Installing aftermarket springs.

[nomadx38]

Hey everybody,

I was just wondering how I would go about installing some aftermarket H&R springs myself (or with someone's help). I have all the workshop manuals but was wondering if its even possible to do without equipment like a spring compressor.

I'm looking to buy a pair and thought I would see what the installation cost would be. I regret calling Pedders as I shat myself when they said it would be $360 for installation only. That price + the springs makes me rethink my priorities as it will cost about the same for a engine tune - the tune been actually useful and the springs only for show (and from what I heard - assist me with booking a appointment with a back specialist )

Any ideas / recommendations let me know!

Also if you are in Victoria and want to help me out I'm more than happy to help you out financially $)

Thanks in advance

[pontiff]

Hey everybody,

I was just wondering how I would go about installing some aftermarket H&R springs myself (or with someone's help). I have all the workshop manuals but was wondering if its even possible to do without equipment like a spring compressor.

I'm looking to buy a pair and thought I would see what the installation cost would be. I regret calling Pedders as I shat myself when they said it would be $360 for installation only. That price + the springs makes me rethink my priorities as it will cost about the same for a engine tune - the tune been actually useful and the springs only for show (and from what I heard - assist me with booking a appointment with a back specialist )

Any ideas / recommendations let me know!

Also if you are in Victoria and want to help me out I'm more than happy to help you out financially $)

Thanks in advance

hi mate.... ahhhhhh the joys of springs... been there done that and bought many a T'shirt.

give it a crack yourself mate.. spring compressors are about $30 or so on ebay from memory.. I bought mine from an online tool retailer in kilmore, never let me down.

As for installing. Its not that hard, but if you want to do it 'properly' then you need to replace all the stretch bolts and nuts with new ones which i think from memory sets you back about $50 or so for the whole set, or you can just re-use the ones you have, but in this day and age of OH&S and liability, i would say replace them but you make up your own mine here.

As for install, its pretty simple, you WILL need an M14 hex bit to get our the retailing bolt from the front struts. These are NOT in normal kits so I bought one specially for this task for about $10 from tradetools in dandenong... THEN I damm well find that its in a kit that supercheapauto sells, so grab one of those sets (red metal case) for about $17 i think it was (bargain!)... other than that there is not much else in the way to special tools you need.

I have a writeup that I sent to the guy who bought my kw v1's that I can send u if u want, its mostly the same for what you want to do, but the only thing that differs from the factory elsawin instructions is that i did not have to remove the lower swivel joint on the passenger side, but did have to on the drivers side.

if you get stuck hit me up with any questions...

[Martin]

I can't understand why you are comparing the spring installation cost to an engine tune
One is labour and the other is ECU firmware

$360 is entirely reasonable for that work (I paid $450 - Skoda/Octavia/Wagon)

The rear's are childs play - it's the front that's a bit challenging, especially the left front with the short drive shaft
And remember, you need to get your wheel alignment checked afterwards (presume that was included in the Pedder's quote)

[LunchboxVRS]

You will need spring compressors but there no much to buy. Find the most slim line set you can.
You will also need a special tool for spreading the hub. The vw tool was $30 when I got it.
You will need a m14 bit for the strut bolt.
There are also some one use nuts and bolts you will need to buy pictured below.
The last two rant needed if you don't remove the shafts.








You will need a torque wrench and some way of holding the top strut nut with a hole through it to place a Allen key in like I've mad below.




If your going for the h&r the you can actually get the back in without compressing them. Once the old ones are out you let the rear suspension hang and just place the top in and pull up untill it clears the bottom and then drop it in.

I managed to change the front without undoing the lower arm and pulling the driveshafts out but it was tricky (myself being a mechanic)
But it can be done. The drivers side is the worst if the shaft is left in as it will hit the frame and stop you from dropping the strut out but if you compress the spring heaps and compress the strut by hand (takes a little brut force) you can clear the hub and pull it out.

The polo doesn't require a wheel alignment after you change the springs.
And it's the right front thats the pain as its longer and hits(has to go from the gearbox on the left under the engine to the right). The short side pivots down at the point of the frame from the gearbox side and doesn't foul.

[Transporter]

The cost of buying tools and your time that you could spend working? It must count for something as well, so let the pro do it. The last thing you need is to get injured in the process of replacing the springs and not being able to work or even worst.
Also, think about the liability when something happens (like a car accident), and I'm not talking about the using of the new bolts and nuts. If you don't have a qualification to work on the cars then some jobs you shouldn't attempt.

You've been warned.

[LunchboxVRS]

If you go the pedders option make sure they replace the nuts/bolts and check whether its in the price as all up there about $60 alone.

[gavs]

Let me know what tools you don't have and I'll drop them off I I've got them all still....

[MrDeathLad]

I have a writeup that I sent to the guy who bought my kw v1's that I can send u if u want, its mostly the same for what you want to do, but the only thing that differs from the factory elsawin instructions is that i did not have to remove the lower swivel joint on the passenger side, but did have to on the drivers side.

That would be me. Still have all that info as well. Was helpfull, but in the end I ended up going the pedders route. I would like to do more to my car myself, but not knowing much about them (and when it comes to handling and safety), I'll let the professionals do it for the time being.

[amazeer]

I took my kombi to the professionals once. I went back a few hours later at the predetermined pickup time and had to wait another 30 minutes until it was ready.

Eventually the guy comes out and says he only adjusted the toe because you cant adjust anything else. So the car went back on the hoist so I could show them how to loosen the ball joint nut and turn the eccentric adjuster! So much for straight advice and no bull. And why it would take > 30 minutes to adjust toe is beyond me. Could have done it quicker in my garage with a tape measure.

[nomadx38]

Hey guys.

Thanks for all your advice, I really appreciate it.

Haha really it hasn't made my decision any easier though. I can clearly see both sides to this problem here. One side is that I should pay 360$ to get a qualified person to do it, just because its their job (and thus "should" be good at it and if they screw up I can blame them) and that it is the safer option (which is very important as next to wheel bolts the springs and shocks are the only things keeping the wheels on the car!).

The other side of the issue is that a good 75% I can do myself and to the same standard as they would - so why pay for it.

It seams every time I give my car to a "specialist" (ala the VW dealer who did my clutches) the car has come back more f**ked than when it went there (everybody should know about my ongoing DSG problems).

As it stands I am just plainly paranoid about giving my car to anyone to do work on because they do a half assed job because its not their own personal car

And as for Pedders I highly doubt they would go to VW to get the bolts - I also doubt they have the workshop manual which explains which bolts must be renewed and how to torque them up correctly.

They would just use the old ones which would be less safe than if I did the job myself and got the new bolts. And as for the wheel alignment I get my mates over at Bob Jane to do it on the house because I have been buying stuff from them since I was a small kid and even they know only the front has adjustment (very little at that) and it only takes them 10mins. So for me the cost of alignment is out of the picture.

I would also be doing this on the weekend, and as i don't work on the weekend would not be loosing money by it (but I can see your point).

Just looking at the rear it looks piss easy:

Jack the car up, compress the springs, undo the top bolts for the shocks (probably don't even need to undo the bottom bolts) drop the whole beam forward and pull the springs out, and do everything in reverse to put it back. Am I wrong?

They front on the other hand look much harder considering I can't even get to the bolt on the top of the shock because of the plastic cover that covers it - I don't even know how to pull off.