Disclaimer: The instructions below are what I did to my car and can be used as a "guide" for working on yours. But, I take no responsibility for what you decide to do to your car. Be sure to read through all of the instructions first before doing anything to your vehicle.
Purpose: Allows you to choose your ride height from 0" to 3" lower. Improves handling by using stiffer springs to minimize body roll and weight transfer to the rear wheels.
Application: 1st Generation '95-'99 Dodge Neons (although I'm sure 2nd Gen is very similar if not identical)
Time Required: 5 hrs
Scale of Difficulty: 3 (5 being the hardest)
Cost: ~$200
Tools Required:
For the record, I used KYB struts and HP Motorsports coilovers made for '97+ Saturns. Spring rates are 450 Front/350 Rear which is too much for the KYB's, but definately streetable. Koni's would be much better if you can afford them. This idea was taken from GuaNu's website and can be found HERE. I just went a little more in depth.
2. First thing you need to remove is the metal lip that is welded to the top of the strut body. Take enough off so that the threaded sleeve will slide over it. Took me (4) cut-off wheels and 20 min.
3. Next part is to remove the spring perch. On the front struts, cut the perch right below the bead of weld and on the rears, cut it right above the weld. Once it's cut deep enough, use a hammer to hit the perch away from the weld and off the strut. (On the fronts, the perch will sit losely at the bottom until you remove the weld and can slide it off the strut) Used (1) cut-off wheel and 5 min.
4. Now you need to remove the bead of weld that was holding the spring perch on. Just cut a little bit at a time and eventually it will all come off. (3) cut-off wheels and 15 min.
5. Clean everything up and verify that your threaded sleeve will slide over the strut body freely. If it doesn't, then grind/cut off the area that is giving you problems. At this point, I repainted the strut to make it look good and the pipe clamps to match.
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If you want to mount the strut 1/4" higher to gain that much more travel than due the following: (it can be used with both the stock strut mounts and is required for my custom Kamber plates) 1. Start off by measuring from the shaft shoulder down 1/8" and another one at 1/4" and marking them with a pen. Mark the whole way around the shaft. 2. Take your Dremel or similar tool and cut a groove along both marks. Take your time removing the material on the shaft so that the new shaft shoulder is 1/4" down from where it originally was. Took me about 20 min and (2) cut-off wheels.
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1. Take your "rubber in a can" and spray the spring caps and the collars that the springs sit on. Put about 4-5 thin coats letting each coat dry fully.
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1. Take your 2.25" ID exhaust pipe and cut (2) sections that are 3" long and (2) sections that are 6" long. You can paint them to match the struts. If you really want to slam your ride more than 2" then cut the pipe 1/2" shorter (instead of 3" make them 2.5" long and instead of 6" make them 5.5" long).
NOTE: These measurements are based on the springs I used: 2. Slide the 3" (or 2.5") long pipe over the strut body of the front strut and place a pipe clamp on the strut body so it sits on top of the pipe. Turn the clamp so that when the strut is on the car the nuts of the clamp are facing away from the tire (see pic). Tighten the pipe clamp. The threaded sleeve will sit on the pipe clamp, which takes most of the force. And the pipe clamp sits on the pipe as insurance to keep the clamp from ever sliding down the strut body (see pic). 3. The threaded sleeve comes with (3) hex screws to hold it to the strut body. Throw them away and get out your 1/16" thick 6"x6" polyurethane sheet. Mark out (4) 1/2" wide x 3" long strips and cut them out with some scissors. 4. Hold one of the polyurethane strips onto the strut body vertically and slide the sleeve over the strut body and poly strip. It should be a VERY tight fit to keep the sleeve from sliding up and down and spinning around. If it isn't, then cut out another strip and try sliding the sleeve over the (2) strips, one on each side. 5. With the sleeves secured to the struts, place a plastic washer (if supplied) that came with the coilovers on the collar. Then place the spring on. Normally the higher spring rate goes on the front and softer ones in the rear. Put another plastic washer on the spring cap and put the cap on the spring. In the rear, all you have to do is bolt the strut mount on. 6. In the fronts, place a small bead of silicone on the strut bearing and place it in the strut mount. Make sure the bearing still rotates easily and allow the silicone to dry. Once it's dry, you can bolt the strut mount to the strut. If you did the 1/4" more strut travel mod then put the strut mount on the strut and stack (4) washers, then the nut. |
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*CAUTION* -- Depending on your offset, wheels, tires and how low you set the spring, the coilover lower spring perch may hit the tire and/or rim (which would be a bad thing). If it does rub, you may need to get wheel spacers to move the wheel further away from the strut.
2. When you got it the way you want it, shake the car to make sure the suspension is seated properly. Then take it for a *slow* test drive around the block. If everything is fine, then you're good to go. Enjoy !!!
My Opinion:
At first I only installed the rear coilovers and left the stock 140 springs up front for a week and the ride was terribly bouncy. The next weekend I installed the front coilovers and it was like night and day. Almost all of the bouncy ride I got went away and the ride is a lot smoother. Almost no body roll makes taking corners faster and easier and weight transfer to the rear is nearly gone. Changing the ride height can be done in a matter of minutes with a jack, tape measure and the wrenches provided with the coilovers. Koni's and maybe even stock replacement struts, would definately be a better choice than the KYB's, in my opinion.
Eventually, I may replace these stiff springs w/ taller softer spring rates (i.e. 8" 270/220) to match my non-performance struts better, since this is my daily driver. Replacement 2.5" ID Eibach springs can be found at Ground Control and are available in different heights and spring rates.
