OK, the car is still in the shop, deployments have come in between me and my car. Anyway, here's the deal:

1) Pulled the stock front springs, cut the front ones half a coil, reinstalled them, yes made sure to align them according to the holes on the control arm.

2) Did the same thing with the rear (although can't remember how much I cut them).

3) KYB all around.

4) Got rid of the old strut mounts and got the J&M ones instead.


So right now, few problems:

I) Car still sits way high, much higher than I expected, I did roll it back and forth a few times.

II) The struts, well I can't get the upper locking nut go down all the way, torque it to 35 and still have at least half way more to go. I even removed the supplied (by KYB) thick washer, still got the problem.


I'm almost at the point of thinking of getting weight jacks right now, but I would prefer not to right now for two reasons, one being that I need to get the car on the road ASAP, and two I'm stubborn, me and my buddy spend a lot of dangerous time with the stock springs and I would like to see them working at least for now.

I'll post some pics after dinner.

Pics of strut and a side front pic showing the ride height

Front ride height, back ride height, and a side pic. In reality the cigarette pack doesn't make these pics any good, since in reality the front seems to be raised even more.

I dont think your strut is in all the way. It should be much higher then the nut.

Exactly, but how and why ?

It should be in a lot more, past the nylon top inside the nut.


Now what about the ride height ? Could it possibly be suspension bind ? Such as the control arm needs to be loosened up, sway bar maybe even disconnected, and then the car rolled back and forth ?

did you leave the black plactic tube that covers the strut shaft on? if so, thats whats binding and not allowing the threaded portion to go completely through the strut mount bearing.

Waow lol, so the plastic tube shouldn't be reinstalled, ok lol, thanks

I used a pair of Pro Comp shock boots from Summit and zip tied it around the bottom.

seems sarcastic?

people have modified it and been able to use it, but most just toss it and go with some other route.

Yeah it's just such a simple fix, and it's the one thing I didn't even think about.

Thank you !!


Oh the other fix you're talking about would be hmmm like what ? One of those red or black boots one can see on shocks on pickup trucks ?

yeah seen people use those universal boots and zip ties. I dont use anything, never had a problem.

yeah mine was like that too -__- was clunking on bumps and rode funny and my strut mount lookd like yours did..

Thanks guys, appreciate the help.

Now hopefully that will take care of the ride height up front as well. If not should I loosen up the bolts to the control arm and push up from the bottom with a jack to compress it up and down ?

For the back I may have to go with the garden hose if necessary.

if you are sure you indexed the springs right, leave them alone, go for a drive and see if it settles any.

OK, update as follows:

I can now get the strut bolt on, even with a washer.


However I have a few issues regarding ride height still, possible due to the alignment with the J&M plates, because I forgot to mark where the stock plates were at.

Seems like on one side it aligns different than the other.

Also, I roll the car forward a few feet, ride height on the front lowers about 1/2 inch. I roll the car back the ride height goes up again, so quite possibly an alignment/caster/camber etc problem for now ?

Also, uneven ride height, had this problem with the front, I think I fixed the front, but now the driver side rear is resting a little bit higher than the passenger side, before when I had the problem with the front, it was also the driver side.

Removed the rear springs, threw away the stock spacers, and replaced them with garden hose. Does it matter how I position the rear springs ? They have been cut a while ago.