Suspension Swap - a few tips

[maxm50]

I recently completed swapping out front and rear dampers, springs, and front control arms & bushings. There's plenty of discussion and documentation around this, so I will only add a few notes here that I didn't see documented elsewhere. Hopefully someone searching for this in the future will find these tips helpful.

SPRING COMPRESSORS:
I tried two different types of spring compressors, both from OReilly Auto. One is the rental compressor that they have - it's quite difficult to use on the relatively small springs of the Fiat. Don't do this. Then I went back and bought one that they had on the shelf. It was only $25. It looks very similar to this one (link follows), but it's black. Doesn't appear to be on their website. I had to cut a section of pipe about 5" long to act as a large spacer on the threaded rod, otherwise it pokes way too far upwards and contacts the body in the shock tower area. I'd highly recommend this spring compressor once you make that little mod. It's also able to be disassembled while still inside the spring so that you can fish its little pieces out after getting the new springs in place.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/pe ... 4504?pos=0

REAR SUSPENSION - DON'T YANK THE BRAKE LINE!
At full droop, the rear suspension can get dangerously close to yanking the flexible section of brake line that connects to the rear axle. I placed a jackstand under the axle right at this point to prevent it from dropping any lower there, especially while the shocks are disconnected. Then I could jack up one side in order to drop the other side (pivoting about that jackstand) in order to open up room to pull the spring out.

RATCHETING OR STUBBY WRENCHES - LIFESAVER FOR FRONT SHOCKS
Where is the person that designed the access ports to the front shock tower upper nuts, and how many times can I punch them? What a nightmare. This was the job that finally made me go out and buy a set of ratcheting wrenches. It made the fronts much easier. A set of stubby wrenches would work also. I ended up cutting a junk wrench in half to get better access on the passenger side.

SWAY BAR BUSHINGS
Ok, I'd like to punch that Italian engineer again here. What a terrible design. You have to drill out the swaged sections of the old bushing brackets in order to get the bushings out. What an utter joke. Use a bottle jack or something similar to press the two halves of the bracket and bushing together (with a light coating of grease) to get everything to seat properly so you can get the nuts threaded onto the studs.

NEW CONTROL ARMS? CHASE THE THREADS!
My control arms from Autoricambi had nice thick black paint on them, unfortunately also covering the sway bar mounting studs. I had to chase the threads with an M8x1.25 die (only a few bucks at Ace Hardware).

Everything else on this job you can find in the shop manual or already documented here, so I won't waste your time with it. Hopefully these little tidbits are helpful.

I pulled out:
- almost brand new KYB Excel-G shocks (gas charged) - PO had installed
- original springs
- pretty terrible front control arm bushings and worn ball joints
- rock hard swaybar bushings

I put in:
- Autoricambi Progressive Lowering Springs
- KYB Yellow shocks
- Autoricambi Control Arm Kit (new arms, bushings, balljoints)
- Autoricambi sway bar bushings

Holy moly, this thing feels like a brand new car now. It absorbs potholes and bumps extremely well and just feels wonderfully planted in corners. I really can't say enough good things about this spring/shock combo! Don't waste your time with gas charged shocks - get the Koni Yellows or one of the vendor's options for hydraulic shocks.

[RRoller123]

Good stuff, very helpful!

[Erkenbrand]

Thanks for this! Today, I just started diving into disassembling the front suspension with a goal of replacing pretty much everything.

[seabeelt]

Recently did this on our newest/latest spider.

Really Nice write up on the pieces parts.

My only comment-disagreement is one of taste and what you want to use the car for in terms of parts choice re shocks and springs and for that matter bushings - no disrespect intended

If you think of what the car originally had and it’s use, standard bushings and KYBs are fine. (Actually better performance than OE) Installation of Koni on full soft for the same performance is a waste of money IMO.

The look of the color and all new clean parts aside lol

If you want really spicy driving because you drive like a bandit the Koni up a notch or two for stiffness and lowering springs is a good solution mindful of the loss of comfort and now much stiffer ride.

Full race setup use the koni’s springs and Derlin hard bushings because you will need them for the stiffness and hard use derived from racing.

Like I said all a matter of taste and what you want the car to do ……. As well as your budget

I love AR but didn’t buy the control arms preferring to replace the bushings and ball joints myself for much less the $$$ as I have all of the tools and a sand blast cabinet to clean and paint as I go. KYBs came from rock auto for a fraction of the prices elsewhere There use to be a website (which I have not looked for in a while) where you could get the konis on sale as well.

Just a few thoughts……

Lol. Also love the comment about punching the designer of the front sway bar brackets

[Nut124]

Interesting topic.

My control arms, bushings, are 15+ years old. Thinking about replacing the front suspension this winter. Will be studying this thread.

I ran my car on a track this summer. There was a professional photographer there and I got some pictures. They show pretty clear negative camber in heavy cornering. This would be due to bushing wear or flex.

[maxm50]

Recently did this on our newest/latest spider.
My only comment-disagreement is one of taste and what you want to use the car for in terms of parts choice re shocks and springs and for that matter bushings - no disrespect intended

If you think of what the car originally had and it’s use, standard bushings and KYBs are fine. (Actually better performance than OE) Installation of Koni on full soft for the same performance is a waste of money IMO.

Yeah, I certainly don't disagree with you - the Koni's are definitely more expensive than KYBs, especially if you found them at Rock Auto. The reason I stayed away from KYBs were:
- The PO had already put KYB gas-a-just shocks on this car (albeit without replacing any of the suspension bushings) and it rode like crap.
- KYBs are gas-charged, so they do exert some additional "spring" force that causes the ride height to be a little higher (or so I've heard).
- I got a great deal on the Koni's in a 20% off sale from TireRack (tends to be a nice source for higher-end suspension components if you can catch their sales).
- I've reached the right combination of age and lack of free time where I only want to do jobs like this once on any single car during my ownership, so the little bit of extra cost is worth it to me to ensure I don't find myself back under there again in a year because I wondered if the Koni's would be better

All that being said, the adjustment of Koni's really sucks. I'm pretty sure you have to unbolt them at one of the ends. Haven't looked into it too much yet. I actually want to stiffen mine a touch from full soft to kill rebound bounces faster (it's just a rebound adjustment, not compression) I wish they had a knob on the side like the KYB AGX's! I had those on a Miata years ago.

Cheers,
Max