My new fx3 bilstein shocks are suppossed to arrive tonight, and my project is to install them this weekend. I am not a great mechanic and need to know how difficult this is and what should I be careful of. I know there are torque specs, but my brother (who is a mechanic in another city) says just to tighten them and not worry about the torque specs. Any suggestions, Thanks

 

i would just tighten them , however if it would make you feel more confident with your workmanship then by all mean torque 'em :cheers:

 

Installation is quite easy...like...take off old put on new....the only hard thing is all the xtra work involed....ie: take off wheels....etc...
Well anyway..
Good Luck....
tony
:) :) :)

 

I am not a mechanic but I was able to do replace all four of mine by myself,
so it has to be easy.
:thumbs: :seeya

 

No, your brother is wrong. You can NOT just tighten down the FX3 shocks. You will drop the crown of the actuator to low and the gear inside the actuator will not meet the gear for the shock. Torque down to spec. If you need it, let me know.

Other tips. Fronts are simple. Unclip the actuator retaining clip (take care not to lose them) and lift the actuator up and out of the way. Jack car, remove tires.... Take jack and support the A-arm while removing the top bolt. This will help protect your fingers and from damaging anything else. 17mm nut on top (need just a socket wrench) bottom is 13mm top and bottom. Use ratchet wrench on bottom and a box wrench on top. The box wrench will spin until it hits a solid mount then will assist in unscrewing.

For the install, do the bottom nuts first, then jack up the A-arm to do the top bolt.

Rears. Jack, remove wheels. Remove top shock mount bolts first. The leaf spring will assist in pulling the shock out of the frame, plus the shock will not fall from having removed the bottom bolt. You do not want the shock falling and damaging the actuator. The bottom bolt is a 13/16, you will then need to remove the stud and put on the new shocks. It helps to have a vice handy.

Re install, do bottom bolt first, then jack up the rear spindle until you can get the top mount bolts started, then let the pressure of tightening down the bolt raise the shock into the frame.

When installing, it doesn't matter which position the shock is in (tour, sport, perf) the car will find its location when you start it.

Good luck. It's a pretty simple job. With air tools and proper gear, I can do a car in an hour.


Edit for horrible spelling at 2:00 am


[Modified by Jeffvette, 1:46 AM 7/4/2003]

 

Thanks Jeffvette, I printed your instruction and took it in my garage. Took me most of the day, but I got all four changed. The plastic actuator gears were all broken but fit loosely around the new shock gear. Now my src light will sometimes go out and sometimes stay on. I assume that is because sometimes the actuator gears actually work. Since when the light is on, the system is not on, that it will not hurt my new shocks to keep the old semi broken actuators attached?

 

Also, if I wanted to disable the system until I get the actuators fixed, and I don't want the src light always on, can I just pull the connector on the src module behind the driver in the abs compartment?

 

OK, first the code. Make sure it is actually the actuator that is faulty. Take the actuator and swap it with another one on the car. Hopefully it's the front, that way it's easier. If the code goes to another shock, it's the actuator. If not, I would suspect that you either over tightened or under tightened the crown. Double check that. There are also plenty of people in Memphis. Post in the SE section and ask to borrow somebody actuator for some testing.

You can pull the actuator apart. But re adhearing it is another issue. I'll post some pics tonight.

As far as disabling the FX3 system. Just unplug it as you mentioned. It may not turn the light on the dash out.

 

For some reason I don't have another piece. It keeps the gear centered correctly and is what actually rotoates. If I locate it I will take a pic of it.

 

Thanks, but the pics are alittle fuzzy. Are the 3 gears what turn the shock? Where does the gear in the last 2 pics fit? Thanks, Tom

BTW all 4 of my actuators have broken plastic gears, so I can't swap actuators. Also I cannot get my old codes to clear (14,31,32,33,34) and even when the light goes off, then comes back on later, no new codes. I wonder if my eeprom is shot or what?

 

This site might help as well.
http://hometown.aol.com/scotfab/old_proj4.html

If they are broken. Go ahead and replace them. It might be expensive, but worth it.

 

How did you get yours apart? Scott says to cut or use something like nail polish remover to loosen the connection between the tan and black part.

 

I learned the hard way. I dropped the shock durring removal, and didn't have it supported. The weight just seperated it. SOme sort of glue remover or acetone should seperate it just fine.