21. When you can set the spring in the seat and the bottom coil fits around the raised lip of the perch, you're good to go.



22. Put the shock together. Turn the adjusting ring and the locking ring all the way down (mine were shipped at the top). The washer goes silver side down against the adjusting ring. Put on the perch/seat combo, then the dust cover/jounce bumper. Then put on the spring, widely spaced coils at the bottom.



23. Stand the shock up and put on the upper seat/perch. Fit the end of the coil into the groove.



24. Put the new washer on the shaft. I adjusted the lower perch up a bit so that the washer was about even with the upper perch, that way I could be certain that the washer wouldn't snag above or below the perch when I started to tighten things up.





25. Put the rubber cap and new nut on and tighten the nut. 19mm (the stocker is 18mm, go figure), 6mm for the hex hole in the shaft. If you have or can find the proper deep offset wrench, good for you. I had to improvise with some vise grips and a deep well socket. If you have Proto/Mac/Snap-On/etc, you probably will want to go get a cheapie socket set like I did. I used a piece of half inch pipe to hold the allen wrench. If it matters, Bentley says to torque a new (stock size) nut to 44 ft lb.



30. All put back together, ready to go back in the car. Unfortunately, I didn't have a clue about where to set the perches. This is something that's definitely easier to do out of the car.





31. Put the upper perch back into the shock mounting plate and loosely install the nuts. Bentley says to use new ones. This can be a bit tricky if you're by yourself.





32. Installation is pretty much the reverse of removal. Some tricky bits may require jacking up the suspension to get the lower bolt in, or gently prying the gaps on the upright in order to get the upper links back in. Tightening sequence and torques follow:

Lower shock mount to control arm. New nut, 66 ft lb. Bentley says to do this with the car on the ground to avoid putting stress on the bushing. I just jacked up the suspension a few inches.

Upper control arms to upright. New nut, 30 ft lb.

Upper shock mount to mounting plate. New nuts, 15 lb ft.

Bonus info: If you happened to use the three bolt method, the torque value for the 17mm bolts is 48 ft lb.



33. Before you put your wheels back on, adjust the preload on the springs so that both sides match. The big ring is for adjusting, the small ring is for locking the big ring in place. The more threads showing below the rings, the higher your car will sit. This is a lot of fun, 1/8 of a turn at a time, about 16 turns per inch.



34. I started with one inch of threads showing below the lock ring.



35. A lot of people might think this is too low. I agree with them. I think a better starting point is 2.5 inches or so of threads showing. Personal preference, wheels, tires, driving environment, etc. will all play a part in how you set up.

36. Put your wheels on and get the car on the ground. If you didn't totally mangle the covering plugs, you can put them back in (<cough> duct tape). Re-install that tab that was blocking one of the top nuts on the passenger side. Put the plastic cover and the sealing strip back on. You're done!

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