Car Lifestyle

Car Lifestyle Post 3 - VL Commodore suspension overhaul

Time for post 3, today I'll be running through the monumental task of a suspension overhaul. This was early 2014, I had slowly been buying and collecting parts from various sources and letting them sit around in the garage till I finally had everything I needed to begin doing what I have wanted to do since the day I bought the car - lower it! And make it handle better..

This is most of the parts I bought in preparation for the upgrade. Consisting of: KMac adjustable strut tops, lowered KMac sports springs, heavy duty shocks and struts, nolathane bushes for the front, and finally an adjustable panhard rod to keep the pesky live-axle rear end straight! What a mess...

Now to begin the process. I started with the rear of the car, as I knew this would be much simpler and a good way to get into it. Jacked up the car, put the rear on jack-stands and the front on bricks (because safety is always important!)

Now since the rear end is a very basic design, the process is quite simple. We start with the lower control arm (LCA) - it has 3 bolts. 1 to the shock, 1 to the body and 1 to the diff. We remove the bolt connecting the LCA to the body, allowing us to pull it down, thus exposing the spring from it's seat between the LCA and body of the vehicle. Using brute strength, or spring compressors if you prefer, remove the old spring from it's seat, then put in your new spring! In my case, the KMac lowered spring.

Then put the bolt back in connecting the LCA to your car's body. Then undo the bolt connecting the LCA to your shock, and undo the bolt located in your boot which will in turn undo both the bottom and top of the shock and allow it to be removed. Replace it with your new unit by doing the same process in reverse and you are done. Just do this on both sides of the rear and you'll be ridin' low in no time. This is how the rear looked after I finished these steps:

Now onto the front of the car, this is a bit harder because the front suspension is more complicated, being an independent setup. The front has 2 struts, which are a shock-absorber unit with a spring around the outside of it. Thankfully my new parts came as one entire unit, so I was able to put them in without needing to dismantle and reassemble too much. to start, jack the front of the car up and put it on jack stands, the rear can stay on the ground because the hand-brake will stop the rear wheels moving.

Unbolt the control arm connecting the strut to the body, front sway bar links, and Z-link bar. This can be frustrating as these bolts aren't used to being taken out! Given the forces suspension components endure combined with age, parts are often worn, warped, corroded or just plain broken. So taking things out can take hours despite only being a few simple steps!

Once the lower arm is unbolted completely, undo the 3 small strut top bolts located on the strut tower in the engine bay of the car. Make sure someone is down there holding the strut tower though, because if not, when you undo these bolts - well, lets just say gravity will take over and it will quickly find it's way to the floor without someone to hold onto it.

Now begins the fun part - putting in the last of the new bits. The reinstall is basically the reverse of the removal. Have someone hold the strut up to the strut tower while you quickly do up the top 3 bolts, then bolt back in your Sway bar links, Z-links and the large boly connecting to the body/Kframe of the car. You may have to mix around with the order of the bolts and incorporate a lot of pushing and swearing to get everything lined up - trust me!

Now double check everything is tight, and lower down the car. This is how mine looked at this stage, after 2 days of hard work:

Next step, take it for a drive and make sure nothing falls out! If not, you're (probably) all good! Now go get a wheel alignment done to make sure the car tracks straight and you are done! There is truly no better feeling than being able to take something apart and make it better with your own hands.