Be VERY careful how you hold the gun when you do this. Don't grip it tightly like normal. Hold your hand to the side and grip it only tightly enough to pull the trigger. When the nut comes off, it'll kick back hard and you don't want to hurt your wrist.
I do it this way every time and it's no big deal, but you have to pay attention.
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I still just use my impact gun... point the strut away from anything/body you dont hurt/camaged and just whiz the top nut off and enjoy the BMW fireworks. then install lowering springs so you can ditch the spring compressor on assembly too!Leave a comment:
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Oh man, the front was a bitch when I was installing my coils. The passenger side came off easy, but I spent a while beating the shit out of my control arm with a hammer to get it off the driver's side. It eventually came off and I was sooooo relieved. The back is easy. You don't even need a spring compressor. You just need a friend. Have your friend stand on the hub of the car while the car is jacked up and on stands, then have him give it a little bounce. While he's doing that, pull the spring out. That's how I got mine out.Leave a comment:
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dude you will hate spring compressors by the end of it. Just accept the fact that they suck and will piss you off and your hands will be sore for days. The fronts are easy though. All you gotta do is get off the tie rods and control arms and you're set. Look up the bavauto video and use one of the ball joint separators. Preferably not the pickle fork. What worked for me was hitting the knuckle with a hammer once I had pressure on it. Jacking the strut up to get pressure on it will help.
once that's done you can take it off the car and deal with it there. I ended up taking the whole strut complete with rotor off and then bolting it up to a wheel which I laid on the ground and then sat on the wheel to get the shock unbolted... shit was hilarious, as in that weird kind of hilarious when you've been up for 78 hours and everything is hilarious.Leave a comment:
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I'll take another whack at it tomorrow. I kind of just want to get a grinder out and cut the springs in half. H&R races are replacing them anyways.Leave a comment:
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That cracked me up
Damn must be a bunch of comedians out in van city
And no it never goes smoothly....once I had to take an uber ride to drop off my transmission at the shop and I have spent countless hours on public transportation just shuttling back and forth from the auto store to get parts and home depot to get tools
It's good for you, builds character
Just so you know pickle forks suck and are going to destroy the rubber boots around your ball joints....if you can find it, try and get something like this
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bal...HhGBoCDqrw_wcB
It may cost twice as much as a pickle fork but it won't rip apart the rubber boots protecting your ball joints and will save you money in the long runLeave a comment:
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Tried separating my ball joint for 6 hours and it just wouldn't give .
So I took a sledgehammer and went Rambo .
I then had to order a new control arm.
Have patience , or parts will break
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Its the adventures such as that you remember on later in your life and go "the fuck was i thinking?!" LOL.
We as humans need struggle in our lives to realize the "good" parts are good.
Th sense of accomplishment when you DO finish will be greater.Leave a comment:
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Pissed beyond words
Coil, fuel pump relay, and main relay all took a shit and i'm waiting on parts in the mail. Then while i was at work today my billy sports finally came. Got home and said cool mine as well do suspension work while she's down. Followed all the step by step bullshit everyone said to do. Then lower ball joint didn't want to separate. Hit with a hammer hard as fukk....nothing and I don't own a pickle fork to which my friend said just go get one. "Yeah sure while my cars dead and not running retard" So i broke out my spring compressor and it's dumbest fucking invention ever and the rods poke into the inside of upper wheel well. I tried compressing it for a good solid hour to no avail. It started to get dark so I gave up. Can life ever go fucking smoothly??!?!?!!?!?
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