How To: Rear Eibach Suspension Install

[Beachdrifter]

Background:

Due to the revamp of the forum, the original how-to was lost. However, I will attempt to do a simple write-up and let the pictures do most of the talking.

Several years ago I upgraded to the Eibach suspension. Being a novice to DeLoreans at the time, and hobbyist mechanic, I attempted to change the rear springs myself to conserve some money, and learn in the process.

Unfortunately, I did not attempt the front, which I left to more experienced people.

Difficulty:

This is not very hard to do. Just takes a couple of hours if you are new to this stuff. Just take your time and do it right.


Disclaimer:
Please use caution and safety when working on any vehicle. Also, please note, these are simply recommendations based on my experience. Follow at your own risk.
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1)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DEXZpsXEXnM/TeB4yk8KNpI/AAAAAAAAAAM/yeGAoLYnOOY/s320/DSC00778.jpg

Loosen the lugnuts on the rear wheels just enough to break them free.

Be sure to jack up the car , and place jackstands under the main rear brace, as shown.
I went ahead and jacked the car up with two stands underneath. Remove the wheels and you are left with the picture above.

The stock spring will have to be compressed before is can be removed. Place two spring compressors, ideally like the ones shown, to compress the spring. Be sure the compressors cover at least 4 coils on the springs; this will provide for the needed compression.

(refer to pic above)
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2)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2YXEOzBaJ4Y/TeB42XWlZKI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/KdIlpfQiRJs/s320/DSC00779.jpg

Next, feel your way and loosen the fastener on top of the strut.

Second, loosen the fastener at the bottom of the strut, and knock it slightly out.

You will be left with the top picture.

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3)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z6_iRnaPfjk/TeB44VBSSuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/4fvEktWUqXk/s320/DSC00781.jpg

Next, remove the compressors from the spring. Separate the strut and spring. Top pic shows the Eibach and stock spring side by side.

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4)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TwK930ZsAZU/TeB47ZBGbiI/AAAAAAAAAAY/yswYlxR2LH0/s320/DSC00782.jpg

Re-assemble the strut assembly and insert the spring over it. Attach compressors to the new spring.

Top picture shows this, however, notice I only used 3 coils, i should have used 4. So be sure to compress with 4 coils to give for ample compression. Following pic will show 4 coils.

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5)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vX9wRHccNsE/TeB488lyvZI/AAAAAAAAAAc/e6B0_0THh40/s320/DSC00783.jpg

Insert the top of the strut assembly into the retention housing. Apply fastener.

For lower part of the strut, gently jack the strut to align the hole for the fastener. Put the fastener in place.

Tighten both top and lower fasteners securely at this point.

(refer to pic above)

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6)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m09i6IMGDcc/TeB4-eJYLTI/AAAAAAAAAAg/su8tWUxx3qs/s320/DSC00786.jpg

Now with the entire assembly in place, it's time to loosen the compressors. Loosen the compressors alternating from side to side and watch the spring expand into place.

Remove compressors. Notice the 4 coils on each side to allow for ample compression.

(refer to pic above)

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7)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DnDyTM8Nnag/TeB4_5N0lJI/AAAAAAAAAAk/Ne0Or2c6r0o/s320/DSC00787.jpg

Voila! Do the other side, put the wheels on, hand tight nuts, lower car, and torque the nuts. You are done!

Restoring a DeLorean can take time, and lots of money for the typical working owner. I always try to do what I can to save some money along the way, and it's a great opportunity to learn new skills on your car.

Hope this helps any newbies, or anyone looking to try for themselves. I know this forum has helped me a lot!

[LordFly]

The front ones are not that difficult. The trick is to get 5 coils. Yes, FIVE. If you don't have 5, there is no point in reading any farther. And as you can see in the picture below, you can't use the little safety catch pins, because they simply won't allow you to compress the spring enough, so BE CAREFUL!!!

Unbolt everything that is in your way (brake caliper, dust sheild, etc.) and disconnect the upper ball joint. That'll give you enough room. Now compressing the springs :wrenchin: I found the quickest way to do this was to get the bottom hooks in right at the bottom, then use a jack under the control arm to compress the spring to the point where you can just get the hooks in over the 5th coil. Then keep compressing with the jack and hand tightening the compressor bolts, until you get to a point where that doesn't work any more. Then comes the sucky part, you have to compress the rest with a wrench because nothing else will fit in there. If you've go a ratch-wrench, now is the time to use it! And keep going until all 5 coils touch, and I mean TOUCH. If they aren't touching, you're going to be doing a LOT of fighting. Even with the touching, it's still a bit of a fight. Pry the bottom end out and slide them down as low as you can to get a little extra room at the top. Now you still have to pry the top end out. The sides of the upper mount seem to have little cut-outs on either side (facing the front and back of the car). I jammed a pair of needle nose pliers in there to pry the top of the spring down, then you can get a pry bar or a wrench in there to pry the rest down and out.

Installing the new ones is just the same thing in the reverse order. Just make damn sure the springs are seated properly, not hanging out the side or anything! Depending how quick you are and what kind of tools you have access to, plan on killing between 3 and 8 hours. And make sure you've got beer in the fridge before you start! :D

25961

[dustybarn]

The front ones are not that difficult. The trick is to get 5 coils. Yes, FIVE. If you don't have 5, there is no point in reading any farther. And as you can see in the picture below, you can't use the little safety catch pins, because they simply won't allow you to compress the spring enough, so BE CAREFUL!!!


All true. I found that the shorter front springs are MUCH easier to install than the stockers are to remove (at least for Grady springs). I can't vouch for Eibach ones, but they're probably similar.

