Spring and Shock Installation Instructions
(shown on D2 Racing coilovers)
Tools Required:
Small and large socket wrenches
Deep 18mm Socket
12, 14, 15, and 18mm Sockets
Allen wrench (size TBD)
3" and 18" socket extensions
14mm, 17mm, and 19mm wrenches
Floor Jack
Jack Stands (2)
<>Brake Line Mount:
2 Hose Clamps (to fabricate a brake line mount)
Drill
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are the D2 Racing coilovers to be installed. The were purchased from Mazda6tech's sponsor, CVR motorsports. They raise the spring rates from roughly 4kg/mm front, 3kg/mm rear to 13kg/mm front, 9kg/mm rear. The shocks are valved to make the appropriate changes as well, and suspension travel is cut roughly in half. The ride height is adjustable in the front, and all four shocks have adjustable rebound control.
Front Installation:
Step 1: Put car on jack stands; remove two front tires.
Step 2: Remove fork from lower A-arm. This requires a 15mm socket.
Step 3: Remove brake line from fork. This is a 12mm bolt.
Step 4: Remove sway bar from fork. This requires you remove a 14mm nut, but you may find the bolt rotating along with the nut. If you find it is not coming loose, use a 14mm wrench instead of a socket. You can then stick an allen wrench into the bolt to prevent it from moving with the nut.
Step 5: Repeat steps 2-4 on the other side. It's easier to do both sides at once, as you don't put tension on the anti-sway bar!
Step 6: Unscrew clamp from the bottom of the shock until the fork falls from it:
Step 7: Undo the 14mm bolts holding the top of the shock. Support the shock with your other hand, because it will fall once these are loose.
Step 8: Make the ride heights even to start. We'll provide good starting adjustment points once we take the measurements.
***Note that height is set by the lower sleeve/nut, not the upper two which set preload***
Step 9: Reinstall the new shocks. Repeat steps 7-2 in reverse order. Pay close attention to reconnecting the sway bar endlinks. They MUST be torqued to 45ft-lbs (or more), and this will probably necessitate you using an allen wrench to prevent the bolt from spinning along with the nut. The sway bar endlinks have a tendency to come undone when not properly torqued. You may wish to use blue Loc-Tite or a locknut just to be safe. Those using aftermarket sway bars should always use Loc-Tite and/or a locknut.
IMPORTANT: If you find that the sway bar is hard to reattatch, your left and right ride heights or not even. Sway bars are tensioned when the left and right ride heights are different, thus you will need to jack up one side of the car via the wheel or a suspension joint until the ride heights are even. You will also need to jack up each side of the car if you are installing the shocks one side at a time.
If you run into problems with sway bar tension, you can jack up a wheel (if it's on) or a suspension joint, both pictured below. If you find a lot of tension on any suspension part, this is probably the reason why! I did my installation one side at a time, which caused problems that would have been avoidable by doing both sides simultaneously.
Once the tension is relieved, this bolt holding the fork to the lower A-arm came out easily. I should have detached both sway endlinks before reinstalling the shocks to avoid having to do this!
Step 10: You may have noticed there is no place to put the brake line anymore. You'll need to fabricate a mount. Improvise any way you can.
I made this using a hose clamp. While not firm, it is plenty to keep the brake line from getting into trouble.
The improvised mount took just one hole through a hose clamp. A screw and nut go through this.
Another view- and we're done the fronts:
When you are done, you will notice the huge reduction of suspension travel. This is what we started with:
...And this is what we ended up with. The amount of droop is adjustable, so feel free to experiment. There is much debate on how much bump / rebound travel you want the shock to have. Pictured is between 2.5 and 3 inches, which seemed to work well. Remember it is far worse to reach the end of extension of your shock than it is to reach the end of compression. Bottoming out a shock can easily destroy it, and you want to keep sufficient shock travel for compression.
Step 11: Install the adjustment knob and adjust the shocks. Do not use the extreme end of the soft or hard sides, but find a compromise inbetween. I find between 3 and 4 turns (roughly in the middle) works best under nearly all driving conditions. Below two turns can get bouncy. You can rotate the adjustment knob a total of 6.5 times. It is a misconception that firming your shocks all the way give you better handling.
