jstkilntim

As does everyone else, I stay very busy, so this post will probably take a few days to finish. I will edit the first post as I go. It is not a DIY, but I did take a couple of pics. I will probably not expand on the obvious steps, bit will try to give some pointers that I figured out.

First, a couple of "Thanks" need to be passed out.
-Thanks all of you that have posted constructive & educated remarks in the zillions of threads on suspension.
-Thanks to TeamRX8 & Razz1 who responded to PMs on specific issues.
-Thanks to Invision Performance for taking so long to get my Tanabes, I backed out and ordered the KWs.
-Thanks to PoLaK for getting me a good deal on the KWs.
-Thanks to my brother for coming from South Carolina w/ a spring compressor & helping.

When I bought my 04 used, it already RB sways & endlinks w/ the RB springs installed on the stock shocks. Handling was better that the few stockers that I drove. Looks wise, from the side, it was slammed in the back and just about right in the front. From the back, I had the dreaded "driver's side lower than the passenger's side" sickness that a bunch of you have. Though most people would never notice, it has driven me crazy from day one.

Since a bad alignment prematurely ate my Michelin Pilot Sports I decided on new Goodyear Eagle F1s. When installing them, I obviously chose to have the alignment done. I knew that it was off, but never really noticed how bad. Coming in to the shop w/ -3.0 degrees of camber and wacked out toe is one thing, but not being able to leave w/ less than -2.3 degrees of camber is another.

After reading 4 years worth of posts, numerous PMs to above mentioned members & phone calls to Racing Beat, it was decided that my rear was just too low. (Probably from weak stock shocks, but still not proven.) The only thing, in my opinion that was going to fix all of my problems, was coilovers.

Now I had to read 4 years of other posts to decide which ones I wanted. I originally picked the Tanabes just to have the "in car" control, but was soon schooled from members that know a lot more about suspension than me. And, since the vendor could not deliver as promised, I contacted PoLaK and ordered the KWs.

Installation was pretty straight forward w/ the use of the Mazda Service Manual and the instructions that came w/ the springs. I was glad that I had read numerous posts from individuals that had already done this, because you can eliminate about half of the steps outlined in the service manual.

It was probably about 6 hours worth of work from start to finish, but if you don't take a bunch of beer breaks or have to go to dinner in the middle of the project, you can probably do it in a lot less. After the car was on stands and the wheels were off, the first one probably took about an hour including running back and forth to this forum. After that, it is probably closer to 1/2 hour per corner.

GETTING STARTED:
4 wheel drive mode.


FRONT END:
1. Once the wheels are off, pop the hood & remove the front strut bar and remove the nuts holding the upper spring seats.
2. Disconnect the ABS sensors & brackets & move out of the way

3. Disconnect the brake line brackets.
4. Disconnect sway bar end links from the lower control arms.
5. On the driver's side, disconnect the control arm position sensor that is connected to the lower control arm.
6. Remove the lower shock bolts.
7. Remove the upper control arm bushing bolts.
At this point the lower control arms will be able to go to full droop and the whole shock & spring assemblies should come right out.

8. Use a spring compressor to disassemble the old coil spring assemblies.
9. The KWs come w/ everything you need except for bushings & the upper spring seats. My old bushings looked fine, but I chose to replace them for a couple of bucks each. With two people, I did not need the spring compressor to assemble the KWs.

Now is the time to set your ride height using the chart in the KW installation manual. You basically decide what you want your ride height to be and use the chart to measure the amout of threads under the lower spring seat. I found the chart to be fairly accurate on the front.

This is also the time to set the "bump & rebound" as KW calls it, w/ the supplied tools.

Reassembly is basically in the reverse order as disassembly. Install them w/ the fluid reservoirs toward the front of the vehicle.

A floor jack will allow you to manipulate the lower control arm height to allign stubborn components. Be sure to use all proper torque specs during reassembly.

ONLY TIGHTEN THE UPPER CONTROL ARM BUSHING BOLTS FINGER TIGHT AT THIS POINT.

