free bump....texas is nice...

you should try to do it yourself

Welcome to FF btw...

 

Should be lots of people in the ATX/SA are that would be willing to help with an install.

I need to get the group up in DFW going on a day to do some more installs or I'll never get my bushings finished.

 

nobody willing to help? that's pretty sad. there are no speed shops in TEXAS anymore?

 

Yeah, I always wonder that myself. Where are all the speed shops? Only for stangs and vettes I guess. I've never installed a suspension before, but maybe we can get a group together some time to do this. (I'll do mine, too!)

 

yeah, i thought there would be a place for "sport compacts" somewhere in the san antonio/austin or houston areas. i'm probably just going to put the shocks/struts and springs on, leaving the sway bars off, since i'm going more for comfort not performance.

 

Actually, the shocks/struts and springs will effect your comfort more than the swaybars will, if it can even be said that swaybars degrade ride quality at all.

The new suspension kit will make all the bumps you feel worse, but it will tighten your handling by lowering your center of gravity and stiffening the suspension. All the swaybars will do is tighten your handling by beefing up (or in the case of some Foci for the rear, ADDING) a link between your control arms, keeping it flatter in the corners and more responsive.

 

actually, since i just bought this foci with 100k on it and it still has the original shocks/struts and springs, the kit will make a huge difference. my rear will be able to tell you as soon as i get it installed.

 

Its really a relatively easy install if everything is not rusted to hell. Simple mechanics involved.

Here is a how-to on removing and re-installing springs. The shocks are included as part of the procedure.
http://www.focushacks.com/index.php?modid=54

Same procedure but more pictures than words
http://web.archive.org/web/20070814172459/www.teamfocus.us/shocksandstruts.htm

Then here is a how-to on the front sway bar.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27164

And there is no how-to on the rear swaybar but it is just simple mechanics. That is if your car comes with a swaybar stock. If not then you will have to buy brackets from Steeda in order to attach one as you don't have the attachement points stock. If you have a stock rear bar then no problem.

A suspension change isn't really that hard. I could do mine including front and rear swaybars in around 6-8 hours on a really good day. Just set apart a weekend or something, have patience, take your time and have fun.

 

thanks for the links, because it looks like i may have to attempt this myself. fortunately i have another vehicle to use, but i would rather have my foci in case i get called out of town on business.

appreciate any and all help.

 

Just keep us updated with questions in this thread or another as you go. Lots of guys on here have also done complete suspensions and would be more that glad to help ya out with any question you might have.

 

U can also get a good install instructions by googling svt suspension install and its the first link.

 

^^^says the guy who helped me with my install with that link. lol thanks 1st

 

You have no idea how much that helped me with my first suspension install. Man was i lost.

 

need help in houston

ok, i finally received my kit and installed the rear section last night(the easy part). now what i need is a shop in the houston area, where i am currently, that can compress the front springs and attach them to the struts. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

You can always rent a manual strut spring compressor from autozone. I went that route with my install and didn't have a problem. If you don't have an offset wrench you may have to rig something up to hold the rod of the strut in place with an allen key, to remove the top plate off the strut. I held a deepwell socket with vise grips to remove that nut.

 

a place that does mustangs should be able to do a focus. comon its a small car ,lol

 

i did it all by myself

shocks, struts and springs are now done, what's with the leftover pieces did the whole thing by myself, what a pain in the butt. i'm just hoping i put the rear springs in the right way. anybody know which way they are supposed to go in?

actually, its really not that bad. install is pretty straightforward and, yes, air tools do help.[headbang]