10th Gen Suspension, Brakes and Wheel ForumSlam. Poke. Drop. Tuck. STOP. A forum to discuss 10th generation Corolla suspension, brakes and wheels even if you're rollin' OEM.
I'm fed up with the runaround i'm getting from the tuning shops in my area - not returning calls, not being prepared to do the work when i show for an appointment... decided to rent the tools and do it myself. anyone smarter than me out there who would talk me out of it?
Any good shop like Goodyear (and I would highly recommend them) can do your sping install. They do shocks and struts all the time and will do a good job with the alignment after your done. Installing springs for them is easy. Just get the springs ($150-200) and bring them to them. You should plan on spending $300-400 for the labor. that's the easy way.
you don't need a tuner shop to do that. TRDSPARKS charges $300 to install and allign to give you some idea of cost.
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JDM yellow fog bulbs, Cool Blue Headlight bulbs, Modified Intake, TRD air filter, billet shifter knob, modified light sensor, Carbon Fiber Dash, 30% Window tint, tinted reverse lights, signals, de-badged, MSW type 12 wheels, Eagle GT 225/40-18 tires, additional brake lights, TRD sway bar, Lowered
Do it your self. Set aside a whole day to do it, even though it should only take about 5 hours. I just did the rear myself and one side took me 2 hours the other side about 30 min (learning curve aka I didn't read the instructions carefully enough lol) I still have to do the front after I run to the store and buy a bigger socket...
Alignment should be around $50
Spring - $200
Labor - $0
Parts - $15
Rental Tools - FREE!!!
if you have some mechanical ability or has a friend that can assist you with it then i would think about doing it yourself.
but even before that, if you can't get access to the proper tools then forget about it. you can kill youself or others if you try to half-ass things and not get the proper tools to do the job.
TRD has good spring installation instructions that you can use for a guide. read through it and use that to help judge to see if this is something you want to tackle.
i did mine myself. it took me about 5 hours to do. keep in mind that I did do everything without air tools and included trips to the store to make sure I had all the proper tools. if you've installed springs before then it isn't too hard.
None of you guys have mentioned getting it re-alligned which is really necessary.
+1
I was thinking the exact same thing...
If you have the right tools all you need are the right directions to do it yourself and you'll be fine...I'm sure there's a lot of YouTube vids on how to do a lowering spring install as well...
easy enough to do yourself but BE CAREFUL!!! When you are taking apart your struts be very sure your coils are securely compressed... they can let go with enough force to do some serious damage to you!
__________________ 2001 Toyota Tundra TRD 1994 Jeep YJ - no top, no doors May-Oct 1996 Toyota Tacoma - RIP! frame recall $16,638 2009 Toyota Corolla XRS - SOLD
You can rent the spring compressor or go to Harbor Freight Tools and get their cheap set for about $13.00. I've even seen them on sale for $9.00. If you plan out the work correctly, renting at Kragen is free for the 1st day.
I'm fed up with the runaround i'm getting from the tuning shops in my area - not returning calls, not being prepared to do the work when i show for an appointment... decided to rent the tools and do it myself. anyone smarter than me out there who would talk me out of it?
Talk you out of it? No... I want to talk you into it so you can share your experience. I'm thinking of doing this myself too. I'm wondering if there are any "troublesome" situations by doing this with all hand tools.
i did it all with hand tools. used alot of elbow grease though
using the spring compressor was a workout.
some of the bolts are torqued really tight so it will take some effort to loosen them up and tighten back up. make sure your torque wrench goes up that high, you have a big enough breaker bar, and that you have high quality sockets.
holy sh*t that was a royal pain in the ass. took me almost 13 hours including dinner and two more trips for tools. guess i am not a born mechanic
13 hours, tool rental and you still need to get it aligned. That's why I'm just going to pay the $300 to get it done, plus if my suspension falls apart I have someone to blame besides myself!
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JDM yellow fog bulbs, Cool Blue Headlight bulbs, Modified Intake, TRD air filter, billet shifter knob, modified light sensor, Carbon Fiber Dash, 30% Window tint, tinted reverse lights, signals, de-badged, MSW type 12 wheels, Eagle GT 225/40-18 tires, additional brake lights, TRD sway bar, Lowered
Thanks. tool rental was free, and i'm a lot happier today after sleeping it off. i was willing to pay for it but i couldn't find any place to do it without a hassle. i had the day off anyway, so it's kind of like I paid myself $25 per hour. not too bad. steep learning curve - now that i'm not completely clueless i think i could do it in 4-5 hours.
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