R32/33: Replacing Shocks / Installing Coilovers

[predator]

This guide gives you a bit of an outline of how to replace the shocks on an R32.. R33 from what I remember is pretty much the same, but there will be a few small differences. GTR I think is fairly similar, but the rears don't have the shock eyelets.. but I've never worked on a GTR so wouldn't be able to say for sure.

The photos illustrate one of the rears. Fronts however are pretty much similar process.

** NOTE: Some of the photos show from the left side, some from the right. I ended up taking photos half and half of the process on each side, in case you were :confused:

In this case I've just replaced my standard set of shocks, with a nice set of 2nd hand bilsteins, while keeping the standard springs (for now) until I decide which new springs I am going for.

Tools

1 x adjustable spanner wrench

1 x (or 2) spring compressors

1 x 14mm spanner for top shock nut (nissan originals)

1 x 17mm "long" socket

1 x 1/2" socket rachet

1 x 1/2" breaker bar

1 x 12mm 1/2" socket

1 x trolley jack

To Begin

First of all jack the car up on the side you are doing the shock as high as possible, and remove the wheel. I've used under where the subframe bolts to the body, just near the chasis rail, and this seems to me to be a fairly safe and strong jacking point (but don't shoot me if its not). Here you can see the old/shocks springs in place, the nissan originals..

Boot point removal

If you have your original boot trim, you'll have to take that out, which is pretty easy to figure out. You should find a rubber cover above the strut tower, and the 2 x top shock bolts sticking through the body there. Start by completely undoing these (use 12mm socket and ratchet). For front, these are in the engine bay. I've circled the two rear bolts.

[predator]

Bottom Nut

Get back under the car, and remove the bottom nut which holds the whole strut in place. Its a big sucker (17mm), and you'll require a long socket, and depending on who has last worked touched it, probably a strong 1/2" socket breaker bar to get it turning that first couple of turns. I had to put my whole body behind it to "crack" the first bolt off.

Remove old strut / springs

This can be a bit of a bitch, as the whole thing may still be fairly captive in place, even if jacked up very high. I found that by shoving my weight on the hub to push it down a bit, whilst pushing and jiggling the stut, it would gradually slide off the end stud. You might need to twist the strut from side to side a little too.

Once off, it may spring out a little, but shouldn't shoot off anywhere. Probably took me 10-15 mins just to get it out.

Once free, you'll have to remove it from the wishbone.. which i found the best way to do this, was to slide the whole lot down through the wishbone... then pull it forward. At the right angle, it will *just* clear the wheel archand allow you to pull it completely out.. although its pretty tight.

Here you can see the whole stut and spring removed from the car.. everything should dangle down fine..

[predator]

Stut Disassembly

Now if you are installing some brand new coilovers, everything should be already assembled, and all you will have to do is put the new ones in.. so you can probably ignore these next few steps. Otherwise you'll have to start removing the actual springs from the shock assembly, and transferring them over, which isn't too tricky, just fiddly.

Start by using your spring compressors to compress the spring as much as possible. The spring compressors are about $40 a pair from any parts place - you can get more expensive ones, but personally I wouldn't bother. This takes the tension of the top mount, and stop it shooting off when undone.

Stut top nut removal

This can be a bit fiddly, but you'll have to use your adjustable to fit the flat side of the top of the strut spindle, and use a standard spanner (14mm on the standard nissan items) to work in the reverse direction. The easiest way to do this is to place it on the ground, and have the adjustable pushing into the ground, whilst using the 14mm wrench to to undo the nut.

You'll have to ignore the blurry photo, but you get the idea...

Basically without holding the top spindle, more than likely, everything will turn with the nut, meaning its not coming off anywhere. This may take 5-10 mins, and is a bit of a pain as the nut will be pretty tight (use some WD40 to make it a bit easier)

Once the nut is finally off the top, the strut top should be able to be simply pulled off the top of the strut assembly.

[predator]

Strut Disassembly #2

** Before you start taking the whole thing apart, take careful note of the assembly order, as you'll have to assemble it again using the exact same order **

Basically you should have, shock/stut holding spring in place.. then plastic boot sleeve (mine were stuffed on the rear), then top rubber stopper, then ontop of this a metal plate, above that a rubber bush, the metal strut top, another rubber bush, metal plate, end nut.. There are probably proper technical names for all of these, but I don't know them :Oops: Unfortunanately I don't have a full photo of all of thse, but you can probably spot them in the other photos.

Once you've slid all the above off the stut shaft, you should be able to remove the spring itself (leaving it compressed with the spring compressors if you are traffering these across)

[predator]

New Stut Assembly

Here you can see the new shock I am installing. A bit dirty and 2nd hand, but no signs of leakage, and when on the car, working nicely. The good thing about Bilsteins is that they can always be rebuilt later on, as they are fairly common in Australia.

