I`ve been quoted £170 to fit my Apex coilovers when I get them (inc. alignment). The garage said it`s a long job....best part of a day????? Is that right, seems a bit long to me or could I fit them myself? I`m no mechanic but I can use a spanner Ta.

 

A mornings work. Only special tools will be a set of spring compressors as the Apex units need dismantling to copper grease the lower spring adjuster ring.

Did the £170 include a geometry check? If so then it is a very good price, otherwise it reflects 3 hours work.

 

Yeah that included the geometry check...don`t think he does laser alignment though, so not sure how he does it.

 

you need it setup fittings the easy bit....
wheel alinement can be 100 quid on its own at scooby specailists

 

a couple of us did mine in three hours no real dramas

 

you just asked the question i wanted to know just got a set of bc coilovers cant wait to fit them.

 

The units come with the springs pre-tensioned and in any case, the seat and locking ring should not need any greasing as (unless you wish to remove the spring) they should never need to be moved. It's worth removing the hub mount and greasing the lower threads as these will be used when setting the ride height.
TIP - (From experience of fitting the Apex units to my 03 STi) As supplied, the units are far too short (probably to fit the box!) and will result in the car being too low. Unscrew the hub mount at least 5-7 turns and go from there.
When setting the ride height you MUST do measurements on flat and level ground. The slightest uneven ground will slightly compress or lengthen any one spring. Finalise the ride height before getting the geometry done.

JohnD

 

Thanks for that. I can`t afford to lower the car anymore otherwise I`ll never get up the drive

 

Are the springs new??
Otherwise it would be best to just have them fitted, with the alignment just eyed,and after a week of driving getting the alignment done on the machine.

Springs tend to settle a bit, and the geometry can change a bit when this happens.

 

That's true, so it's best to set ride height a few mm more than you finally want. I did some nominal calculations (trigonometry!) and altering the ride height makes a tiny difference to the camber.

JohnD

 

Richard Henry Autos near Apex have quoted me £200 to fit the Apex coilovers to my MY05 STI. That includes a fast road laser alignment.

 

Yeah they are new. I wondered about them settling. Thanks for that.

 

I`ve had them fitted. I didn`t want the car sittting any lower cos I didn`t think it would clear my drive. Went to pick it up and.......it`s lower, looks better for it He had to set it a bit low (no probs getting up and down drive btw) otherwise any higher and the ride would be too harsh.

The rear wheels sit a little `out` at the bottom (camber) cos apparently the bolts I bought weren`t that good Not enough adjustment or wrong amount...can`t remember lol!

Anyway at the mo the ride on the local bumpy roads is awful, unless my girlfriend is alongside me jiggling about but on the main roads it feels good, so far. Might need to go a bit softer though, I`ll give it a couple of weeks, see how it goes

Oh yeah, how much oil would he have used for a change. Gave him 5 litres???

 

I take it you mean engine oil! It holds 4.5 ltrs mate. What oil are you using?

 

Yeah he did engine oil change too. I bought some Silkolene.

 

Any pictures mate as I've bought some for my blob and they ll be here next week
Mick

 

No Only the top mounts are visible mate.

This is all I can get at -

 

Just found this one

 

[QUOTE=ScoobySteve69;9747968]Anyway at the mo the ride on the local bumpy roads is awful, unless my girlfriend is alongside me jiggling about but on the main roads it feels good, so far. Might need to go a bit softer though, I`ll give it a couple of weeks, see how it goes QUOTE]

What damper settings are you using at the moment? (Clicks from full soft)

JohnD

 

[quote=JohnD;9750115]I didn`t set them up. The guy said he`s set them to a `medium` setting at the mo.

 

[QUOTE=ScoobySteve69;9750516]"medium" could be something like 15
I've set mine to 10 clicks on the front and 8 clicks on the rears from full soft. Don't think I'd want it any harder for the road.

JohnD

 

Fitted Apex coilovers to my 05 STi today. Overall its a job any competent DIY mechanic could tackle. A few of the bottom shock bolts were really tight and I had to heat them with a blow lamp. At least now every thing is well coated in copper grease which should make the geo set up a bit simpler!

The springs on my shocks had no/very little preload on them. I slacked them right off and put 5mm of preload on each shock, as recommended by Bren at Apex.

Initially I have lowered the front by 30mm and the back by 20mm. I have set the damping to 15 from soft all round although I still haven't driven the car as I have to trim the front mud flaps. Its booked in for a geo on Friday from a local garage that specialises in Scoobys so I'll take some direction from them regarding ride height and damping.

Cant wait for the snow to clear so I can try her out!

 

[quote=JohnD;9751283]I think I`ll get him to soften the ride a bit. It`s only on rough roads that it`s a bit uncomfortable....but there`s loads of those round here lol!!

I know what you mean. Mine are about 10mm off the ground

 

I thought that with mine so I slackened the spring seat until I could just move the spring up and down. I then realised that I had slackened the seat about 3 turns! So there was some pre-load there, to start with! I tightened the seat to remove any spring movement then turned a further 3 turns to give 6mm of pre-load. There was very little resistance to turning the seat by hand so it could be easy to think that you were not actually compressing the spring, making it easy to unwitingly, exceed the recommended pre-load. Having said that, I don't think a bit over the recommended figure would be a problem.

JohnD

 

When you say 5mm etc how do you no you've given it 5 mm of preload
Mick

 

Each turns a mill ?

 

My GDF BCs have arrived and they have the free spring length written on them.
If you measure the length of spring as fitted, the difference with the figure on the spring is the pre-load.
It looks like my fronts are supplied with 4mm and backs with 6mm

 

I have no idea about pre-loads. I assume the Scooby guy did.

 

I get ya so loose spring = bla bla
But pre loaded = bla
So wined up till you get bla over all .
The penny has dropped
Mick

 

And pics I ment of car now lowered
Or loose coilover ie out of box lol