pss9 install

Hey, for you guys that have done this...is there any reason why I can't do one side, front and back, then the other side, front and back? The reason I ask is that it will be easier/quicker to jack up the car side to side then it will be to get all four wheel off the ground. Thanks

I did mine that way... worked fine sre you swapping sway bars too?

Sway bars will be loaded (twisted) if you only jack 1 side up at a time... So it depends on if you're changing those, too.

so when I changed my bars I jacked front, then rear... but is there any reason or problem with them being installed "twisted" dont they self right once level? also the first thing you have to do is align the entire car after the susp. swap...and the alignment guy will make sure things are settled if he is worth anything.... right? BTW that front bar is bit of a PITA ! I did mine outside as I thought having more room than my garage was a good idea - till it started raining

I installed H&R sway bars last year, had the benefit of the use of a hoist so the install was easy. So Ed, did you jack one *side* and do the front and rear and then the other *side* and do the front and rear...or did you do both rears then both fronts? I suppose unhooking the sway bars would prevent them twisting...is this a real concern or one of those not ideal situations? Thanks for the input guys.

There's no harm in having them "twisted" - you'll just be fighting against them as you remove/install them. Sway bars are supposed to twist - that's what they do. But you'll have a hard time ligning up the bolts. A Ed said, you're better off lifting the front, then the back. That shouldn't be too much trouble for you - you are going to use jack stands, right?

I actually just jacked one wheel at a time for the struts.... I did my sway bars just a couple weeks ago (almost a year after the struts) so I jacked it straight for those rear is a 10 minute job for the sway bar, maybe 30-60 minutes for the strut towers. front sway took me almost an hour - and an 45-60 minutes PER STRUT much tougher then the rears. I had never done it before and it was very simple to figure out. One thing that cost me about 20 minutes was my old strut tube was bent and would not come out of the wheel side clamp/holder - still the job was really easy all in all......and the transformation (for me) is UNREAL over the US Stock

This is good info on the sways. A question is....are you better off changing the sways before or after the struts (provided you have sways and struts at the same time). Does it matter? The X74 has happening next weekend.

depending on how you approach it I would say either after or during (if you have the whole end up) are your strut/springs all assembled? if not I would advise to have them ready to drop into the car PRIOR to pulling the old ones out... its just not a task I would have wanted to add to the job... mine were all ready to drop in and it still wore me out a bit...

All the struts are assembled with springs and ready to drop in. Got everything from Gert. Made buddies with a manager of a local 'Tire Barn'. We will do the work at his shop using his LIFT during off hours. Kinda like a secret mission thing.... And according to the alignment thread, looks like we need a special tool to perform the alignment (C4 PSM).

OH - now Idont have a C4, so the front will be a bit differant... but the basic idea is the same - junk the crap, install the Chit !! LOL @ av

Thanks Ed...da chit will go on mang. The AV is in support of Shark (although it is temporary). Had a good laugh yesterday with it. Back to the thread.......the snows are coming off today and summer Sumi's are going back on where they belong. Ordered 2 replacement rears yesterday (down to the wear bars after one strong summer). Jasper.....thanks for starting the thread!

Hey ya... I've did my sway bars last year so I wasn't even considering them when I posted the question. Do I have to remove or disconnect them in order to install the struts? After some thought I realize that jacking first the front then the back is equivalent to jacking side to side....provided there are good jack points. On the back I can jack on the engine case, but where can I jack the front to bring both sides up at the same time?

NO !! not on the engine case!!! there is a cross member where the motor and tranny mate... that is OK I have 2 small jacks and just use one on each side of the car at jack points... works for me since my garage is limited in space (mind you I said space not size.... )

Yes- I am aware some people are horrified by the prospect of jacking a car up by the engine case, but we've been doing that on our 911s for ages. That said, I will try the cross member first if it's just as easy, or as you say use two jacks at the jacking points. Hey, by the way, are spring compressors absolutely required, or do they just make the job easier?

Spring compressors only to assemble them, not for install, so if the are assembled NO

Oh and the new ones are (should be) shorter since the car is going to lower - that makes them easier to install, the stock ones are a little tougher to remove, but I was always better at taken chit apart anyhow

cool beans

OK - just to wrap this up, for posterity. The installation of these struts is a snap. Totally DIY-able although you need a reasonable selection of tools including some deep sockets and a big hex head socket for the brake calipers. I also *really* appreciated my new electric impact wrench for some of the heavy twisting. Other than needing those tools, which like my mom for instance doesn't have, this rates about a 4or 5 on a scale of 1-10 for difficulty. This link was extremely useful for research....thanks to whoever put it together: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...nsion-install/ I used two floor jacks, one on each side. I did the rear first and then the fronts. In each case the first strut took an hour, the second strut took about 15 minutes. The rears were *really* easy. I started with those. In both cases also I left the sway bar unhooked until both sides were done, because the new struts were so much shorter than the old struts, so the bar won't line up until both sides are done. I also tried to do the front without unhooking the sway bar - which resulted in my bending a link (visible in the photo below) Easy to straighten out though so no harm, no foul. Here's some pictures at perhaps the most difficult part of the job...it should take no effort at all to get the strut out from under the fender - I pulled like a bastard, because I was bending that sway bar link Once it was undone the strut pretty much fell out.

Are you working under the car while it's on a floor jack?

Quotes source post: 7391996

Not really, no. The job is done from the topside. I know where you are going with this, but if one jack failed the other one would keep the whole shebang from coming down hard. Not that this would be a desirable event, but I'm sensible enough....not too worry.

Well yes you do know where I was going. PLEASE get some of these and use them! http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...ment+%26+Jacks

Of course I already have two sets of those...(duh) just felt they weren't necessary for this job. Not my first ride on the turnip wagon mate.