i re-lowered my car over memorial day weekend. ran into some problems.

namely, the rear driver side coilover is seized. by seized, i mean the lower bracket for adjusting shock body length is seized on the thread. i got the perch and the locking collar moving, but i cannot get enough leverage to break the lower bracket loose because there is nothing to hold the coilover body tight while i try to break it loose.

i tried turning the perch and locking collar against each other to spin the body of the coilover, but that only resulted in bent spanner wrenches. i wasted about a can of pb blaster on it.

i gave up and drooped the spring on both rears about 2.5 inches. i'm not too happy about that... nor do i feel particularly safe. the rear end feels a little weird going over certain bumps at speed. feels like the car itself is hesitating. not sure if thats an alignment issue (which is undoubtedly fucked up right now), or a droop issue. i don't think i'm catching enough air to get a loose spring. perhaps the shock is past its operating range? not sure.

they are silkroad rma8's. i'm hoping someone has a clever solution to break these ******* loose.

 

fixed. wailed on it with a hammer for about 30 minutes.
vibrations probably loosened up all the rust inside the mount.

coilover looks moderately uglier now.

 

hmm makes me think twice about those for my fc, would you mind filling out the fc coilover review, that i started?

just so people can search on coilovers, and instead of making new threads, find one thread with everything??

hahha
thanks

 

its not on a FC

but lesson learned. use anti seize on on the coilover perch, locking collars and bottom mount.

 

Every time I loosen a locking collar, I spray the threads above it with WD40 and use a nylon brush to clean the grit out of the threads before moving anything. I also apply some lithium grease to the threads before moving the shock body downwards. This works wonders - no seizing after years of use.

 

Some anti-seize paste would work as well as a preventative measure.

However, if frozen in place again, get some Aero Kroil and let it sit for 5-10 minutes (or overnight).

Kroil has proven to me to be better than PB Blaster or WD40 as a penetrant.

:-) neil

 

aero kroil

i have to look that up. is it sold in stores or online only?

 

A good industrial supply house usually carries it.

However, I purchase it on-line, and there are coupons like 2 for 1, or even a free trial on their website:

http://www.kanolabs.com/

:-) neil

 

I've heard of that stuff before. If it's better than PB, I'll have to try it out.