You can see the strut top sitting next to it. Also, on my Bilsteins (not all apparently), they have grooved height adjustment, allowing you to adjust the ride height down a few cm as required. This works with a circlip arrangement which you can work off and move down or up a few notches. I decided to set them to 2cm below stock for now (they seem to go as low as 7cm), as I didn't want to go too crazy and muck up the whole ride geometry, camber, etc of my car too much.

[predator]

New Strut Assembly #2

Transfer the springs across (or put on your shiney new springs), making sure the end of the coil fits against the edged bit of the spring seat. This stops the spring rotating around once on the car I think.

Assemble everything in the reverse order of pulling apart your old strut.. being sure to put everything in the right order.

** I probably should mention at this point - that using some of the old rubber bushes, and especially my dodgy old boot sleeve is probably not a good idea. These can be purchased fairly easily, and cheaply from a suspension place - and if doing things properly, should be replaced whilst the opportunity is there. The dust boot seals especially stop grit and other dust getting into the shock itself which may mean a premature end of the shock.

Do not as I do In my situation, its only going to be a couple of months before I get some brand new springs, so all of them are going to have to be disassembled anyhow.. The boot seals will be getting replaced then - and well, I paid next to nothing for these shocks, but I wouldn't be doing it for brand new set of shocks that might cost upwards of $1000 a set

At the very least, wash the components carefully to remove any old grit/dust. I did actually do this.. but its not so obvious in the photos.

Replace the top nut.. and once its back in place (about 2cm down the thread?), you can start undoing/take off the spring compressors. Here you can see it ready to be installed back in the car..

[predator]

Installation of new strut/spring

Now, if you have a brand new or fully assembled coilover, it should look something like the above to start with, and you can gladly ignore all of the fiddly dissembly stuff above.

One tip to aid getting back in, is to grease inside the bottom eyelet of the new strut.. and also if you like the top threads. This should allow it to slide on that little bit easier..

Start by sliding in the new strut in, pretty much the same way you removed the old one, in at an angle, through the wishbone, etc..

Stut Alignment

Now this is the real bastard of the whole job, getting it back in, and aligned properly. Maybe there is some secret trick, but i wasn't finding it. Be prepared to spend about 20 mins cursing and swearing trying to get it all back into place.

First you want to align the angle of the bottom eyelet of the strut with the captive stud. Now you will need to look up at the top 2x mount holes, and twist the whole spring & seat around, until the bottom eyelet is going to slide on the bottom stud.. whilst making sure the two strut top ones are angled correctly to slide through the holes in the chasis.

One trick I found was to push it up through these two holes, tighen the nuts a bit (so its not going to pop out again) and then rotate the bottom of the strut to the correct angle

You'll probably unfortuantely find that the bottom eyelet is sitting too low to slide on directly. So what I was having to do, was shove hard on the hub, whilst with the other hand pushing into onto that stud. Its difficult, as the hub will tend to spring up that extra 1cm without any weight on it to make it fiddly. A mate would greatly help there.

Eventually you *will* get it worked out and everything will slip in with some force, and some thought, but after much cursing and swearing..

Tighten strut nuts

Once the eyelet of the strut is on, shove it (or erm, bash using rubber mallet) until its right against the seat of the stud. Tighten the nut with some force, but remembering you one day might want to take it out again.

Get back into the boot, and use the 12mm socket to tighten the top 2x nuts. Do a quick check to make sure its all firm, and is not going to slide around, or that you haven't missed anything obvious.

DONE!!

Put wheel back on, *slowly* lower the jack, and you're all done. Now for all the other 3 sides :-s

Conclusion

It can take about 1-2 hours to do each side if you haven't done it before, as I found out. Its a fairly easy job if you have the right tools, and once you have done the first, the rest are much easier. You'd have to probably allow yourself a full half-day to do the lot.

I don't know what labour is to do something like this, but I am sure its a few hundred. Its not really tricky, but I reckon that installation cost for something like struts can be better used to pay for some replacement bushes for some other part of the suspension.. after all, the average skyline is getting on 10-15 years now - and most are starting to go.

[Oosh]

I just did this on my car last weekend, swapped coil-overs around that is, and will add a couple of my own notes:

1. You don't HAVE to remove the wheels to do this if you don't want too, just jack it up high enough (I highly recommend you use jack stands), and for the fronts just turn the wheels to hard lock and you can get at it all fine.

This has the added bonus of making it easier to manipulate things for aligning, as mentioned it can be a pain, the weight of the wheel makes it easier to pull down, and a jack under the wheel ( coz the car's on stands remember ) to push it up.

2. Crack/Loosen the bottom (big) nut BEFORE the top two, nothing to stop you removing it entirely as it will just sit on the rod, these can require some force to shift so it's easier not having the whole thing flop around.

[Abo Bob]

Nice one Predator. I am just about to do this so this is great. Were your brake lines attached to your struts anywhere?

