Tokico Illumina's on my i35, impressions and some questions
Well, it took me all day on Tuesday, but I did it, feel a really great sense of accomplishment!!
Its a 2002 I35 with Sport Package, which had a stock ride that leaves a lot to be desired. I don't
know if it was that my stock shocks were just plain bad or if it was the normal for this car. It basically
was an extremely bouncy and floaty ride, something that I didn't expect from the sport package. Anyway I
replaced all four corners with Tokico illumina's and kept the stock springs.
I used all the basic tools (torque wrench, breaker bar, sockets, etc) and I had a clamshell style spring compressor from Harbor Freight. Once I had the front on stands it was pretty easy to get the struts out. The one thing I would highly reccomend for anyone attempting this job is a vise to hold the strut assembly while compressing. I didn't have it and it was a PITA to compress it, but I got it done. I replaced the bump stops,
upper strut mounts and was going to replace the bearings, but the new strut bearings I got from the dealer were metal and completely different then the stock ones, I was unable to get them to perfectly fit into the piece under the upper strut mount, so I ended up cleaning up my old ones and reusing them, I am hoping that they don't go bad. Has anyone tried to use the newer style bearings ?
The rears were just as straight forward as the front, what I ended up doing is lifting the car from the center of the axle beam and then placing the stands on each side. I was unsure of how the beam would react when I took out the the top nuts so I kept the jack underneath holding the beam up but not holding the weight of the car. THe top hat nut on the rears was a PITA to remove also, but I was able to leverage my open ended wrench and a plier to get the job done. The illumina rears came with two nuts for the top hat,
I was not sure why so I only used one, IS this ok ? do I need to use both nuts ?.
Once I had everything back together, It was time for the test ride. funny thing about this part wsa that I forgot to remove my wheel chocks, and the car would not move. The split second before I realized they chock's were still there, I though to myself WTF did I screw up on my car ? the relief of realizing it was the chocks was refreshing. So I got the car out all corners set to 5, what a world of difference in the ride, there is a VERY noticeable difference in braking and acceleration due to less dive. The The car was handling really good and very controlled on large dips in the highway unlike before and to my surprise no suspension noises after the install! Was very happy about that. I went back today and set the car to 3 on allcorners and I though that this was the best setting so far, not too rough and just the right amount of stiffness for me.
One thing that I did notice was that the left front bearing might be bad. When I put the rim back on there was a lot of axial play on the assembly, going to have a mechanic take a look at that tomorrow. I didn't think ti check thisw before when I started so I am not sure if this problem happened as a result of letting the taking everything apart ( although I did put a second jack under there to hold it up )
Its a 2002 I35 with Sport Package, which had a stock ride that leaves a lot to be desired. I don't
know if it was that my stock shocks were just plain bad or if it was the normal for this car. It basically
was an extremely bouncy and floaty ride, something that I didn't expect from the sport package. Anyway I
replaced all four corners with Tokico illumina's and kept the stock springs.
I used all the basic tools (torque wrench, breaker bar, sockets, etc) and I had a clamshell style spring compressor from Harbor Freight. Once I had the front on stands it was pretty easy to get the struts out. The one thing I would highly reccomend for anyone attempting this job is a vise to hold the strut assembly while compressing. I didn't have it and it was a PITA to compress it, but I got it done. I replaced the bump stops,
upper strut mounts and was going to replace the bearings, but the new strut bearings I got from the dealer were metal and completely different then the stock ones, I was unable to get them to perfectly fit into the piece under the upper strut mount, so I ended up cleaning up my old ones and reusing them, I am hoping that they don't go bad. Has anyone tried to use the newer style bearings ?
The rears were just as straight forward as the front, what I ended up doing is lifting the car from the center of the axle beam and then placing the stands on each side. I was unsure of how the beam would react when I took out the the top nuts so I kept the jack underneath holding the beam up but not holding the weight of the car. THe top hat nut on the rears was a PITA to remove also, but I was able to leverage my open ended wrench and a plier to get the job done. The illumina rears came with two nuts for the top hat,
I was not sure why so I only used one, IS this ok ? do I need to use both nuts ?.
Once I had everything back together, It was time for the test ride. funny thing about this part wsa that I forgot to remove my wheel chocks, and the car would not move. The split second before I realized they chock's were still there, I though to myself WTF did I screw up on my car ? the relief of realizing it was the chocks was refreshing. So I got the car out all corners set to 5, what a world of difference in the ride, there is a VERY noticeable difference in braking and acceleration due to less dive. The The car was handling really good and very controlled on large dips in the highway unlike before and to my surprise no suspension noises after the install! Was very happy about that. I went back today and set the car to 3 on allcorners and I though that this was the best setting so far, not too rough and just the right amount of stiffness for me.
One thing that I did notice was that the left front bearing might be bad. When I put the rim back on there was a lot of axial play on the assembly, going to have a mechanic take a look at that tomorrow. I didn't think ti check thisw before when I started so I am not sure if this problem happened as a result of letting the taking everything apart ( although I did put a second jack under there to hold it up )
Last edited by Kevin; 09-18-2008 at 11:51 AM.
09-18-2008, 11:49 AM
#3
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Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,529
09-18-2008, 05:01 PM
#4
also get some H&R springs too bring that ride hieght down a little and improve ur handling even more without sacrificing comfort, since u seem to be into keeping ur comfort levels up. I have some H&Rs on my auto i cant tell u how much i love those things 
09-18-2008, 08:11 PM
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,529
I really wanted the get the H&R's, but the car was riding so crappy i had to get this done ASAP. I was off this week and took full advantage of the time. Since I have the know-how now I'll probably pick up a set in the future maybe do the swap on tne fronts alone.
09-19-2008, 03:14 PM
#6
I have the H&R's on the front end with the Illuminas on setting 1. They feel pretty close to stock with more dampening. Its fun going from setting 5 all around to 1 the next day.. Way different feel thats for sure. Your stock rear spring should already be "SE" so a front H&R spring would help alot with dropping the front to be level with the rear.
09-20-2008, 04:04 AM
#8
Hmmm, your making me want to swap my fronts for Illuminas. I had K-Sport and that was ridiculous stiff. I got the blues but the front is not that stiff. The rear is perfect. What do yall think, Illuminas all 4 or only up front?
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