Installed H&R springs this past weekend- what a pain in the *ss but definitley worth it- and good times despite the bloody knuckles :smile:

The car is definitley lower but not to the point where its an issue with speed bumps or driveways.

The ride for normal driving hasn't changed much- feels a but stiffer in the back. When the car is pushed though there is NO lean (I also have the madness rear sway installed) and it feels like the car is turning from the middle= amazing.

Pics and install description are on my site @

http://www.pxlmxr.com/mini

If anyone has any questions regarding the install feel free to email me whenever-

-S

 

hey man, i've been looking over your spring install for a few hours. mine will be in next week and i'm worried that i might not have all the facts. did you have to use the spring compressors on the back springs at all? my next question about the install is the time frame. how long is it going to take me and a buddy to do the whole thing? i did my rear sway bar in less than two hours going slow and careful.

thanks in advance,

chris

 

here's a tip:
leave the strut attached at the top until last, jack under the wheel to compress the spring about an inch and lock it there with the straps. WD-40 the grip of the strut by the hub, lower the jack and soft hammer the hub down until the strut pops free. the driver's side is a tighter fit and was the only side to need the spring compressed.

 

>>hey man, i've been looking over your spring install for a few hours. mine will be in next week and i'm worried that i might not have all the facts. did you have to use the spring compressors on the back springs at all? my next question about the install is the time frame. how long is it going to take me and a buddy to do the whole thing? i did my rear sway bar in less than two hours going slow and careful.
>>
>>thanks in advance,
>>
>>chris

I feel your pain, pxlmxr. I did my H&R's, too, and what a PITA! Worth it though, as you said! When you really start getting after it, the springs make all the difference in the world. The rearend is MUCH more settled.

You WILL need to use the spring compressor in the rear to keep the spring retainer from popping off. At least just to hold the spring down while you take off the retainer nut.

Beware the driver's side front spring - that will take longer than the other 3 put together!

It took my Dad and I about 5 hours, start to finish, using air tools and good spring compressors. However, this wasn't the first time we had done this kinda thing, either (lots of Porsche suspensions, VW suspensions and Jeep suspensions, all different!).

 

I did mine in just over an hour, first time working on Mini springs. Main difference was access to a full shop, air tools, and the biggest thing, a wall mount spring compressor.



That makes swapping the spring on each strut a 5 minute job, so only removal and replacement takes any real time. If you have a local shop with such a tool, it might pay to just take the four struts into them with the new springs, and pay for the half hour of labor for them to swap them over.

 

bluesmini:
Yeah like scobib said- I did use the compressors on the rear just to keep the retainer nut from shooting me in the eye when I loosened it.

jlm's suggestion about the jack is definitley the way to do it- unfortunatley for me I didnt realize that method until I was about to fall asleep later that night- it was one of those "doh!" epiphanies- but now I know for next time.

I think as far as time fram- took us about 6 hours start to finish (including lunch)- but I think using jlm's method should shave some time off the install for the fronts. The rears can be done in about an hour- they are seriously easy.

Good luck with the install- pm me if you have any more questions.

-S

 

Well, I did my spring job this past Monday the 16th. I was worried about it after reading the posts and how hard it could be. I will say it did take at least 5 hours to do the whole thing. I was planning on doing the backs one night then the fronts the next day. The backs were so easy I couldn’t resist.

All the post I read were a great help but I put my own little twist on it to make it just a little different from everyone else’s. I got the spring compressors from auto zone on loan for 40 bucks, not a bad deal. I got the 40 bucks back when I returned them the next day. I did lose the 3 dollars in tax though. They were heavy duty compressors and that was not good all the time. For the back springs not a big deal. You don’t need to compress them until you take them off or before. They are easy to get at either way. Just 3 bolts away and they are off.

The fronts are not easy. I did the driver side first for fun. There is a lot more stuff to undo on the fronts. After the wheel was off just jack up the spring and put it on lock down. Believe it or not, I ended up using zip-ties. Yes this is dangerous. After I jacked up the spring from the bottom I used about 20 zip-ties to hold the spring compressed. There was no way my borrowed compressors would fit any where in that space. Word of wisdom, don’t get crazy with the amount of compression. A little goes a long way on the fronts. Once they are medium compressed I just pushed down on the rotor to knock it off the strut. OK, I did a little stomping on the rotor. DO NOT let the rotor fall out and pull your drive shaft out… I again used zip-ties to hold the rotor up right. After you get the bottom off the strut unbolt the top under the hood. Someone mentioned this before me, great idea. After I got the fronts off I would attach the compressors and cut the zip-ties off. Then I’d pull the stock springs off with the compressors still on. Putting the new springs on the strut wasn’t a problem. My buddy could lean on them so I had room to attach the top bolt but, getting them compressed enough to get them back in the car was. I had the luxury of air tools and a table press. I could put the new spring and front strut in the table press then zip-tie them compressed. Again, a little compression goes a long way here also. Be careful, this is where I busted 30 zip-ties at once when releasing the pressure to fast. Slow slow slow. Once they were table press compressed and zip-tied they were easy to put back on the car. Use some WD-40 to get the bottom part in and out easy and look at the inside bottom part of the strut to make sure the strut attachment is lined up when reinstalling.

The air tools and table press made a huge difference. I can’t imagine this would take less than 5 hours with out air tools. It was hard to do but, it would be easy to do again. This is the best suspension upgrade and not the expensive if you install yourself. Ask if you have questions.