APEX lowering springs installed on my Optra 5

[PrecisionBoost]

Well.... the springs are in and the car looks nice and aggressive.

I was very surprized to find the ride very comfortable... they are actually asbsorb small bumps better than the stock springs and at the same time they control body roll significantly.

I'd have to guess that they have a progressive spring rate.

I tried to test them out last night at 1am but the streets had a bit of frost on them and I ended up drifting sideways around a corner at high speed.

Luckily I was doing this in an industrial park where my shop is located so there was nobody on the road.

I thought I'd be able to try them out this morning but the roads are wet from the frost.... it's a couple degrees under freezing right now.... but hopefully it will warm up enough to dry the streets out.

I will post pictures of my car in the "members cars and specs" area once I pull them off my digital camera and shrink them ( I have an 8 megapixel SLR style camera so I have to decrease the size dramaticly)

I also took about 20 to 30 pictures of the disassembly/assembly procedure..... and I will write out all the tools required for the job.

[AcingTeam]

Well.... the springs are in and the car looks nice and aggressive.

I was very surprized to find the ride very comfortable... they are actually asbsorb small bumps better than the stock springs and at the same time they control body roll significantly.

I'd have to guess that they have a progressive spring rate.

I tried to test them out last night at 1am but the streets had a bit of frost on them and I ended up drifting sideways around a corner at high speed.

Luckily I was doing this in an industrial park where my shop is located so there was nobody on the road.

I thought I'd be able to try them out this morning but the roads are wet from the frost.... it's a couple degrees under freezing right now.... but hopefully it will warm up enough to dry the streets out.

I will post pictures of my car in the "members cars and specs" area once I pull them off my digital camera and shrink them ( I have an 8 megapixel SLR style camera so I have to decrease the size dramaticly)

I also took about 20 to 30 pictures of the disassembly/assembly procedure..... and I will write out all the tools required for the job.

Nice!!! Just have a question... is the disassembly/assembly procedure the same (or about the same) for Lanos? Cause I'd rather do it myself with my dad then pay $300 to a shop.

Thanks

[PrecisionBoost]

I will add pics later but I want to get the procedure down right now while I still remember it.

Please note I will be editiing this for the next little while.

Front Suspension...

1) Jack up car on lower suport points
2) Remove tire
3) Loosen the two strut to knuckle nuts ( requires 17mm socket and wrench ) Do not remove bolts, simply remove the nuts
4) Remove Sway bar to strut connection ( one 14mm Nut )
5) Remove Brake line support clip and move brake line out of the way
6) Open hood and remove plastic strut cover
7) Remove upper strut mount nut ( 17mm socket ) in engine bay
8 ) Remove both lower strut/knuckle bolts while holding onto the strut assembly
9) Strut should be free and clear at this point
10) Use spring compressors to compress the strut spring by turning each side a little at a time to keep the compression even. ( Use hockey tape over metal teeth to ensure that it doesn't scratch the spring )
11) make carefull note of the position of the upper strut mount and mark it with a felt pen so you can align it later
12) Remove 17mm nut on the top of the strut
13) Remove upper assembly carefully and make very sure you keep it all in order in the correct positions
14) Remove spring with spring compressors
15) loosen spring compressor slowly a couple turns at a time.... ensure that you remove them in equal amounts. (1/4" left then 1/4" right then 1/2" left ect )
16) Once compressors are off put them on the new spring and compress the new spring
17) Reassemble the strut assembly keeping your marked position in the exact same orientation that it was with the stock setup
18 ) Reattach the 17mm nut ( may need a special tool to help hold the shaft in place) Never ever attach vise grips or pliers to the piston shaft when reinsalling this nut.... it will damage the strut.
19) With the nut installed and torqued down slowly release the spring compressors until they become loose
20) inspect strut assembly to make sure everything looks correct ( please note that the new spring doesn't line up on the rubber gasket where the old one did.... this is ok.... it's the orientation of the upper strut mount that must be maintained
21) Install strut and have a friend screw on the upper 17mm nut in the engine bay while you push it up into place
22) Reinstall strut to knuckle bolts, screw on nuts but don't torque them up quite yet
23) Reinstall sway bar link and torque up nut
24) Torque upper 17mm nut in engine bay
25) Torque up both lower 17mm nuts
26) reinstall brake line with mounting clip
27) inspect everything to make sure it looks correct
28 ) Reinstall tire, torque nuts
29) lower jack and enjoy your new look


Rear Suspension...

1) Jack up car on lower suport points
2) Remove tire
3) Loosen the two strut to knuckle nuts ( requires 17mm socket and wrench ) Do not remove bolts, simply remove the nuts
4) Remove Sway bar to strut connection ( one 14mm Nut )
5) Remove Brake line support clip and move brake line out of the way
6) Open trunk and remove cover inside hatch (side of strut)
7) Remove the three strut mount nuts ( 12mm )
8 ) Remove both lower strut/knuckle bolts while holding onto the strut assembly
9) Strut should be free and clear at this point
10) Use spring compressors to compress the strut spring by turning each side a little at a time to keep the compression even. ( Use hockey tape over metal teeth to ensure that it doesn't scratch the spring )
11) make carefull note of the position of the upper strut mount and the lower strut mount. mark both with a felt pen so you can align it later
12) Remove rubber cover and undo 17mm nut on the top of the strut
13) Remove upper assembly carefully and make very sure you keep it all in order in the correct positions
14) Remove spring with spring compressors
15) loosen spring compressor slowly a couple turns at a time.... ensure that you remove them in equal amounts. (1/4" left then 1/4" right then 1/2" left ect )
16) Once compressors are off put them on the new spring and compress the new spring
17) Reassemble the strut assembly keeping your marked positions in the exact same orientation they were with the stock setup. You can rotate the rubber gasket such that it lines up with the spring but make sure that the metal piece above does not move as it's orientation must stay the same.
18 ) Reattach the 17mm nut ( may need a special tool to help hold the shaft in place) Never ever attach vise grips or pliers to the piston shaft when reinsalling this nut.... it will damage the strut.
19) With the nut installed and torqued down slowly release the spring compressors until they become loose
20) inspect strut assembly to make sure everything looks correct and everything is orientated the same way
21) Install strut and have a friend screw on the upper 12mm nuts in the trunk while you push it up into place
22) Reinstall strut to knuckle bolts, screw on nuts but don't torque them up quite yet
23) Reinstall sway bar link and torque up nut
24) Torque upper 12mm nut in trunk
25) Torque up both lower 17mm nuts
26) reinstall brake line with mounting clip
27) inspect everything to make sure it looks correct
28 ) Reinstall tire, torque nuts
29) lower jack and enjoy your new look

[CHNDROSE]

I am really glad to hear that the new springs help with the bumps and the body roll. I will definately have to save my pennies and find someone I trust to do the work.

Rose

[PrecisionBoost]

I'd still like to get some slightly stiffer struts..... the factory ones are now out of their normal "rest" position by 30mm due to the lowering so they behave slightly differently.

Surprizingly enough I haven't bottomed out once..... I even went over the huge ice rutts outside my house and had no problem..... I totally expected to have problems in winter.

Summer might be another story.... we have speed bumps on the street outside my house and I used to bottom out with the stock springs.... and my Acura bottoms out as well.... I hope they shave them down like I asked..... I raised hell when they put them in.... I don't think they are shaped correctly.

[kinkyllama]

Too bad you didnt do this several months ago when i had my springs installed.. oh well


Ive never bottom out since ive lowered my car with the exception of when im cornering really hard at high speeds and hit the slightest bump... it bottoms out really easy. But that isnt a problem on a closed course where there shouldnt be bumps like that.