Installing coilovers this weekend. couple quick questions.

[bringler26]

ah well its i nice way to prevent having to cut. I should have replaced my bolts they were pretty gnarly but its parked for now so i'm not worried.

[cdh_3752]

Oh no, hopefully wont need to cut. Just heat it red hot then cool them off to try to shock the rust loose almost always does the trick.

[bringler26]

The problem is the bolt gets stuck in the bushing usually.

[quacking05focus]

When I did my install I loosened the bolt that attaches the hub to the control arm rather than the control arm to subframe bolt. Now on my car there was no rust and i did have an impact handy if i needed it, but all i used was a breaker instead. Used a floor jack to raise the control arm and therefore compress the spring, undo the bolt, then slowly lower the jack. A tap with a rubber mallet on the hub and the spring was free.

[quacking05focus]

Oh yeah, just some tips:

I pre-assembled the front struts with new bearings and strut mounts and that really sped things up as I didn't need a spring compressor to take apart the front assemblies (ended up selling them assembled which made life easier for the buyer too). Not sure what coilover setup you bought but I have the st (kw1 non-stainless) and started out with the fronts about halfway and the rears at full bottom. I ended up leaving the rears as-is and brought the fronts down a tad bit more after a few days, maybe 3-4 threads. Not sure why, but getting oem rear shocks out was tougher than i expected (factory sure had the top nut on there tight, especially the passenger side and it's tough to work in the confines of the trunk), but that's about the only hiccup i encountered.

Working with pre-assembled front strut assemblies took me about 30 min to swap the fronts. I install the fronts by loosely securing the strut mounts then using a floor jack to lift the hub up and mate the strut bottom to the hub. Rears took about an hour and a half, so overall not too bad. Good luck and enjoy the new feel after they're in!

[cdh_3752]

Thanks for the help . I was thinking very similar on the rear almost identical to how I do the fronts on my truck. The fronts are together so I should be able to just bolt them right up. And I know what you mean for something so simple shocks can be a real pain.

[Mr.Bergner]

This might have some good info for you. Maybe this is thread you were talking about where you compress the rear with a jack under the lower control arm, remove the shock bolts and slowly lower the arm down.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=198264

[cdh_3752]

I was thinking more like this with the spring compressors http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/s...g+rear+springs

[Mr.Bergner]

Those work too, just a pita if you can't get an impact in there and have to use hand tools to crank it down. Takes forever it seems.

[cdh_3752]

ok well I got everything together. Took alot longer than I imagined, but its all back together tommorow ill finish up some adjusting and try to snap a couple pics. I got one question though how should the sway bar mounting tab be? I mean how high or low straight back or angled in or out? Im getting a popping from the front left sway bar link which is brand new, the only thing i can see causing it is the way its mounted?