Fitting suspension

[JoeyBold]

Hey guys, i'm gonna have a go at fitting my lowering suspension kit on my Mk1 1.2 and i was wondering if you had any tips or advice as i'm pretty inexperienced when it comes to suspension.

Thanks in advance

 

[LRTom]

http://www.fubarnet.com/guides.html

 

[JoeyBold]

Cheers. The guide is for a Mk2, will the jist of it be the same for mine?

 

[S22 JGS]

jack it up and have a look!

 

[Rob669]

In a word, don't!

Unless of course you want to. It's quite hard to do, but not impossible. A decent specialist garage doesn't charge very much to do it.

Cheers, Rob669

 

[Justin182]

Provided you have spring clamps and an impact wrench/gun i dont see any probs.

I would read the guide, decide if you still want to do it, then see how easy you strut nut comes off, and if it doesnt budge, youll need an impact wrench.

 

[C.slicker]

Provided you have spring clamps and an impact wrench/gun i dont see any probs.

You only need that if you are a wimp

I did it with just a spanner and wheel brace.

Sam

 

[JoeyBold]

Thanks guys. Does anyone know of a guide for doing it on a Mk1? I've google'd and searched on here but i cant find anything.

 

[d4ve86]

how are you going to lower the rear? its a beam, you need a slide hammer etc, front would be easy, same with the rear dampers but the beam is the hard bit, i think!

 

[ClioGav]

Rear is a piece of piss. Theres a guide on here somewhere...
Front is just a bugger sometimes due to very stiff bolts etc, but if your shocks have been replaced in the last few thousand miles they should come off with ease

But make sure you have the correct basic tools before you begin, will make life much easier than trying to bodge it with the wrong tools!

 

[JoeyBold]

But make sure you have the correct basic tools before you begin, will make life much easier than trying to bodge it with the wrong tools!

What tools do you recommend?

 

[ClioGav]

Socket set, Threaded Bar (10mm i think), Spanners, a nut for the threaded bar, wd40...spark plug socket and allen key for topmount (get it zipped loose at a local tyre centre if its tight)

 

[JoeyBold]

Right, i've got all that [minus the threaded bar]. The car isn't on the road yet so i'll have time to do the torsion bar once ive done the springs and shocks. Cheers for your help

 

[ClioGav]

Threaded bar can be bought at any bolts/tools/building accessories shop, it's only a couple of quid max.

No problem send me a PM if you get stuck

 

[Russy B]

the torsion bar can be bit of a pain, did it to my old megane coupe, dont go too low as your rear shocks wont last 5 minutes (unless you've got shortened shocks), i bent a shock going over a bump with it cranked all the way down

i would spray any bolts you gotta loosen with copper grease rather than wd40 the night before as it works better,

a quick shortcut would be to loosen the top bolt on the front first so you dont have to use alan's key as the other bolts will be holding it in place.

the nuts and bolt are m10 iirc

axle stands or 2 jacks will be needed as well

 

[MattyClio]

the torsion bar can be bit of a pain, did it to my old megane coupe, dont go too low as your rear shocks wont last 5 minutes (unless you've got shortened shocks), i bent a shock going over a bump with it cranked all the way down

I wanna lower my 1.4 auto mk1 clio about 40 mm - wud i need to replace the rear shocks if i do lower it that much?