[Drivesthebeast]

I know that Bluetoy used to have this on his SVT, and that Darkpuppet has it too. Wonder if I buy one, if I'd be better off to install it on my own, or have the guys at SHM do it for me...they'd be doing the 4-wheel alignment there at their shop after the install, which would cost me min $89 elsewhere anyways...

Should I do it myself though? They charge $115.00/hr, and said they would need at least 3 hours to do everything including the alignment...

[bluetoy]

Pretty easy install. I have air tools though. I did not use a spring compressor either. It was easy on the SVT and pretty easy on DP's car except for putting the spring on 1 front strut. Dunno why. Installing the front sway bar is not too bad either but it requires some skill to get the sub frame back in the same place. 3hrs seems reasonable to do everything including the align. 115 per hour is insane though...

[smith21]

down here in sudbury, the shop does suspension install for i believe 250, that's including an allignment, so 115 an hour is crazy! shop around for that price

[D-Dub]

smith21,Aug 14 2005, 02:45 PM Wrote:down here in sudbury, the shop does suspension install for i believe 250, that's including an allignment, so 115 an hour is crazy! shop around for that price
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You gotta understand that this is a FULL suspension setup wich means sway bars on both ends. Its going to cost more then 250, 80 bucks is just the alignment alone.

Yes I must say 115 is crazy, BMW doesnt even charge that much.

[Drivesthebeast]

Yeah I know that it's a full suspension kit..that's one of the reasons I like it...everything is matched and engineered to work together..that, and the fact that it doesn't slam the car, it just gives a sport drop...

Maybe I'll have to call the shop I buy my tires from what they would want to do the install and alignment...

I also know that the Eibach Pro-System-Plus is more expensive than the SHM...it's between $1300 and $1600 depending on where you buy it from...

Thanks for the input though guys... B)

[D-Dub]

I was responding to smith21s reply, I dont think he knew it was a full kit.

I dunno man you could always just get a good set of shocks and springs. Sway bars arent a huge issue you could even go with a svt set up and thats pretty good, unless you want to start racing it in the future then I would go with bigger ones.

[bluetoy]

Rear bar is a 2 minute install. front bar is easy too. Just gotta drop the front subframe a little. There's 6 bolts holding it in you loosen the front 2 and remove the rear 4. Lower the subframe and block it down (I used a deep socket to hold it down) then it's a simple removal of the 4 bolts holding the bar in and the 2 end links. Putting te subframe back up is easy too but you just gotta be careful to put it back in the same spot (it's not automatically back in the same spot). The Suspension Dynamics setup is very nice since it's engineered to work together.

[Drivesthebeast]

Well, I bought the suspension kit today...was going around and getting prices to have the kit installed...looks like I'm paying at least $400 at my mechanics shop, or a bit more at the Tire dealership I deal with.

The peices are certainly more heavy duty than the OEM ones...I'm thinking that the car is gonna have awesome handling dynamics now...

[darkpuppet]

the alignment on my car was better after bluetoy did the install than before :)

[Slimsride]

Drivesthebeast,Aug 15 2005, 05:39 PM Wrote:Well, I bought the suspension kit today...was going around and getting prices to have the kit installed...looks like I'm paying at least $400 at my mechanics shop, or a bit more at the Tire dealership I deal with.

The peices are certainly more heavy duty than the OEM ones...I'm thinking that the car is gonna have awesome handling dynamics now...
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Dude, are you on base in PET? you must have an auto hobby on it. The local shop wanted 650 bucks and Five Hours to install my eibachs on my other car...i said NOPE....i went to the auto hobby club....I did it in 3 and it cost me a whopping 12 bucks for use of the lift. It was pretty simple, i just took my time, and i didn't even need an alignment either..just lucky i guess, mind you i did mark the position of the struts with chalk prior to removing it...

