beachnut

Ok, I'm on my rear springs and struts now - the front went fine. But it looks like the rear springs can go on the strut either way as opposed to the front springs which seemed to have a definite up and down. I don't want to get them upside down, if that's even an issue. One end has closer, tighter coils than the other - does that end go up or down? I'm right in the middle of this project, so if anyone who knows can respond quickly I'd appreciate it!

Identity_X

I wasn't sure myself, but after closely looking at Darryl's site I figured that the closer coils go on top as in this picture:
http://www.automediazone.com/images/...rear_strut.jpg

That's how I put them on and haven't had any problems so far so I suppose it's the right way. Hope this helps!

beachnut

Oh crap! I put them on the bottom I tried to call Eibach, but their stupid line was busy forever and I had to get the job done.

Davard

Putting the springs in upside-down really won't hurt anything.

beachnut

Well, my *upside down* rear springs really don't seem to affect the ride or anything, so that's good. Speaking of ride, my car rides absolutely fantastic! Due to other's comments here, I was expecting the Tokico/Eibach combo to be a major kidney pounder, but quite the opposite is true. I find the ride considerably better than the KYB/oem spring combo. The KYB's were real bouncy, plus they jacked the car up too high. It looked like I was driving a F-350 truck! Now the drop is perfect, not garish, just right. I really wasn't expecting to even get the Tokico's. I had bought the Eibach's and was going to put them over my KYB's, but after thinking about how I was going to have to pull the struts off anyway I just decided to go ahead and get the struts. I'm very glad I did!

protejay

Sorry i was one of those who talked you into the KYB's originally...sounds like you would have liked the ZX2 combo from the get-go

Myself, i still think my ride is too 'abruptly stiff'...maybe its the rest of my suspension; esp the trailing link bushings
...sent you a pm

beachnut

No worries Jason! If you remember though, I said I didn't want to lower my car either, so I complicated the whole decision with that. I still wouldn't want to lower it anymore than it is with the Eibach's. Oh well, live and learn. Maybe someone here will want to buy some barely used KYB's for cheap. My biggest regret is that I actually paid someone to put that first set of struts on the car, and it cost more than the struts themselves. While strut/spring installation isn't a job I'd want to tackle everyday, it really wasn't that bad. Only took me about 6 hours total. Props to Darryl for his great how-to! I dunno why I didn't look at his webpage for the correct spring orientation - sometimes these really simple things escape me, then it's always IdentityX that comes along and goes "hey, why didn't you look here?" Doh!

I dunno, I think this combo rides great, not overly harsh. I can see how having poly bushings can make the ride stiff. I'll probably go with oem rubber when that time comes. I don't have super low profile tires either, so that probably helps, plus the tires are new. I really can't tell much of a difference in the ride quality between the KYB's and the Tokico's except for the bouncyness I had before. I'm thinking the oem springs must've caused that. But when it comes to cornering and sweepers - big difference!

protegeDX

pics pics pics pics pics.......

Identity_X

Glad it all worked out well in the end.

Did you get the car aligned afterwords ??? If so, where and how much did it cost you? I am asking around for a good place to get an alignment but haven't come across anything interesting so far.

Post some pics if you have a chance. Let's see the difference!

beachnut

I still have to get the car aligned ... been way too busy since I started my new job. I will probably go to the same guy I have balance my tires since he has some of the best Hunter equipment around. I haven't noticed any problems though - the car drives just fine.