REAR END:
The rear end is basically the same as the front end except the upper spring seat is different. There are several nuts in the trunk behind the carpet and one nut in the wheel well that have to be removed. I also replaced the upper spring seat rubbers on the rear. The fluid reservoirs will be towards the rear on these. You will need to bend (up) the wheel sensor bracket to clear the reservoir & must at least start the bolt before installing the shock into the lower mount.


REMEMBER TO ONLY TIGHTEN THE UPPER CONTROL ARM BUSHING BOLTS FINGER TIGHT.

At this point, I put the wheels back on and sat the car on the ground. I bounced it around the best I could and measured my height. The driver rear was still lower so I made proper adjustments. I then put the car back on the stands, removed the wheels & jacked the hubs up to my pre measured height to load the supension. At this time I tightened my upper control arm bushings. I'm not sure if this was the best way or not, but it was the easiest while not having a lift. I then put the wheels back on and set it down again.

Initial visual effect was awesome. I am not slammed in the rear like I was, but I am now level between the driver & passenger side and I could immediately tell that I would be able to get my camber where I wanted it.

I have the setting where KW recommended them and am happy for now.The ride is smoother than the RB springs and the car handles better on highway and nailing the on/off ramps. Eventually I will probaly play w/ the settings, but I don't feel like there is any need for street driving.

I only drove the car a few miles before having it aligned and this was probably a mistake. I had all of my heights as I wanted them & they put my alignment exactly where I wanted it. Since then, I have driven a few more miles & I have noticed that my ride height has changed a little at each corner & the camber is way out on the passenger side. Luckily I bought the lifetime warranty so I will adjust the ride height after a couple hundred miles & go back to have them fix it. I want to raise the front up a little more anyways.

Like I said, this is obviously not a complete DIY, but I wanted to post a little info that may help others. I was kind of leary of doing it myself, but found it to be a fairly easy project w/ basic tools.

Here are a few random pics.




Peace!

nuke0907

iTrader: (2)

so does this mean you have your stereo back yet?

jstkilntim

I wish. Still need new subs & an amp to push them. I should get my rear speakers and mids amp back in this weekend. Maybe!

jstkilntim

After installing the KWs I drove the car 100 miles or so before adjusting the final ride height & having it aligned.

I had the shop put me @ -1 deg camber & 0 deg toe in the front, w/ -1 deg camber and +.06 deg toe in the rear.

After driving a couple hundred more miles, I noticed the the right side camber looked way off. I figured the car settled some so I checked my ride height (which didn't change much) and took it back to the shop.

When they pulled it on the rack, the front was still pretty close, but the rear (according to the alignment machine) had changed to -1.2 on the left & -1.4 on the right.

Anyway, I had them set it to the above specs again. When I got home the right rear still visibly has more neg camber than the left.

So using a straight edge, level and a micrometer I manually measured the camber.
Since it is way out I didn't spend a lot of time being exact, but to prove a point w/ round numbers for easy calculation, this is what I came up with.

Measured at 19" difference (18" rim) the top of the rim on the left side is about -.3" compared to the bottom. The right is about double at -.6". An online calculator gives me about -.9 deg on the left & -1.8 on the right. Makes sense to me. I think that these figures are fairly close to actual.

The front is not as far off. The left front is close to the left rear. The right front is more that the left front, but less than the right rear.

Either way, there is something seriously amiss on the right side since the machine says they are all the same.

The shop that I used came highly recommended, and I watched the same guy perform the alignment both times. He seemed competent the first time, but not the second.

I don't know anything about alignment machines or what type of machine they use, but with all the blinking lights etc, I assume it it is some sort of laser machine.

My question is this....Can the alignment machine be off (especially on the right) or is it probably just the guy doing it? I would think that the machine would compensate for the technician.

I don't really want to ruffle any feathers, but when you can see the difference between the left & right, there is definitely a problem. At this point, I want to try another shop, but don't know if I will be able to get my money back from the first.

Any recommendations?