(shown on D2 Racing coilovers)
Tools Required:
Small and large socket wrenches
Deep 18mm Socket
12, 14, 15, and 18mm Sockets
Allen wrench (size TBD)
3" and 18" socket extensions
14mm, 17mm, and 19mm wrenches
Floor Jack
Jack Stands (2)
<>Brake Line Mount:
2 Hose Clamps (to fabricate a brake line mount)
Drill
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are the D2 Racing coilovers to be installed. The were purchased from Mazda6tech's sponsor, CVR motorsports. They raise the spring rates from roughly 4kg/mm front, 3kg/mm rear to 13kg/mm front, 9kg/mm rear. The shocks are valved to make the appropriate changes as well, and suspension travel is cut roughly in half. The ride height is adjustable in the front, and all four shocks have adjustable rebound control.
Front Installation:
Step 1: Put car on jack stands; remove two front tires.
Step 2: Remove fork from lower A-arm. This requires a 15mm socket.
Step 3: Remove brake line from fork. This is a 12mm bolt.
Step 4: Remove sway bar from fork. This requires you remove a 14mm nut, but you may find the bolt rotating along with the nut. If you find it is not coming loose, use a 14mm wrench instead of a socket. You can then stick an allen wrench into the bolt to prevent it from moving with the nut.
Step 5: Repeat steps 2-4 on the other side. It's easier to do both sides at once, as you don't put tension on the anti-sway bar!
Step 6: Unscrew clamp from the bottom of the shock until the fork falls from it:
Step 7: Undo the 14mm bolts holding the top of the shock. Support the shock with your other hand, because it will fall once these are loose.
Step 8: Make the ride heights even to start. We'll provide good starting adjustment points once we take the measurements.
***Note that height is set by the lower sleeve/nut, not the upper two which set preload***
Step 9: Reinstall the new shocks. Repeat steps 7-2 in reverse order. Pay close attention to reconnecting the sway bar endlinks. They MUST be torqued to 45ft-lbs (or more), and this will probably necessitate you using an allen wrench to prevent the bolt from spinning along with the nut. The sway bar endlinks have a tendency to come undone when not properly torqued. You may wish to use blue Loc-Tite or a locknut just to be safe. Those using aftermarket sway bars should always use Loc-Tite and/or a locknut.
IMPORTANT: If you find that the sway bar is hard to reattatch, your left and right ride heights or not even. Sway bars are tensioned when the left and right ride heights are different, thus you will need to jack up one side of the car via the wheel or a suspension joint until the ride heights are even. You will also need to jack up each side of the car if you are installing the shocks one side at a time.
If you run into problems with sway bar tension, you can jack up a wheel (if it's on) or a suspension joint, both pictured below. If you find a lot of tension on any suspension part, this is probably the reason why! I did my installation one side at a time, which caused problems that would have been avoidable by doing both sides simultaneously.
Once the tension is relieved, this bolt holding the fork to the lower A-arm came out easily. I should have detached both sway endlinks before reinstalling the shocks to avoid having to do this!
Step 10: You may have noticed there is no place to put the brake line anymore. You'll need to fabricate a mount. Improvise any way you can.
I made this using a hose clamp. While not firm, it is plenty to keep the brake line from getting into trouble.
The improvised mount took just one hole through a hose clamp. A screw and nut go through this.
Another view- and we're done the fronts:
When you are done, you will notice the huge reduction of suspension travel. This is what we started with:
...And this is what we ended up with. The amount of droop is adjustable, so feel free to experiment. There is much debate on how much bump / rebound travel you want the shock to have. Pictured is between 2.5 and 3 inches, which seemed to work well. Remember it is far worse to reach the end of extension of your shock than it is to reach the end of compression. Bottoming out a shock can easily destroy it, and you want to keep sufficient shock travel for compression.
Step 11: Install the adjustment knob and adjust the shocks. Do not use the extreme end of the soft or hard sides, but find a compromise inbetween. I find between 3 and 4 turns (roughly in the middle) works best under nearly all driving conditions. Below two turns can get bouncy. You can rotate the adjustment knob a total of 6.5 times. It is a misconception that firming your shocks all the way give you better handling.