help...changing rear springs...in the middle of it right now..

[TRBO VNM]

I am having a hell of a time getting the spring out. My spring compressor isn't working and I know there is a way to do it without the compressor.

I have the rotor, shock, swaybar disconnected, but that isn't lowering enough. I have it on a lift at a friends house. We only have a transmission jack to support it all. Is there part of the IRS or one bolt to remove in order for it to lower more?

 

[78mphgpr]

Pull the 2 bolts that hold up the entire IRS. The whole side will fall and then you can easily change the spring. When you jack the IRS back up into the car line up the rear bolt and then use a ratchet strap to pull the front of the IRS to line it up. The first time I did it, it took me 6 hours, now I I can do both rears in UNDER an hour.

 

[TRBO VNM]

you mean just the 2 bolts on either side as I do that side. Not drop the whole IRS. right?

 

[78mphgpr]

You are correct, pull the front and rear bolts on one side only. reassemble that side, then go do the other side.

 

[TRBO VNM]

since we are using a lift and transmission jack, do we really need the ratchet strap?

 

[78mphgpr]

You may not need it at all. I just makes pulling the IRS into the "sweet spot" easier. You may jack it up right into place the first time.

 

[03 DSG Snake]

78mphgpr,

What springs are you running? Also, what tires and tire sizes are those? Thanks!

 

[fiorefiveoh]

i just drop both the rear IRS bolts, much easier to put back together. i think you can do it with just taking the shock off and the rear IRS bolts, i did it last year, and it was very easy after i figured how to do it when i did the IRS bushings. swapped the rear springs out in 40 mins.

 

[LeathalSVT]

I had a mechanic friend of mine who owed me a favor installed mine, took him 5 hours to do just the rear springs. It must have had him pretty frustrated cause he forgot to install my MM spring isolators when he put them in. This info will be helpful when I go to install the isolators, do you need to have the car re aligned after pulling the rear IRS bolts, also which bolt is the one that should be changed to 14mm?

 

[TRBO VNM]

well finally got it all together. total time was 3hrs. the first time always sucks. The second side took about 30 min, but the front IRS part was a pain to get back in. Finally we were able to use a pry bar on the rear part to push the whole thing foward. I don't know how long it takes to finally settle, but the rear doesn't look like it is dropping much at all. The front did drop some. I forgot to take measurements before. I need to see if someone can do that on their car to get some kind of comparison. And of course I forgot my IRS bolts at home so I didn't get those in. The 12mm one's did have wear on them.

Ended up removing the front and rear bolts and the shock bolt. dropped it down and they came out fairly easy. the passenger side IRS dropped a lot more than the driver side. I will ride around for about a week or two and see what happens and then get an alignment. If the rear doesn't drop, I might end up changing them. I have the MM isolators.

 

[Satin03]

78mphgpr,

You are the MAN!!! I too was in the same dilemma as our friend 03Redfiresnk. I did the left side, got frustrated, came inside for the night, got on the computer only to see this post waiting for me. I went out the next day, and man...what a difference. Had the right side done in less than an hour. Thanks for the help. Very helpful. However, I will add that the best way to hook it all back up is install the front IRS bolt first using the back as necessary adjustments before installing that one. Then the last thing would be the shock bolt.

03Redfiresnk,

I ended up keeping the stock isolators. The drop is perfect on my car! The rear is definately more noticeable than the front but sits perfect and rides great. I am extremely happy with the Race Springs. I too will give it a week or so to align it and determine if it drops anymore whether to add the MM isolators or not.

Mike :beer:

 

[TRBO VNM]

satin,

good deal. yeah after that info it was a breeze. PM me or something if you end up wanting the isolators. I am not sure yet if I will remove them. I measured again today and it did drop another 1/4 inch, so we will see after a week or so. I would like about another 1/2 inch to 3/4. So I may or may not have the isolators available. But if so, I would get rid of them at a good price. I would only have maybe 100 miles on them max...only drive 1 mile to work everyday.

while we are on the subject...can anyone tell me which bolts are the one's you replace with the 14mm bolts? If I took out the one's needed, I might as well put the 14mm in since it is so easy instead of paying someone. I already have the 14mm bolts sitting here waiting.

 

[78mphgpr]

Glad to help. I did the same thing, beat on the rear of the car for three hours, came in and did some research...done 1 hour later. I love the internet sometimes!

 

[Satin03]

03Redfiresnk,

I will definately keep you in mind. If you don't hear from me when you decide to part with them, give me a shout. I may have have forgotten about it. Thanks.

Mike