Eibach Stage 2 coilover install questions

[Wayne]

I have watched and read numerous posts regarding coilover installs. It appears that removing the LCA bolts from the frame rather than the more common method of the UCA balljoint, axle nut etc. is the simpler way to go. Anyone have input on the two different methods? Pro and con.
Thanks

Sponsored

 

[Colo_Ranger]

I dropped the knuckle and managed to dislocate both CVs. It wasn't terrible to get them reset, but definitely more work. I don't know what's entailed with dropping the LCA, but it would seem to be easier.

 

[outdoorphotog]

I just loosened the UCA balljoint, tierod balljoint, and sway bar endlink and it worked like a charm. Loosened the CV joint nuts, if the CV pops out, just hit on it with a dead blow hammer while rotating the CV, it will go back in.

 

[Wayne]

I dropped the knuckle and managed to dislocate both CVs. It wasn't terrible to get them reset, but definitely more work. I don't know what's entailed with dropping the LCA, but it would seem to be easier.

That's my biggest fear, I've seen some horror stories of this happening and axles having to be replaced.It's my dialy driver so I can't have it tied up waiting for parts!

 

[Wayne]

I just loosened the UCA balljoint, tierod balljoint, and sway bar endlink and it worked like a charm. Loosened the CV joint nuts, if the CV pops out, just hit on it with a dead blow hammer while rotating the CV, it will go back in.

That seems to be the common method. I have seen one vid where they removed the two LCA bolts and it just seemed so much easier with less chance of CV problems. Made sense to me.

 

[outdoorphotog]

That seems to be the common method. I have seen one vid where they removed the two LCA bolts and it just seemed so much easier with less chance of CV problems. Made sense to me.

I mean I think you should do it whatever way seems best for you. I have sometimes felt its nice that the LCA supports a lot of the suspension weight, once it is disconnected, you have to deal with all the weight above it (ie, using a floor jack to support the weight of the shocks, UCA, and line up the lower ball joint)

 

[Colo_Ranger]

If you are taking the axle nut off, you have to knock the axle loose before it will slide out. I expected it to slide freely, and it does not. That was my issue on the second one. In the first, I saw somewhere that you could do it without taking the axle nut off. Those people are wrong. In all honesty, the installation too me and a buddy about 8 hours in my garage with hand tools. It's not that tough of an install. The axle nut probably added an hour to the install and an hour of drive time to get the parts. Turns out a 36mm is hard to come by.

 

[Wayne]

One other option I thought of is cutting the studs off the bottom of the stock shocks. That would require way less bouncing of the LCA to get the shock out. As the stage 2 Eibachs use bolts and nuts on the bottom this would cause any problems. Guess I just need to bite the bullet and decide if I want to go ahead and do it or pay the price for someone else to tackle it. Having worked on mechanical things for most of my life I get nervous about other people working on my stuff.
Thanks for the info.

 

[Drstevens20]

I just loosened the UCA balljoint, tierod balljoint, and sway bar endlink and it worked like a charm. Loosened the CV joint nuts, if the CV pops out, just hit on it with a dead blow hammer while rotating the CV, it will go back in.

I installed mine last night and the front end is still on jack stands because the inner CV popped out on both sides. Once it feels like it is lined up do I need to hit the axle nut with a dead blow? I really don’t want to take the boot off.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

I installed mine last night and the front end is still on jack stands because the inner CV popped out on both sides. Once it feels like it is lined up do I need to hit the axle nut with a dead blow? I really don’t want to take the boot off.

Here is what worked for me. Get the axle nut pushed in as best you can, twist it until it binds. Put the axle nut on and hit it with a deadblow in the direction that its bound up. It popped back in easy.

 

[outdoorphotog]

I installed mine last night and the front end is still on jack stands because the inner CV popped out on both sides. Once it feels like it is lined up do I need to hit the axle nut with a dead blow? I really don’t want to take the boot off.

You shouldnt get to a situation where the boot would need to come off. Just hit the axle nut, if it doesnt go in, rotate a few degrees and try again.

 

[Dahveed]

One other option I thought of is cutting the studs off the bottom of the stock shocks. That would require way less bouncing of the LCA to get the shock out. As the stage 2 Eibachs use bolts and nuts on the bottom this would cause any problems. Guess I just need to bite the bullet and decide if I want to go ahead and do it or pay the price for someone else to tackle it. Having worked on mechanical things for most of my life I get nervous about other people working on my stuff.
Thanks for the info.