I did this on an old car years ago and used the jack under the shockie to push it up and line up with the stud. Just a thought.

I'll post up any differences with the R34 in a few weeks.

[Beer Baron]

good guide. only thing i'd add is don't get under your car when it's only supported by a jack. uses stands.

I have a report here on jack related deaths somewhere. once you read it you won't get under a non supported car again.

[Sciby]

Replaced my front springs today, was a bitch of a job... a few points/observations.

- Spring compressors take forever to tighten. God I hate them.

- On the top mounts, there'll be an R or an L with an arrow, that idicates the direction the lower bolt should go/come from. I learnt this after I had already forced one back on.

- Take your time, read instructions that come with your springs. After I put the fronts back in, I found a piece of paper in the springs box that said "Ensure you put the drivers spring in the drivers side and the passenger spring in the passengers side." Never have I wanted to cry so bitterly.

- Definitely DEFINITELY use car stands. Buy good ones. That $10 you save by buyiing shitty tin stands will not cover your medical expenses when the car crushes them and your head. Buy ones that can handle twice the car's weight by yoruself and then you know you're at least partway safe.

- It's a buggering job to do by yourself. I'm sure the rears will be action packed as well. *choked sob*

I do have a bit of a worry now. Everything's secure, but when the front left extends, there's a bit of a thumping noise. Tres strange.

[Sciby]

Thumping noise was the springs settling in, all good. Rears are now in as a well, what a ****er that job was, purely because of the arsing about getting the rear seat and parcel shelf out to get to the coilover tops.

Now in the market for a new parcel shelf. *mutters bitterly*

[Cubes]

Very nice Predator.

Care to share some ride height pics?

So you are using the very top or second to top notch for ride height?

[predator]

Very nice Predator. Care to share some ride height pics?So you are using the very top or second to top notch for ride height?

second notch on all 4.. 20mm down.. i measured again - it's 355mm front.. 345mm rear.. fairly close.

Here is a side pic.. the lowering is fairly subtle.. but with some 17" rims would sit nicely..

[SkyKC]

Pictures are not working, which is a vita part of this guide. I know this is a bit old thread but can we put it back in.... I mean the pictures?

Cheers

Chinthana

[Cubes]

I've recently removed and reinstalled my std coil overs as I did my rear subframe bushes and front end bushes.

Very very easy.

Simply jack the car up, remove the 2 top nuts that are located in the boot and engine bay.

Remove the shocker nut then shove a bar inbetween the suspension and the coil over and leverage it off its lower mounting point. It will pop off but no where near severe enough to damage you or anything. Its only ever so slightly preloaded.

The fronts are easy to remove as there's plenty of room but the rears you need to slide up through the upper control arm and then out of the guard. There's only just enough room.

Give it a go. Easy as. Quicker and easier than changing a set of brake pads.

[predator]

looks like some people still using this..

reuploaded the pix into first post- later on I might re-arrange them into order..

[dbo]

I've recently removed and reinstalled my std coil overs as I did my rear subframe bushes and front end bushes.

Very very easy.

Simply jack the car up, remove the 2 top nuts that are located in the boot and engine bay.

Remove the shocker nut then shove a bar inbetween the suspension and the coil over and leverage it off its lower mounting point. It will pop off but no where near severe enough to damage you or anything. Its only ever so slightly preloaded.

The fronts are easy to remove as there's plenty of room but the rears you need to slide up through the upper control arm and then out of the guard. There's only just enough room.

Give it a go. Easy as. Quicker and easier than changing a set of brake pads.

Sums it up perfectly. Was surprised at how easy it was to do! This tutorial definitely gave me a good idea before I jacked it all up. Thanks alot.

[MBS206]

I'm about to attempt this today, except I'm going in a backwards order sort of...

I'm pulling off some aftermarket springs, and putting ON some stock springs (The car is way too low at like 318mm middle of wheel to guard in the front!)

Anyway, what I've been told, and will report back on, is to jack the car up to the required height off of the chassis or some other point, and throw a stand under at the chassis.

Now move the jack over, and once the wheel is removed, jack the hub up also so that there is sufficient pressure on the hub to make it look as though the hub is in it's "normal" working spot.

Now put the spring compressors on.

Now lower jack away from hub.

Now spring is compressed and locked.

This takes the preload off of everything.

Do the same for putting back in (unfortunately you'll have to tighten for AGES with a bar... )

I'l let everyone know how I go today, but yeah, that was what I was told to do, so I'm gunna try it...

[Ver]

nice write up.

just in the middle of doing this but it got dark.

one question. with the front coilovers does it matter which way round to mount them? i mean on the bottom of the strut where you bash it on to the stud... one side has a extended boss and the other doesnt. I'm thinking that the extended bit goes against the stud to give some clearance between strut and arm? but its really tight to fit on and get the thing to seat properly - spin it the other way (boss facing out) its really easy but there's contact