marcucci said:
JimSouCal, The LEAF is very much metric. You won't need any additional tools than what the LEAF struts/shocks/springs require, which is what you mention. I am not sure how preloaded the OE springs are, you may need a spring compressor as well. I'm sure others can chime in. You will definitely need an alignment done after install.
Armadillo, can you give us some background on your driving experience and style? Do any autocrossing or track events? I'm curious how much you have pushed the car and how it behaves now. I find the LEAF to have some incredible understeer and would like to correct that some. Stiffer springs in back should help, and while I have no idea what the stock spring rates are, I am thinking the rears are much, much softer than the fronts. Feels that way at least.
This is great stuff... keep it coming. Thanks!!
The process really isn't that bad and doesn't require any specialty tools. The Coilovers come completely assembled and are a complete replacement of the stock strut so you don't have to disassemble the stock strut at all, just remove the entire thing, no spring compressors needed. The tougher part is just figuring out how to access the top of the strut, which requires removal of the windshield wipers (two 14mm nuts) and the cowl cover (some plastic clips). Once you have that figured out it goes pretty quickly - three bolts holding the top of the strut (13mm), two bolts holding the bottom of the strut (19 or 21mm, I don't remember off the top of my head) and one nut securing the sway bar connecting link (18mm).
The rear is easier, you just want to unbolt both shocks before you try to remove the rear springs otherwise the trailing arm wont drop low enough to get enough tension off of the spring to allow you to remove it. From there I would recommend a ratcheting end wrench to remove the top shock nut as there isn't very good access to this nut.
I do have a write-up I can send you that should give you a good idea what it will take. Allow yourself a few hours to be safe but if you've turned wrenches before you should be able to handle this on your own.
You do want to have the car aligned after installing these and you also want to get it pretty close when you install the new struts, I drew some reference lines on the lower mounts so I knew where the stock strut had been sitting. If you don't get the camber pretty close on the left side vs the right, the car will start randomly activating the traction control as you're driving, don't ask me how I know this...
Glad that it is adjustable from just slightly stiffer than stock to suitable for track use - will let people dial in the ride that they prefer.
