AWE DTS: worst install experience ever...
04-27-2002, 02:00 PM
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AWE DTS: worst install experience ever...
I need to vent...
This was, without a doubt, the worst install experience I've ever had on a car...
I should've known things were going to just go badly all day when I wasn't able to get off the larger mounting bolt on the drivers side of the car -- two broken ratchets and a jury-rigged breaker bar later (I have a 1/2 inch breaker bar for wheels, socket set is 3/8th), I finally got it off (time at this point: 2 hours, because of a trip to the local hardware store when I broke the first ratchet...)
Then the damn bar didn't fit right. I don't know if my car is warped or what the deal was, but when the bar was in place, firmy against the rubber bushing that the large bolt goes through, the two small bolts don't come close to reaching the car -- 1/2 inch gap. A little manhandling and another 45 minutes shot, and I got the thing bolted up (had to use a jack to make things "fit" right... put the jack at the junction of the mounting brakets and the bar to give just enough upward oomph to cinch things up enough to bolt everything down)
Then, low and behold, the bolts that go through the aluminum center bar into the rubber bushing that gets bolted to the transmission don't fit. The damn holes in the bar are a tiny fraction of an inch further apart than the damn holes in the rubber bushing. No amount of wiggling gets the bolts to fit. Take everything back down. Yup, the damn thing doesn't fit, even off the car, without forcing the screws. And -- to top everything off, I can't even force them to go on because the DAMN directions AWE sent had the tools wrong -- it said the bolts needed an 8mm hex driver, which I went out and bought. Turns out there not 8mm. I have no f'ing clue what size they are, but they're bigger than 8mm. And no allen wrenches are to be found that fit that size. At this point all the stores nearby are closed, and the car is in pieces, so I can't drive to home depot to try to find something to fix this damn mess.
Has anyone had the thing just not fit before? Believe me, I'm not just a schmuck with two left hands here -- I've done everything from brake installs to pulling engines before, the damn thing just didn't fit my car right. The fact that the directions listed the wrong tools (for tools that people wouldn't typically have in a large set of sizes), just sucked.
I torqued everything down, and tightened that hex bolt as much as I could and drove the car around the block and back into my garage. Car drives fantastically... that plus the APR snub mount is just fantastic. Now I'm concerned about driving it without both bolts in there, and with the one not fully torqued down...
Now having blown all of today on something that should've taken twenty minutes if the crap just fit, I still have to go out and get a hex driver that fits these damn bolts so I can try to force the other one in.
This was, without a doubt, the worst install experience I've ever had on a car...
I should've known things were going to just go badly all day when I wasn't able to get off the larger mounting bolt on the drivers side of the car -- two broken ratchets and a jury-rigged breaker bar later (I have a 1/2 inch breaker bar for wheels, socket set is 3/8th), I finally got it off (time at this point: 2 hours, because of a trip to the local hardware store when I broke the first ratchet...)
Then the damn bar didn't fit right. I don't know if my car is warped or what the deal was, but when the bar was in place, firmy against the rubber bushing that the large bolt goes through, the two small bolts don't come close to reaching the car -- 1/2 inch gap. A little manhandling and another 45 minutes shot, and I got the thing bolted up (had to use a jack to make things "fit" right... put the jack at the junction of the mounting brakets and the bar to give just enough upward oomph to cinch things up enough to bolt everything down)
Then, low and behold, the bolts that go through the aluminum center bar into the rubber bushing that gets bolted to the transmission don't fit. The damn holes in the bar are a tiny fraction of an inch further apart than the damn holes in the rubber bushing. No amount of wiggling gets the bolts to fit. Take everything back down. Yup, the damn thing doesn't fit, even off the car, without forcing the screws. And -- to top everything off, I can't even force them to go on because the DAMN directions AWE sent had the tools wrong -- it said the bolts needed an 8mm hex driver, which I went out and bought. Turns out there not 8mm. I have no f'ing clue what size they are, but they're bigger than 8mm. And no allen wrenches are to be found that fit that size. At this point all the stores nearby are closed, and the car is in pieces, so I can't drive to home depot to try to find something to fix this damn mess.
Has anyone had the thing just not fit before? Believe me, I'm not just a schmuck with two left hands here -- I've done everything from brake installs to pulling engines before, the damn thing just didn't fit my car right. The fact that the directions listed the wrong tools (for tools that people wouldn't typically have in a large set of sizes), just sucked.
I torqued everything down, and tightened that hex bolt as much as I could and drove the car around the block and back into my garage. Car drives fantastically... that plus the APR snub mount is just fantastic. Now I'm concerned about driving it without both bolts in there, and with the one not fully torqued down...
Now having blown all of today on something that should've taken twenty minutes if the crap just fit, I still have to go out and get a hex driver that fits these damn bolts so I can try to force the other one in.
04-27-2002, 02:06 PM
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WTF??? Someone must be playing a joke on you.
After bolting the corners of the bar on, I had about a 5/16" gap b/n the bar and black block and couldn't get the screws to start. I used the floorjack to jack the tranny up and down a bit to let it settle some. It moved enough (~3/16" gap) to allow the screws to start. That was the only problem.
04-27-2002, 02:07 PM
#3
Sounds like you got a faulty bushing part and I'm not sure what's up with your frame..
Eveything on my car fit fine. Definitley give AWE a call about the bushing part though because everything lined up on my pieces and fit perfectly. Has your car ever been in an accident?
04-27-2002, 02:17 PM
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Nope, never been in an accident...
The only work thats been done in that area was when the dealer replaced the tranny. They had it in and out a few times...
Its the strangest thing... The rubber bushing is the thing that ticks me off the most though, because it means going through all this crap again to either force the bolt in there, or to replace the bushing with a new one...
Its the strangest thing... The rubber bushing is the thing that ticks me off the most though, because it means going through all this crap again to either force the bolt in there, or to replace the bushing with a new one...