| Installation
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| 1.
With the car supported on jack stands, remove the calipers and saftey
wire them out of the way. There is no need to disconnect the brake
lines. |
2.
Remove the cotter pins from the ball joint and the tie rod. Remove
the sway bar end links. |
3.
Loosen the castellated nuts from the tie rod and ball joint and
back them off to the last several threads, but do not remove them.
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4.
We used a mallet and a block of aluminum to break the tie rod and
ball joints free. You can also use a tie rod separator tool, but
we found that it did not fit on the ball joint with the strut in
place. You can also try using a pickle fork, but it will destroy
the rubber boot...meaning you'll have to replace the tie rod and
ball joint since boots aren't sold separately. |
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| 5.
With the ball joint and tie rod free, all that is holding up the
lower control arm and spindle assembly is the strut. Place a jack
under the lower control arm and remove the two strut to spindle
bolts. A breaker bar and long pipe will be needed to get sufficient
leverage. An impact wrench wouldn't fit with the rotor installed. |
6.Before
lowering the jack, be sure to remove the nuts on the ball joint
and tie rod. Lower the jack slowly to take the tension off the spring.
While the spring is not likely to pop out...stuff happens. To be
extra safe you can secure the spring to the chassis or lower arm
with a chain. |
7.
With the jack lowered the brake and spindle assembly can be lifted
off the ball joint as one unit. |
8.
The spring is just waiting to come out. There is still some tension
on the spring, so in order to remove it we used a long piece of
pipe (jack handle) and stood back and pried it off the lower arm
seat. |
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| 9.
The old spring can now be safely removed. |
10.
Using an impact wrench, the top nut on the strut is removed. |
11.
The twelve year old stock strut is removed and discarded... be sure
to save the dust boot, it will be transferred to the new strut. |
12.
A comparison of the old spring and the progressive rate Eibach springs
we picked up slightly used. We used the Energy Suspension polyurethane
spring seats rather than the old rubber ones. Note the stock spring
has a rubber dampener sleeve between the coils...we forgot to transfer
this, but it only serves to dampen road noise and vibes. If you
forget, dont sweat it. |
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| 13.
Finally the old arm is unbolted and removed from the k-member. |
14.
Jack showed us this great modification that makes spring installation
and removal much easier. By welding a little steel bracked to the
control arm, spring removal and installation becomes much easier
and safer.
He begins by cutting a piece of 1/8" thick steel 3/4"
tall by 3" wide. |
15.
The steel piece is contoured with a hammer and socket to form a
"u" shape which matches the inner opening of the control
arm. |
16.
The piece is then welded to the inner side of the control arm. This
bracket will now keep the spring in position when the arm is raised
or lowered. |
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| 17.
Our modified Ford Racing control arm is then bolted back into position.
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18.
The Eibach spring is simple set into place -the bracket we welded
on keeps the spring in position while we jack up the arm. Without
the bracket someone would need to hold the spring to prevent it
from sliding off the control arm while jacking. |
19.
The end result.... a solid front end, no shakes, rattles, or rolls!
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20.
The front end, with the Eibach springs, dropped a total of two inches...
giving the car a perfect stance and a lower center of gravity for
better handling.
F/M
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