Installshield

Not sure were to post this, its both suspension and wheels...

I finally installed the springs this weekend, easy install for the most part. As others have mentioned you have to have crazy patience with the endlinks, but other than a few other snags it went smoothly. I had a friend who knew about as much about this **** as me, which isn't a lot, and we did it in a little less than 4 hours...

the pics...

This was taken almost exactly a year ago, not long after I got it. Completely stock everything, nothing touched...



The wheels and Tein springs installed, 17" Technomagnesio wheels and Yokohama 215/40 ZR17" tires...



A better pic of the front, gives more justice to how much they lower the front of the car...



I have not taken it in for an alignment yet, so only drove it a bit to see if anything was loose or squeeking. No problems at all, the overall ride height is exactly the same front to back. You can barely fit one finger between the top of the tire and the fender. Those pics make it look a little higher than it is. Either it has settled slightly over the weekend, or the fact that the driveway is leaning away from the first pic's angle...But the ride quality was comparible to stock, a little stiffer obviously but not as jarring as I thought it would be. No thunks or noises on large bumps, and little bounce for now...Hopefully the stock struts will hold on long enough for Tokico to finally release the Ilumina's for the Protege...

Also I have a army of pics from the install, and will put together hopefully a good how-to for spring installation for the average laymen. Honestly with a couple of sets of wrenchs, a spring compressor, and jack + stands, anyone can do it...

mygreenmazda

It looks great. By the way how much did you drop it.

Installshield

Thanks...Not exactly sure, I got mixed replies from vendors on the spring drop. Tein claims the "P5" springs will drop 1.8" front/1.5" back, and for the sedan 2.0" front/1.4" back...

When I ordered the springs from advanced imports (Jason's site at the top of this page), it did not specify which springs he was selling for 3rd gens. I emailed him saying I had a P5, and he emailed back saying he marked me down for the P5...But the package claimed "99+ protege"....I then called a different retailer to get some more info, and they claimed both sets were the same, which may be true becuase the spring rates on Tein's website are exactly the same. The tech said Tein claimed different drops simply becuase of the suspension adjustments in 2001 or something to the protege, meaning the later models drop less becuase they are lower to begin with...I didn't worry about if after I installed the springs becuase if there was a difference the front is the same as the back, which was the only thing I wanted all along...

kenchan

nnnnnnn!!! very sporty looking. looks like its going to tear up
the local autox event. good job.

i didnt get an alignment on mine with eibachs...the drop is
still within manufacturer's tolerances.

not sure why everyones complaining about the endlinks...are
they seized from rust? i did my eibachs only a week after getting
the car....just took a (14mm?) wrench and a 36oz mallet and
tapped it as if i was simulating an impact gun. came off real easy. if i was to wrench it with a breaker bar or something it
looked like the bolt would loosenup and start spinning with the
nut so i gave the wrench short bursts of wrenching with the
mallet.

Installshield

the endlinks were not that badly rusted, but enough to make it kind of tricky. Plus I only had a box-end wrench in 14mm, didn't want to risk stripping it with a standard socket of similar size. So with that tiny wrench it was pretty tricky. By the way how did you use a hammer? I tried loosening the bolt without inserting the allen key first and the nut + stud turned with each other. The hardest part was breaking the seized nut from the stud...

Thanks by the way, no plans for any racing as of now but would definately like to try it if I ever get a chance...

kenchan

installsheild- not a hammer, but a mallet on the wrench.
i didnt even need to use an allen key in the bolt because
as I mentioned, i used a mallet and simulated an impact gun.
bam bam bam!

if i was to turn it slowly the bolt would probably turn with
the nut.... not a good idea.

Installshield

oh ok, I misunderstood, sorry...

I just used a ton of WD-40 and Rust Out or something, letting it sit while I removed all the other bolts and other things. Luckily I had a friend helping so I held the allen key while he turned the wrench. It worked pretty well, just a slow process which was a little annoying...

bossy bacon man

looks terriffic my friend. SWEET ride. your friend must have been a real he-man to crank the endlinks loose. patience is definately necessary. and a hunk of a friend.

-ted

p.s., here is a p-chop for you sir... i do like the white, this is just because i lack anything better to do...

Maxx Mazda

So fresh, so clean.

Installshield

ha you got rid of the emblem too, I need to repaint it...It started to chip so I sanded the rest of the black paint off.