I'm unsure of the reason why folks are struggling with this. If you remove the axle nut the chance of separating the inner CV joint falls to zero. I recently installed Eibach struts up front. You can probably do this either way, but I didn't want to separate the lower control arm. I opted to disconnect the knuckle from the tie rod end and UCA.

1. Secure truck on jack stand(s).
2. Remove wheel(s).
3. Remove the nuts from the lower strut studs.
4. Place jack under lower control arm to prevent it from dropping later.
5. Remove the 8mm and 10mm bolts from the knuckle securing the ABS sensor wire and brake hose, respectively.
6. Free the ABS sensor wire retaining clips from the upper control arm.
7. Remove the axle nut (36mm if I recall) and tap the end of the axle shaft to loosen it from the splines of the hub (don't flog on it and mushroom the shaft).
8. Remove the outer tie rod end nut and separate the tie rod from the knuckle.
9. Loosen the upper control arm nut (do not remove all of the way). Tap the knuckle to free the UCA from the knuckle. It will spring up (this is why we left the nut).
10. Push down on the UCA and remove the nut.
11. Tip the knuckle forwards while pushing the axle shaft free of its splines.
12. Remove the three outer nuts securing the strut to the tower (don't remove the center nut unless you want the spring to kill you).
13. Lower the jack out from under the LCA.
14. Push down on the lower control arm to gain enough clearance to tilt the strut forward out of the tower (you removed the axle nut right?).
15. Remove strut and swap with new coilover (or install replacement strut if reusing OEM spring/seat).

This seems like a lot of steps, but it really doesn't take more than 10-15 minutes from step 3-14. Especially with some power/air tools. An impact wrench will make removal go very quickly. I used "stage 1" Eibach Pro-Truck struts, so I was reusing the OEM spring and seat. I spent the majority of my time using a set of spring compressors and swapping the strut over.

edit: Apologies, that first sentence was pretty demeaning.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

I tried to do it without taking the first nut off, because I’ve seen people do it. On the second side, the nut was off but the axle didn’t slide freely like I expected. Lesson learned.

 

[Wayne]

I'm unsure of the reason why folks are struggling with this. If you remove the axle nut the chance of separating the inner CV joint falls to zero. I recently installed Eibach struts up front. You can probably do this either way, but I didn't want to separate the lower control arm. I opted to disconnect the knuckle from the tie rod end and UCA.

1. Secure truck on jack stand(s).
2. Remove wheel(s).
3. Remove the nuts from the lower strut studs.
4. Place jack under lower control arm to prevent it from dropping later.
5. Remove the 8mm and 10mm bolts from the knuckle securing the ABS sensor wire and brake hose, respectively.
6. Free the ABS sensor wire retaining clips from the upper control arm.
7. Remove the axle nut (36mm if I recall) and tap the end of the axle shaft to loosen it from the splines of the hub (don't flog on it and mushroom the shaft).
8. Remove the outer tie rod end nut and separate the tie rod from the knuckle.
9. Loosen the upper control arm nut (do not remove all of the way). Tap the knuckle to free the UCA from the knuckle. It will spring up (this is why we left the nut).
10. Push down on the UCA and remove the nut.
11. Tip the knuckle forwards while pushing the axle shaft free of its splines.
12. Remove the three outer nuts securing the strut to the tower (don't remove the center nut unless you want the spring to kill you).
13. Lower the jack out from under the LCA.
14. Push down on the lower control arm to gain enough clearance to tilt the strut forward out of the tower (you removed the axle nut right?).
15. Remove strut and swap with new coilover (or install replacement strut if reusing OEM spring/seat).

This seems like a lot of steps, but it really doesn't take more than 10-15 minutes from step 3-14. Especially with some power/air tools. An impact wrench will make removal go very quickly. I used "stage 1" Eibach Pro-Truck struts, so I was reusing the OEM spring and seat. I spent the majority of my time using a set of spring compressors and swapping the strut over.

Not really struggling, just trying to figure the easiest way to get this done. It just seemed to make more sense to me to remove two bolts from the LCA and unbolt the shock than to remove all of the steps 1 - 12. I was just trying to see if anyone had justification for going through all those steps. Always pays to learn from other peoples experience and thoughts.

 

[Dahveed]

Whichever direction you decide to go, I would remove the axle nut. I know not everyone has 36mm sockets lying around though (I didn't, thanks Harbor Freight ).

Sponsored