Loosen the nuts on strut that connect to the hub mount, remove the nuts and bolts connected to the brake lines on the front strut.
Remove the top nuts off the top hat
Remove the front strut assembly completely
On the top of the strut assembly file down the ring of the strut so that the top hat of the coilover will slide thru. I ended up taping the threads and strut shaft to protect them from getting filed.
Strut assembly side by side. With a 17mm socket remove the nut on the bottom of the strut. After removing the nut, with a alan key turn the bottom so that the insert come out.
After removing the insert.
The insert.
So after removing the insert, the original spring perch needs to be cut off and ground down, this allows the sleeve to slide over. As for the aluminum cap for the bearing which I will call the bearing cap, take a flat head screw driver or a chisel and knock it off with a hammer. Below is what it should look like.
So next you may want to paint the area you just cut and ground down to not only prevent rust but you also look more professional. I used Dupli-color School Bus Yellow, its a great match.
Next with the provided Split Clamp Collar provided with the DSS kit you want it as low as possible that it can clamp evenly on the strut housing. On this particular application I had the Split Clamp Collar rest above the weld.
You will want to position the Collars so that the bolt openings are positioned at a 90 degree from the strut ears. The collars need to be tighten evenly and torqued at 25ft/lbs. And then slide the coil over sleeves over the strut.
This is what it should now look like now.
The strut bearing caps were hammered back in and the insert was place back into the housing. Dont forget that the inserts need to be threaded back into the hole at the bottom of the strut.
This is the supplied hardware for the top hat of the spring. I placed it in order of how it needs to be assembled. For the needle bearing it is highly recommended to lube them up with a Moly wheel bearing grease.
Here is the complete spring hat put together.
The complete coil over. On mine I put on a helper spring which is not included in the kit.
Installed on the car.
So after the install, I went for a drive and noticed some noises coming from the springs. What I found was the strut bearing caps were hitting the spring so I took them apart and ground down the bearing caps so they would not interfere with one another.