[Drivesthebeast]

Yeah, the auto hobby shop on base would be easy enough, but I'm in Brantford, and will be until the 2nd week of September. I decided to go and get the suspension kit installed at Main West Firestone/Bullas Automotive in west Hamilton tommorow...the guys there are suspension experts, and I know that the car will be dialed in 110% before it leaves the shop. They've found stuff wrong on my dads car AFTER he had it fixed somewhere else. I know it's pricey at around $500 to install it, and to align it is $89 for a 4-wheel alignment. They might give me a break on some of the labour fees if the job goes fast. So, to help with that, I've been outside pre-oiling all of the bolts and joints so that they might be easier to break loose tommorow (car goes into the shop for 8am).

Man, I've spent a lot on this car this weekend...including the replacement cowling between the hood and windsheild (damaged by ice last winter), a wiper arm, etc.

Anyways, I'll have the install done by noonish, and will likely be home and giving a reveiw on here soon after (well, after some wheel time to develop a driving impression).

Only thing I wonder is, how much will the car settle, and how long should that take? Couple weeks, or a few 1000 kms?

L8tr! :)

[Drivesthebeast]

Well...let's see...where to begin...

Got the car into the shop 8am this morning...car was on hoist and had it's wheels off 10 mins later. The rear swaybar was pulled off, and the rear shocks and springs were starting to be pulled off.

Observation #1...no bushings on the Dynamic shocks...hmm, never seen a shock come without those before...yes, I know that some of YOU knew this already, but it's dumb all the same to reuse old ones...

Observation #2...The nut for the top of the new shock was the wrong size, so we had to use other ones available.

After MacGyvering the bushings to fit, and putting the shocks on, time to put on the springs...those at least go on without a hitch. So, onto the rear swaybar...

Observation #3...The bushings SHM gave me, were for the OEM swaybar, and not the new bigger one....and the bigger ones were AT SHM (where I had to go to later to get them).

So, by this time I'm more than displeased with how un-seamless this job was, and I got on the Phone and bitched at them, which really accomplished nothing in the long run...

At least the front struts and springs went together ok too. So now that both ends have springs and shocks on, we put the stock swaybar back on the rear (good thing we left the front one alone), so that I could drive back to SHM to change the bushings. When I got there, they had them waiting for me, but they expressed no interest in doing anything extra for me after the screw-up. I brought the car home and installed the rear swaybar myself, so now I'll have to take the car into the shop on the weekend to get the front one changed and to get the 4-wheel alignment done.

Ok, so now onto the good news...This suspension kit RULES!!! The spring and dampening rates are fantastic (feels like an English Ford now), the steering is pretty fast, even without the front swaybar replaced too. The car rebounds nicely, but the best part is, it still rides almost as smooth as before. Yes, I know that the car will take some time and milage to settle, but so far both myself, and my dad, and my Grandad are quite impressed with the car.

Anyways, this post is getting friggin big...I'll give some more feedback when the car is 100%...

[darkpuppet]

The kit is nice... the dampening is superb.. I haven't bottomed out once..

the front struts have a HUGE stanchion... so the bumpstops no slidey over it, but I've never had an issue. The stock bumpstops fit the rear shocks fine tho.

It's too bad you got some wrong parts... unlike yourself, the install on my car went seamlessly.

I agree that it is a perfectly balanced kit.. the car maintains it's good road manners, while picking up better handling. I noticed that at first, the car seemed almost over-damped... but I either got used to it, or the car settled, and seems perfect to me.

Now go take it on an 8 hour roadtrip on a northern canadian highway, and let me know how your neck feels. I don't notice it anymore, but passengers complain about neck fatigue a bit on the long rides.

I took a 15 hour trip in the winter to thunderbay taking highway 11... I was a bobble-head doll by the end of the trip.

[ANTHONYD]

Sounds like SHM has some serious customer service issues.

[Flofocus]

ANTHONYD,Aug 18 2005, 09:32 AM Wrote:Sounds like SHM has some serious customer service issues.
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Really? :rolleyes: :P