HELP!!! Swaybar droplink wont bolt back in, TOO HIGH!

[zandi]

So I'm doing my shocks and springs, I've got the stock crap out and put in the H&R spring, and bilstein strut in, i've tightened the 19mm nut that holds the shock and the 3 13 mm nuts that connect the strut to the strut mount, unclamped the compressor too, but now the swaybar droplink, i cant get it hooked back up because the bolt that sits on top of the control arm is too high, and I cant jack it up because that wont do anything, its higher than the hole for the swaybar drop link.

Also, the strut is harder to turn than before with the stock spring and strut, is this normal?

[zandi]

figured it out, wow...just had to jack up the bar that connects to the car, but then is it still normal for the strut to turn stiffer than normal when its still floating?

[Digitalwave]

figured it out, wow...just had to jack up the bar that connects to the car, but then is it still normal for the strut to turn stiffer than normal when its still floating?

No, it's not normal. You probably reinstalled the washers around the strut bearing incorrectly.

[zandi]

Washers in the strut bearing? shit, i didnt install any at all, where do they go?

[zandi]

Are you talking about the washer that you see in the right?

[KenC]

No. The big fat one that goes between the spring hat and the strut mount. Judging by the wear on the spring hat, I'm guessing you forgot it.

[Jordan]

What Ken said.

You have to take everything back apart and assemble it right.

[zandi]

How does the washer look like? When I took off the spring mount everything just fell apart

[zandi]

I found two different washers that seem to fit in that spot, which do i use or do i stack them? One of them is concave, and the other is flat








And if I stack them which way do I place it?

[zandi]

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...g=31&fg=10
gotta love that site

[Brew]

You might have fucked up the bearing by tightening it down without the washers in there, but you want the washer on the left up against the bearing, and the other directly below it.

[KenC]

Yeah, the one on the left holds all of the bearing grease in.

[zandi]

FUCKING FINALLY

after hours and hours of work, more than 10 hours total, probably hit 20...IM DONE WITH THE FRONT SHOCKS AND SPRINGS, put in H&Rs and Bilsteins...its my first time doing it...YES IT TOOK A LOT LONGER THAN USUAL but i've never done something of this caliber...also, Spring Compressors, wow...these motherfuckers are so hard to find...pep boys loans the shittiest ones, so i got these macpherson spring compressors and even those were a bitch to use....compressing springs was the biggest bitch of all.

but finally the front is in, now on to the back, i just hope it doesnt take as long

[herragge]

alot less is involved in the rear suspension. You don't need a spring compressor.

[EtaSport]

Took me a good while the first tims I ever did the suspension. Ive got it down to a science now. I dont take off an sway bar links, blah, etc.
my latest suspension job:
under 2 hours for 4 (four) springs front and rear from the time I jacked the car up to the time it was on the ground.

I think we should start driving e28s. Dont have to pull any arms off the strut housings. 3 bolts on the bottom, 3 on top, and the sway bar link, presto, about 10 minutes its out.