Just found these forums trying to find how-to's on installing a set of Tein lowering springs on my girlfriend's friend's Honda Fit. I've installed lowering springs on my old Mustang, uninstalled them off that Mustang when I totalled it, and will be installing them on my new Mustang when I get a chance... so I have the tools to do the work and the basic know-how. I've found a few write-ups for the fit and everything seems straight forward but I'm looking for any tips, tricks, or even your own how-tos that you guys have done or suggest. One thing I found that scared me is that it said when doing the fronts, that the axle could pop out and not go back in when you have everything taken apart. It didn't elaborate much but can anyone shed some light on the subject?! Thanks in advance!

-Raymond

 

the Fit is a VERY easy car to do. For the rear springs, just unbolt the shocks at the ottom (under the car) and jack the car up, the factory springs will fall out. Make sure to use the rubber isolators that were on the Fit springs for the new springs.

For the fronts. Open the hood, Unbolt the strut bolt at the top. You need a good quality Allen key set and some wrenches for this (14mm if I remember right).

Then jack up the car, undo the sway bar bolt, then undo the tie rod bolt, . then the 2 strut bolts and remove the strut with spring. There's gonna be a rubber isoator that you have to pull off then there's gonna be aother bolt on the strut. Unbolt that and it will slowly take the tension off the factory spring. you don't need a spring compressor for this car.

Once you backed the bolt all the out near where it's gonna come off the strut. Remove it with your fingers and make sure no to drop it.

remove the old spring, drop in the new one. making sure it you twist it into the OEM "guide" or whatever you want to call it and reverse the procedure, then go get an alignment done.

If your a little mchanically inclined it shouldn't take more than 2 1/2 hours at the very most.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like an easy install. So I guess the whole axle-popping-out thing I heard must have been a joke, hopefully.
Should be fun.

 

no its true.. happened to me. But it's primarily only with the Tein coilovers since they give you a shorter endlink. It preloads the sway bar. With lowering springs you use the factory endlinks so there's no significant pre-load. Just be careful none the less.

 

I see, so what should I do to avoid that from happening? Anything? And when it happened to you, how did you fix it?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to be prepared here.

 

just remove the endlinks before removing the strut bolts. and don't let the knuckle just hang, after you have our parts off.

If this does happen, the easiest way to get the CV joint back is to remove the axles entirely and re-assemble it on a bench since the bearings can come off in the boot if you play around with it.

 

easiest way to keep it from happening is to put a jack under the rotor and hold the whole thing up

 

i agree, just keep the jack there to prevent the whole thing from falling too low and the axle from popping out when everything is disconnected.

 

I'm back lol, we should be doing the install + rim swap this wednesday and I have a final question.... do we need to get a spring compressor? I didn't need it for my Mustang(s), but some of the how-to's, and the instructions on her springs, says we need a spring compressor... do we?

 

to be safe yes, you will want to use a spring compressor on the front
when you're ready to remove the hat. unlike other cars ive work on
the hat is held onto the car by the piston shaft... meaning, there's
2 nuts on there. one to hold onto the car, another one hiding under
the bottom half of the hat. the bottom rubber half of the hat just
pulls off.

the boot on the front struts are clipped in place at the bottom... so
make sure you undo the clips (4) at the bottom so that you dont tear
the boot when you remove the spring and top hat.

the bumpstop is obviously inside the boot and you can just push it
out from the top... cut about an inch off of it and push it back into
the boot. it'll kinda snap back into place.

for the rear... the spring doesn't really pop out on its own when you
undo the one bolt...atleast not on my car. you have to push down on
the trailing arm and pull the spring out. it was kind of a biotch to for
me cause i was working in tight space, but it wasn't hard to do.

 

Thanks for all the tips. So when you take the front apart are the springs still under a lot of pressure, and that's why you need the spring compressor to take it out? Or is it just a "better safe than sorry" type of thing... because they told me I should use a compressor on my Mustang's springs too and I didn't need it. Once I dropped the control arm down the spring was free of any pressure and I was able to pull it out easily.

 

spring is under load. i think it extended about 4-5" when i unloaded
my spring compressor from when the hat was fully on the piston.

better safe than sorry. using a compressor only adds like 2min anyway.
when you put the new springs on you won't need to use it.

 

Alright I'll go tonight to see if I can rent a compressor, if not, then we'll just do it without and be careful.

One other question... does anyone know if Integra GSR rims and tires will fit on a lowered fit? She has an integra with those rims and wants to swap them while we're there.

 

if you decide to do it without a spring compressor, you can try shooting it into some cardboard boxes or use the inside of an unmounted tire if you have one laying around. i've used those 2 methods myself. it could be dangerous though so be careful whatever you do.

 

Well we got our hands on a spring compressor so if we need it, we'll have it. We're going to start the install in about half an hour so I'll keep you guys posted.

 

Hey Raymond. Are you near West Palm Beach. I want to get my springs installed. 8)

 

I'm in Hialeah, I'd say about an hour south of WPB haha...

we're outside in the garage with the front passenger side off.... the how-to I printed out says you need to cut 1" the bump stop. We have the strut and spring assembly taken apart and we're not sure what we're supposed to be cutting. Looking for help, info, pictures... ASAP. haha, let me do a quick search too... tia

 

They are these hard rubber pieces that are at the top of the strut assembly. Lowering springs usually require these to be cut down. Google bump stop for images of it. Look below...

 

Thanks for the picture, we didn't even think to pull back the strut dust cover the first time, but we figured it out right away. The car's done... installed the Tein springs, chrome Integra GSR wheels, and red JDM front and rear emblems. Plus I gave it a nice cleaning inside and out. I took some pictures in my driveway but hopefully we can go somewhere tommorow to get some real nice shots. Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

cool! and np. it's good you asked cause i just did mine last Friday
so everything was still fresh in my head. lol

i did mention about the bumpstop... on the post above.

>the bumpstop is obviously inside the boot and you can just push it
out from the top... cut about an inch off of it and push it back into
the boot. it'll kinda snap back into place.