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Tools Required for the Job
Perform at your own risk!
The information for this tutorial is based on my own experiences. It is meant to be working
instructions for the DIY'er attempting to perform this job at home. These instructions are how I
performed this procedure. I take no personal responsibility for any damage you may incur by
following these instructions.
Secure vehicle on jack stands. Always use jack stands when
working under the vehicle.
Disconnect the negative battery terminal.
Remove the front wheels.
Remove endlink from strut assembly mount using a 14mm deep
well socket and a 17mm wrench to keep the endlink bolt from
turning. If removing the entire endlink, mark the endlink
identifying which side of the car it was removed from and it's
orientation (top or bottom).
Time required to complete the job: ~ 1.5 hours
You must get a proper alignment immediately after installation of the new struts. Failure to do
so will result in excessive tire wear and safety issues.
Disconnect wheel speed sensor wire from strut assembly
bracket. From the back of the bracket, use a pair of pliers and
squeeze the plastic clip together to allow the clip to pull out of
the strut assembly bracket. Disconnect the wheel sensor wire
from the wheel sensor and move it to the side.
Remove the brake line mount from the strut assembly bracket.
The plastic mount has a slotted center that when rotated to the
correct position will easily slide out of the strut assembly
bracket.
Remove the strut assembly to steering knuckle retaining bolts,
nuts and washers. Discard the bolts and nuts you should have
been provided new ones with the coilovers. Save the washers,
you will reuse them. The nuts require a 22mm wrench or
socket and the bolt requires a 19mm wrench or socket. Use
whatever combination of these tools you have available to
remove the bolts and nuts.
There is no need to remove the alignment bolt, just leave it in
the current position.
Support the strut assembly from the bottom so it doesn’t fall and
damage any other components. I used a jackstand and wood
block.
From within the engine bay, remove the dust cap from the top of
the strut assembly.
Remove the strut assembly to body retaining nut with a 15/16”
or 22mm wrench while holding the strut shaft with a 10mm
wrench. Remove the strut assembly to body retaining plate.
The strut assembly is no longer connected to the vehicle. From
the wheel well remove the strut assembly from the vehicle.
No components are needed from the OEM strut assembly, so it
will not be needed any further.
Setting up the Pedders Xa Front Coilovers Prior to Installation
After a few attempts of playing with the settings, I ended up with
a front ride height of 615mm. The height is measured from the
lower lip of the wheel through the center of the wheel up to the
fender lip.
Loading the spring. Load the front spring 2mm. What I did was
loosened the spring adjuster until the spring was loose. I then
tightened the spring adjuster until it was touching the spring. At
this point I took my measurment. I measured from the inside of
the top and bottom black plastic spring seats. After my initial
measurement I used the Pedders supplied spanner wrench to
tighten the spring retainer, compressing the spring 2mm from
my initial measurement. The distance I ended up at between
the spring seats was 156mm. Bring the locking ring into place
against the spring adjuster and lock the adjuster in place with
the locking ring using the supplied spanner wrench. Pedders
instructs to use a drift and hammer to ensure the locking ring is
completely tight. Recheck measurement one last time to verify
nothing moved.
To adjust the ride height I measured through the bottom of the
lower mount tube to the strut body. The distance I set this to
was 40mm. This gave me a ride height of 615mm. You can
adjust this to up or down to your desired setting. (i.e. 50mm
would give you a ride height of 625mm.) Tighten the locking
ring into place using the supplied spanner wrench. Pedders
instructs to use a drift and hammer to ensure the locking ring is
completely tight.
Using a 19mm wrench remove the damping adjuster from the
top of the strut assembly and set to the side.
Place the strut assembly in place from the wheel well. From the
top put in place the strut assembly to body retaining plate and
start the strut assembly retaining nut on the strut shaft.
Using a 5mm allen wrench, hold the strut assembly shaft while
tightening the strut assembly retaining nut with a 15/16” or
22mm wrench. Using a torque wrench and 22mm crows foot,
Torque nut to 40ft-lbs.
Install the strut assembly to steering knuckle retaining bolts, nuts and washers. Use the new
bolts and washers provided by Pedders. Before completely tightening the assembly, align the
strut to the alignment bolt on the steering knuckle, and then tighten the retaining bolts. Do
not tighten the retaining bolts more than 60ft-lbs. This will be good enough until you can get
a proper alignment performed.
Install the endlink to the strut assembly mount using a 14mm deep well socket and a 17mm
wrench to keep the endlink bolt from turning. Ensure proper orientation of the endlink if it was
completely removed from the vehicle. Torque the endlink nuts to 37ft-lbs.
Re-attach the wheel speed sensor wire to the strut assembly bracket. Reconnect the wire to
the speed sensor.
Re-attach the brake line mount to the strut assembly bracket.
Install the wheels and lower the vehicle. With the vehicle on the ground verify the top strut
assembly retaining nut is properly torqued. Using a 5mm allen wrench, hold the strut
assembly shaft while tightening the strut assembly retaining nut. Using a torque wrench and
22mm crows foot, Torque nut to 40ft-lbs.
Re-insert the damping adjuster into the top of the strut assembly and tighten using a 19mm
wrench.
Upon completion of the installation of the rear coilovers immediately get a four wheel
alignment.