help with suspension refresh in Ga

Hello all,

I’m working on acquiring the parts for a suspension refresh on my ZHP. I’m currently in Macon, Ga, located about an hour south of Atlanta and live in an apartment. Ideally I wanted to try and do it myself however I’ve never done a job this big and I really don’t have the space to try it. I’m awaiting a few quotes from some shops in the area but I’m expecting them to be more than I’d like to pay. If anyone in the Atlanta area would be willing to help me out with the install it would be much appreciated. I don’t mind compensating for your time and can supply food and beverages!

I'm too far away and I have only done this job once. The back is super easy, the front, takes some expertise.
If you have good spring compressors, it is doable. There is an order to this madness. The key, when you put in the new shock with spring compression assembly in the front, is that you have to put the top part of the unit in the shock tower and secure with a couple of nuts. THEN, attach the knuckle at the bottom of the shock.
Then you need a special socket. Take a look here starting with post #124.

I'm in Atlanta. I did my full refresh last summer. It's not difficult at all! (except the spring compressor part *shudder*) How far do you want to go with the refresh? Just shocks and struts? Bushings? Control arms?

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Originally Posted by DeathTrap

I'm in Atlanta. I did my full refresh last summer. It's not difficult at all! (except the spring compressor part *shudder*) How far do you want to go with the refresh? Just shocks and struts? Bushings? Control arms?

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Yeah going pretty much all the way. Control arms, some bushings as I already did some, tie rods, Bilstein B8s and h&r sport springs With new mounts

I don't think you would need a spring compressor for h&r sports. You may get lucky in that regard.
Everything is very easy. Unless you run into a red Loctite'd nut, it's a remove and replace deal. I can definitely see how it can be intimidating though!

I have a few vids on my youtube page and I just followed 50skid instructions. Everything came out as expected...except when I did the bushing replacement...

I have this spring compressor and it is wonderful for our struts and makes the whole job a lot safer. Worth every penny.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DP2CDJU..._S2fmEb10RHMQ9

You don't like the cheapo Chinese-made hooks that can snap because of crappy metal? For shame, how do you live without that kind of excitement?

I’d be willing to try, it’s just that I have an apt currently so I’d either have to drive to my parents and try it there or pay to do it in Atlanta somewhere

Well, when I don't have spring compressors, what I did is just take everything (shocks/springs/top mounts) to a local shop and pay them to put the strut mounts on. The most they ever charged me was like $40 for both of the fronts. Worth it for the amount of time it saves me and it takes them like 5-10 mins to do. Since you're replacing everything and including the strut mounts, you might as well just get it done in advance. It'll be a straight swap once you start working on your car.

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Originally Posted by sillieidiot

Well, when I don't have spring compressors, what I did is just take everything (shocks/springs/top mounts) to a local shop and pay them to put the strut mounts on. The most they ever charged me was like $40 for both of the fronts. Worth it for the amount of time it saves me and it takes them like 5-10 mins to do. Since you're replacing everything and including the strut mounts, you might as well just get it done in advance. It'll be a straight swap once you start working on your car.

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Interesting, so what you’re saying is ask them to put the strut mounts on and give them the new shocks and springs to replace them with or have them do the mounts since it saves you headache later?

I installed H&R sports and you definitely need to compress them. They were taller than my stock springs uncompressed. So it might be a good idea for you to bring them to a shop for strut mount installation if you don't have a compressor.

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Originally Posted by JPMo

Interesting, so what you’re saying is ask them to put the strut mounts on and give them the new shocks and springs to replace them with or have them do the mounts since it saves you headache later?

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Well I typically take the shocks/springs/mount apart at home without the compressor to take whatever I need for the new ones. I just hit the top nut with an impact wrench (holding the impact wrench loosely). I use the curb to keep it in place so it can only fly in one direction. It doesn't fly out that much, maybe like 6 inches. Just gotta be careful about it and you're good. You can do it with normal hand tools. It just takes longer cause you can barely move the nut while keeping a safe distance lol

But yeah otherwise, you can just take your front suspension off and just go to the shop and tell them what you wanna transfer over. It's super fast if they have a wall mounted compressor. Although, it sounds like you are replacing shocks, springs, & top mounts. You might as well just buy the washers/nuts/dust boots and just get that put together on it's own. That way you can just do the swap right away instead of having to stop midway through your DIY just to go to the shop and start again.