D2 coilovers install and review

REAR END INSTALLATION WRITE UP

First we start inside the car, lift up the carpeting and remove the engine cover, it will be in the way of the trim you must remove.
Don't be me and leave it installed just to have to remove it after the fact

Take out the t20 torx near the luggage strap rings at the base of the trunk trim. Pull back the black trim, it had 2 clips in the center and a row of easy press tabs along the seam.
Do not remove this piece completely, there is no need
Remove the metric but from the shock mounts at this point (impact gun needed)

Repeat on opposite side

Now under the car

Break your 17mm lug bolts loose


Block the front wheels
Jackt thecar up and rest it on jack stands


Remove the wheel

Remove the 19mm bolt holding the suspension and to the dedion arm (might need to fiddle with your jack under the dedion arm to relieve tension here)


Remove the 19mm bolt that holds the shock absorber strut captive to the dedion arm

Your spring should now be able to removed along with the shock absorber strut


Installation is reverse of removal, but here are some important notes:

a jack is your friend with this heavy dedion arm, use it to remove tensions and help position pieces while you install things.

On my kit for the rear I literally bottomed out the strut adjustment and the spring adjustment and it was exactly what I wanted afterward. The damping adjustment I used is -1 and I like the feel very much.

Remember to tuck your trim back under the tail gate seal

and reinstall your t20 after you have dropped the adjustment Allen key into the strut top (some might opt to cut a hole in the trim to access this adjustment but I don't think I'll need to mess with it much more in the rear.

FRONT END WRITE UP

open your access panel and look for the strut towers, they will have 3, 13mm bolts each.

One side has a windshield wiper actuator motor that is INCREDIBLY OBSTRUCTIVE.

I didn't remove it because it's complex and had position sensors I can't reset myself.


Remove these 13mm bolts, there are 6 total (ratcheting spanner is pretty much the only way to reach these, a 1/4 drive rather won't even fit on the wiper actuator side)

Crack your 17mm lug nuts loose and Jack up the car from the front cross member

Remove the wheels

At this point in the weekend it started pouring and I finished in the rain but couldn't take photos. I will describe here in detail what to do and will edit with photos later. Thanks for your understanding.

Once the wheels are off the first thing you must do is remove the t30 holding the ABS and brake line captive. Keep this tiny bolt and washer in a safe place that you'll remember.

Then you must remove the sway bar end link from the sway bar only (adjustable end link is included in the kit) This is easiest with an impact gun but mine were too stuck and I had to employ vice grips at Max lock on the rubber boot on the ball end side.

After removing the end link from the sway bar you will have to crack the two knuckle bolts and nuts loose and remove them, hold one side captive with a wrench and remove the opposite side with a ratchet or impact gun


At this point the shock assembly should basically be falling on you
DO NOT LET IT PINCH THE ABS WIRE

The side without the wiper actuator is quite straightforward, it retains all factory mounting including the brake line which uses the factory t30

###This is very important###
To avoid headache, use an impact gun to tighten the sway bar end link onto the strut bracket before installing into the knuckle. It will be unreachable once installed (the sway bar side is unreachable once installed too but you can't attach that one preemptively)


The top is swapped from bolts to studs so you simply slide the strut up into the slots in the strut towers place a washer and nut onto each stud and tighten.

The new nuts for the strut towers are 12mm

Place the knuckle bolts in, and attach the brake line bracket

Drop the adjustment Allen into the strut top (I again used -1 on adjustment and likely will only change it to be a little softer)

Now for the side with the actuator. This side sucks. Really really sucks. I recommend a partner.

Slide the strut into the tower slots just far enough that you can still put your hand in behind and get a washer on the hard to reach stud and start threading the nut (this took me 4 tries)

Once you've got that you've nearly won the battle, install same as the other side (note, if you do not remove the actuator you will 100% need a ratcheting 12mm spanner, you will not be able to tighten this nut with a standard spanner as the stud design will be in the way. )


It's at this point that you adjust the ride height in the front. There are LOADS of tutorials for D2s so I won't go into that.

My ride height isn't quite where I want and preload needs increased by about 1/2" in the front due to a bottoming issue in hard bumps. But here is how it looks before any real dialing in. The back is as low as it goes and while I wish it was lower it wouldn't be practical anymore


And lastly here is the before with the smart madness lowering springs in (for sale in another thread)



It dropped 1" from the smart madness springs in the rear, and I haven't dialed in the front to my liking, but it currently sits at 1/2" lower and will likely be about 1 and ¼" lower after some dialing in.

It's important to note that my alignment is so poor now that these are in that it's nearly undrivable and ESC doesn't understand what's going on so I have an esc code.