Advice Installing Shocks/Struts and Lowering Springs

[CrankyOldMan]

What is the 9/16" for? All of the fasteners on our car are metric. Perhaps it's a 14mm? I just swapped my suspension over for the 5th time last week--I go back to stock for the winter--and haven't ever needed any fractional sockets. The rear shocks will require two 14mm wrenches to break loose the jam nuts, and a small adjustable wrench to hold the flats on the piston while you remove the bottom jam nut.

If you want to be able to go back to stock with a minimal amount of hassle, I suggest getting a second set of upper strut parts for your new setup: boot, bumpstop, top plate, bearing and nuts (see pic). Drop springs are short enough that you don't need a spring compressor to install them, and a second set of parts means you won't need to remove the OEM springs.

One bit of advice: do NOT allow the shock/strut pistons to rotate! The hex socket on the struts and the wrench flats on the shocks are there to give you something to break the nuts loose, as well as remove them. It's very tempting to hold the box wrench and turn the piston, but it can damage the seals and ruin the shock/strut.

A trip to Harbor Freight tools can set you up with some other "nice to have" items that will make the swap easier:

• Go-through socket wrench - this will allow you to remove/install the top nut on the front struts without removing the wipers or cowl. You can do it with an offset box wrench too, but it's much harder to keep repositioning the wrench.
• If you don't have a breaker bar, I suggest investing in one--it's the best $8 I've spent on a tool in a long time. There are also 1/2" versions, as well as longer ones, but a 17 or 18" one just fits in my toolbox, and a 25" can give you enough torque to start shearing/twisting/breaking things.

And as always, access to an air compressor and an impact wrench will make things much easier.