Eibach spring install problem

I put in new Eibach Pro-Kit springs over the weekend and the front springs did not seem to drop as much as the rear....in fact the rear looks almost like it is sagging....because the fronts did not drop as much.....I read on this forum that I need to wait for the springs to settle in or something like that.

Tonight, while fixing my loose ball joint problem (in another thread) ...I looked at the springs.......the poly tubing from the Ener. Suspension is in the perfect place but the spring has extended about 1 inch over the lower lip...(it is extended out of the tubing...arrrggghhhhh....I had used a spring compressor to install my springs and I found a story that the spring will actually turn while it is decompressing....arrrghhh ...who knew?....anyway, I tried to turn the spring while my son pushed on the LCA but I could not get it all the way back to the lower notch on the arm. I gave up for now, but I will borrow the spring compressor again this weekend and get the springs properly turned so they seat in the arm properly.

Also, now that I have impact tools.......I can't believe I ever worked on a car without them.....the 700 lbs impact takes off the nuts of the shock mounting, ball joint, shocks, etc in less than 3 seconds....that beats the crap out of wrenching it for 5 minutes.

Rosa said:

The most common issue when the Eibach springs don't lower the car, is the way the springs are installed. It's usually turns out that when the mechanic was installing these he probably torqued all the pivot points without the full weight of the vehicle on the suspension. That happens when the car is up on a lift, Eibach recommends you "jack" the car up and loosen all the torques and tighten everything down with the car dropped on the ground. When a spring is going to "settle" it means it's going to settle into the spring perch not drop more. Now you sound like you know what you are doing, once you fix that tubing issue, I suggest you call Eibach tech support if the spring still does not lower the front end of your car. Goood luck.

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Thanks for replying to my post.....can you explain a little more what you mean by torqueing the nuts/bolts when the car is on the ground?....I can't get to things when the car is on the ground (I am not sure what you mean)....I appreciate your help, cause I certainly want my springs installed properly.

Thanks

Rosa said:

The full weight of the vehicle needs to be on the suspension. It prevents bushing pre-load. You might have to take it to a shop where they can give you access to an "under car bay" if you can't get under there. Some people try jacking up each corner and doing each corner at a time.

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I can do one corner at a time (I read that on another website) and use my floorjack to load the spring, then torque the balljoint, shock mount etc....is that what you mean?....at least that way I can watch as the spring sets into the LCA.

sdc13 said:

I just replaced my front springs last weekend. It sounds like you don't have the pigtail of the spring in the groove of the control arm. If it is sitting "on top" of the arm the car will sit about an inch higher. To turn the spring make sure you jack the high enough off the ground to get the control arm fully extended down. You also have to make sure the abs cable is not holding the control arm up. Then just use the jack to load the control arm and bolt up your shock again. Do one corner at a time and it will work.

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I plan to work on it again this weekend.....I will borrow the spring compressor from Autozone so I can turn the springs back to where they should be, then load the arm with the jack to make sure that they are in the right place. I should have looked at them as I put them in originally, but I was so thrilled that I managed to get them in place, I did not pay attention when I bolted things back up

sdc13 said:

I borrowed the spring compressor and a tie rod puller from autozone. I ended up not using the spring compressor. If you disconnect the tie rod it is much easier than compressing the spring. With the tie rod unbolted and the ABS cable out of the way you will have enough room to get the spring turned. I did this by myself and it wasn't difficult at all. Just pushed the LCA down with my foot and slid the spring in.

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I tried that last night....I unbolted everything....then pushed down on the LCA and could not even turn it....then I had my son stand on the LCA and I turned it slightly, then gave up and I will do it with the spring compressor...it is free to borrow, and I have an impact takes only seconds to compress. Maybe my LCA has too much tension in the bushings. I tried to remove the LCA to put new bushings in over the weekend, but after removing the two inside nuts, the bolts were totally frozen in place and I gave up, so maybe that is why my LCA is so difficult to hold down.