ok so today i put on some new springs, 5Zigen, i bought them from a friend used, but there isn't anything wrong with them, because he just took them off of his car. he has a 2000 civic and i have a 1997

anyways, i put on the front ones, and they lowered my car alot, like they should have.

then i put on the back ones, same way, everything goes smooth, until i take the car off of the jackstands....no height change.

in fact, i think that it's higher than stock....what could have gone wrong?? i don't even know where to start!

 

is it possible the springs are weak in the front? How many miles are on them? Were they abused?

 

they were used for about 2 years, but they don't ride like they're weak, very stiff, no camber or anything...but the back is WAYYY higher than it's supposed to be, and it looks retarded and it's pissing me off.

 

maybe a dumb question, but you did let the car roll back when you set it down right? sometimes the e-brake will hold the car up a bit after setting it back down.

 

well, i let it down and drove it.

and the rear end of my car sticks up...

i didn't cut my bump stops, but in order to get the spring to fit over the shock i had to compress it so i could bolt the strut together.....would that have anything to do with it?

i'm at a loss....
this was my first suspension job, but i'm sure i put everything back together correctly

 

could you take some pictures? is the car really bouncy, or stiff? feel different at all or the same? sounds lik maybe it could have been assembled wrong. that is pretty weird

 

yeah, i'll take some pics tomorrow.

it bounces some, but i'm running stock shocks, and it rides stiffer, but that's to be expected.

i think i might have put the strut together wrong....since the springs had to be compressed in order for me to put the strut back together, and that was not the case for the front ones...

 

Well if you had to compress the spring then thats prob why it sits high/higher. How did your friends car sit? Perhaps you got the springs backwards, backs on the front, fronts on the back? In my experience with suspension, if you have to compress the spring to get it on then its not going to "lower" the car unless its a really soft spring rate in which case it will sag and bounce.

 

yeah, i think i just put those together wrong.

i was sort of in a hurry/stressed, and i probably wasn't thinking.

i did get the front and the rear ones correct though.

i guess i'll be doing another suspension job this weekend

 

Suspension work can be quite annoying...


...but well worth it when u see a Vette disappear behind you on a mountain road.

 

while i'm at it, do you think i should get some new shocks as well?

i've known people that swear stock shocks are fine

and i've known others that would never do that.

 

you sure you didnt get the fronts and the rears mixed up?

btw... im running stock shocks on tein s.techs, and it rides great. no bounce or what not.

but i have plans to replace them in the near future.

 

i'm positive i didn't get the fronts and rears mixed up, they look completely different.

but i still can't think of how i put the struts back together incorrectly...
i guess i was just careless