Rear Spring installation

[AndrewBird]

What are you guys talking about lowering the diff and compressing springs for the rears? I've done dozens of them and never had to do either. Disconnect the shocks and sway bar on both sides and use a little muscle to pop them in/out.

That's what Josh and I did with his IE3's. I don't know why you guys are having so much trouble.

[IS]

Ie3s are substantially shorter than stock springs. What you are "muscling" is actually your cv joints. Brilliant idea.

[Gus]

What are you guys talking about lowering the diff and compressing springs for the rears? I've done dozens of them and never had to do either. Disconnect the shocks and sway bar on both sides and use a little muscle to pop them in/out.

im with this guy

i have H&R sports too....went in ridiculously easy. just disconnect sway bar and shock. stock springs are a wee bit of a bitch though i will agree. and as for CV's being muscled, you really think they are going to be affected by a couple of seconds of being at the limit of their range of movement?

[Garageaholic]

Ie3s are substantially shorter than stock springs. What you are "muscling" is actually your cv joints. Brilliant idea.

actually i didnt have my half shafts in. I put them in through the top hold first and finally snapped them into place on the bottom hole

[AndrewBird]

actually i didnt have my half shafts in. I put them in through the top hold first and finally snapped them into place on the bottom hole

Ditto, we did it the same way, but with halfshafts in. And we sure as hell didn't have to press hard enough that anything would happen to the halfshafts.

[Garageaholic]

how are your ears andrew?

[AndrewBird]

how are your ears andrew?

Getting better every day. :)

[BahnE30]

Ie3s are substantially shorter than stock springs. What you are "muscling" is actually your cv joints. Brilliant idea.

you think you "muscling" the CV joints is going to put more of a strain on them then driving. get a grip. there's over 2500 lbs of strain on them everytime you move the car

[1991 318is]

No problem here either.

Do all three of the following.
1) Jack up car with both rear wheels off the ground.
2) Disconnect shocks.
3) Disconnect sway bars from trailing arms.
There may be a little extra drag with new trailing arm bushings. I've done this three times.

[Garageaholic]

Yeah, but the drag on the trailing arms is all but null... if anything, the drag would be on the trailing arm tabs and maaaybe the subframe studs as the trailing arms hang down..

[arsevader]

you think you "muscling" the CV joints is going to put more of a strain on them then driving. get a grip. there's over 2500 lbs of strain on them everytime you move the car

It's not the amount of strain that's the problem. It's the fact that the CV joints aren't flexed in their normal position of movement.

No U-joint or CV likes to be have pressure placed on them outside of their normal range of movement. That's a fact.

[Garageaholic]

It's not the amount of strain that's the problem. It's the fact that the CV joints aren't flexed in their normal position of movement.

No U-joint or CV likes to be have pressure placed on them outside of their normal range of movement. That's a fact.

Yeah, I think that just about every guy on this forum would agree with you.. Everybody says that when you are removing your diff or anything like that, you MUST hang your half shafts by string or zip tie or watever...because naturally leaving them hanging will be outside of their normal range of movement, thus creating unnecessary stress

[AdamF 88iS]

Yeah, I think that just about every guy on this forum would agree with you.. Everybody says that when you are removing your diff or anything like that, you MUST hang your half shafts by string or zip tie or watever...because naturally leaving them hanging will be outside of their normal range of movement, thus creating unnecessary stress

As long as you don't turn them while hanging they are ok.

[AdironRider]

I pushed down on the brake/hub assembly a bit and my H&R OE sports slid right in.

[BimmerTom]

I'm going to have to disagree with the CV's being "stressed" when hanging down.

Running a CV at a severe angle (think of the front end of improperly lifted IFS trucks) will shorten the life of the CV, however.

The only problem I can see with hanging your CV's down is pulling at the CV boots. If they crack, they probably need to be replaced anyways.

FWIW, I just pulled out my rear springs by disconnecting the shocks, pulling out the sway bar (I'm replacing it) and a crowbar. Popped the springs right out.

Tom