I, too, unbolted the front caliper and hung it to the side on a bent coat hanger, without disconnecting the hose. This gives you more ability to swing the steering knuckle out and away from the spring. Disconnecting the tie rod ends would give you even more flexibility; IIRC I also had previously removed the steering rack for an unrelated issue.

[Mark D]

Nice writeup on the rear springs!


For the fronts I found the springs were much easier to remove using this type of spring compressor:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=25971&d=1394637227
http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/suspension/single-action-strut-spring-compressor-43753.html

[Domi]

Can you use that kind of tool for the rear spring too?

[Mark D]

Can you use that kind of tool for the rear spring too?

Yes, I used the same spring compressor for the rear springs as well.

[Domi]

All right, thanks ;)
It looks like a more safer than the usual spring compressor.

[Mark D]

Yeah to be honest those other spring compressors like shown in the original post scare me a little bit. They always want to slide around the spring as it's being compressed. I felt much more confident using the clam shell design compressor that I posted in the photo.

I let another local DeLorean owner borrow it for some suspension work he's doing. It probably weighs 20lbs so it doesn't make much sense to try and ship it anywere, but if anyone else local wants to borrow it just let me know.

[Bikercmbc]

I'm about to do rear springs on a delorean tonight, ill puts some picts up of my spring compressor on the rears, my spring compressor is designed just for the delorean application, actually i used a bunch with mercedes when i was working on them.

[Delorean02378]

I'm about to do rear springs on a delorean tonight, ill puts some picts up of my spring compressor on the rears, my spring compressor is designed just for the delorean application, actually i used a bunch with mercedes when i was working on them.


And that Delorean is 10989, One step closer to having it ready for DCS.

[krs09]

Looking into lowering springs, at least for the front. My question is do I have to replace the shocks if they still look good? Will using the stock shocks with lowering springs compress the shocks too much?? Anything I should think about? Foresee any issues??

[LordFly]

Looking into lowering springs, at least for the front. My question is do I have to replace the shocks if they still look good? Will using the stock shocks with lowering springs compress the shocks too much?? Anything I should think about? Foresee any issues??

Shouldn't make any difference, shocks don't affect ride height.

[Mark D]

Looking into lowering springs, at least for the front. My question is do I have to replace the shocks if they still look good? Will using the stock shocks with lowering springs compress the shocks too much?? Anything I should think about? Foresee any issues??

A while back I remember reading that someone took measurements of a stock front end and found that in the stock ride height position the front shocks were almost fully extended. Going over a steep hill could potentially cause the front wheels to lift off the ground because the shocks would bottom out in the downward direction. If this is all true then lowering the front end will put the neutral position back towards the center of travel. You shouldn't have to worry about damaging the stock shocks since they were designed for a lower ride height to begin with.

That being said, if you're planning on reusing the stock shocks just be sure the upper and lower end bushings are still in good shape and have not deteriorated...When I replaced mine last year the bushings were dry rotted and cracking pretty badly. I went to the SPAX setup from DMCH and I couldn't be happier.

[krs09]

Shouldn't make any difference, shocks don't affect ride height.

Well I wasnt to worried about the height, just if compressing the shocks more than the stock springs allowed could put too much pressure on those shocks and cause a really hard ride or maybe cause a leak. Am I crazy?

[krs09]

A while back I remember reading that someone took measurements of a stock front end and found that in the stock ride height position the front shocks were almost fully extended. Going over a steep hill could potentially cause the front wheels to lift off the ground because the shocks would bottom out in the downward direction. If this is all true then lowering the front end will put the neutral position back towards the center of travel. You shouldn't have to worry about damaging the stock shocks since they were designed for a lower ride height to begin with.

That being said, if you're planning on reusing the stock shocks just be sure the upper and lower end bushings are still in good shape and have not deteriorated...When I replaced mine last year the bushings were dry rotted and cracking pretty badly. I went to the SPAX setup from DMCH and I couldn't be happier.

Awesome! Thanks mark. I guess the euro/grady springs are a good choice?

[LordFly]

Well I wasnt to worried about the height, just if compressing the shocks more than the stock springs allowed could put too much pressure on those shocks and cause a really hard ride or maybe cause a leak. Am I crazy?

The springs won't change the range of motion of the struts, since they're bolted between the frame and control arm. You'd have to hit a pretty major pothole to cause any problems like that, but I won't recommend doing that with the car in the first place ;) The struts are only to damp the motion of the springs, they do nothing to support the vehicle. They are under some pressure, but you can often compress a strut by hand.

And as Mark said, if the springs put it into a more neutral position, all the better :)

[Mark D]

Awesome! Thanks mark. I guess the euro/grady springs are a good choice?

I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about any of the lowering spring options, it just comes down to a preference for how low you want to go. There are quite a few threads already on the board about the different options. I think Eibach's typically lower a little more than some of the others but they're all reasonably close.

[TTait]

I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about any of the lowering spring options, it just comes down to a preference for how low you want to go. There are quite a few threads already on the board about the different options. I think Eibach's typically lower a little more than some of the others but they're all reasonably close.

With the lower springs there is one issue to watch for; when making a hard turn, if you hit a bump the tire can hit the bottom lip of the fender more easily - this could happen turning into a driveway or similar. This would happen occasionally to me - the trick is to remember to go just a little slower. There is a rub strip on the inside of the fender that takes the damage rather than harming the tire or fender - but its better to not need it by going slower.

[krs09]

This might be stupid but is the bushings in the struts replaceable or do you have to replace the whole strut if the bushing is shot?

[krs09]

Thanks for all the tips guys. Cant wait to bring down that front end a bit.

[Tillsy]

Shouldn't make any difference, shocks don't affect ride height.

Not true - most of the rear shock options are adjustable and the spring sits on it. When I replaced my springs and shocks last year I found the rear way too low and adjusted her back up again.

The front, however, you have to accept whatever the spring leaves you at.