'93 - '01 Impreza Coilover Installation

Dougie (Impresiv 2.5) asked if I would help install his Megan Coilovers this past Wednesday March 11th '09. As I love working on cars, I could not turn him down, especially since he had nowhere to do it. Also along for the ride was Dustin (Sleeper07) and Mike (RedMitsu).

*NOTE* - Picking a warmer day would be a good idea. We did this install when it was below 0 and had a major issue with ice. The first 30 minutes of the install was breaking off ice chunks and sweeping.

Installing coilovers is pretty straight forward. There are only a few things that suck about the installation and those are getting the control arms loose, cutting brake line holder, and removing the backseat (huge pain when you have a cage). Aside from those few things it is a very easy project.

**NOTE** - THIS IS '1' PARTICULAR WAY OF DOING THIS. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS OF DOING THE INSTALL IN LESS STEPS, BUT THIS IS THE EASIEST, IMO. THERE ARE ALSO MORE PRECISE WAYS OF ADJUSTING THE HEIGHT ON THE COILOVER, BUT THE TAPE WORKED REAL WELL.

[[ TOOLS USED FOR PROJECT ]]

- JACK
- (1) JACK STAND / (4) RECOMMENDED
- TIRE IRON
- WIRE SNIPS
- FLATHEAD SCREW DRIVER
- RUBBER MALLET / HAMMER
- AIR RATCHET
- AIR DRIVER
- HAND RATCHET
- 12MM, 17MM, AND 19MM SOCKETS
- 17MM AND 19MM WRENCH
- BUDDY FOR REAR INSTALLATION
- 12 PACK OF MT. DEW (MANDITORY)

[[ TIME TAKEN : 4 HOURS ]]


[01] Megan Coilovers and Axle to replace front passenger side. CV boot was cut 360 degrees around and lost all its grease, which is mostly on the underside of the car now.


[02] Start by loosening your lug nuts all the way around the car enough that they will just be broken loose.


[03] After the car is on jackstands, remove all the wheels.


[04] First thing you will do is remove the brake retaining clip. Following the picture, use a flathead screw driver to push the clip toward the rear at the point where the arrows are.


[05] Using an impact wrench and a 19mm socket, remove the (2) bolts from the ALK on the Control Arm. THESE ARE TIGHT! USING AN IMPACT IS A MUST!


[06] Next remove the 17mm bolt that holds the inner side of the Control Arm to the Crossmember. We used an air ratchet on one side and a 17mm wrench on the reverse side. THIS IS ALSO TIGHT!


[07] The next step is to remove the (2) 19mm bolts holding the strut in place. Also used the impact and a 19mm wrench to get these off. After those are out remove the 12mm bolt holding the ABS sensor line.


[08] If you do not want to re-bleed your brakes then I would recommend this step. All you have to do is get a pair of wire snips and cut this section. I would also cut it as low as possible (where the arrow is), as you will be able to just bend it once to get the brake line out. If you cut it in the middle you will have to bend the top and bottom to get the line out.


[09] Jack the rotor up to prevent the strut from falling.


[10] Remove the (3) 12mm nuts holding the top of the strut in place.


[11] This step is a must and a huge pain! Make sure you adjust the coilovers to the same height. If they are off, you will have some major issues with tires and control of you car. The way we did it was put a tape measure in the bottom and made sure they were the same. The hard part about this step is figuring out how low you want your car. It is almost impossible to tell how low it is going to be until you put the coilovers on with the wheels and look. This can be very tedious and it will entitle you to removing the wheels and using the wrenches over and over again. Luckily we nailed it on the nose with this install, so once was enough.


[12] Just another pic of us adjusting with the wrenches.


[13] After adjustment is complete, push the Coilover up through the wheel well and replace 12mm bolts.


[14] Re-installing the top Camber bolt, we put it on 0 degrees as you can adjust the camber from the top now (flush side out). Coilovers these days also come with Brake Line relocator kits. This is what they look like. You just bend them to shape. Very simple.


[15] After all bolts have been re-installed.


[16] This is what it will look like (in theory)... depending on how much you lowered it.


[17] Another shot.


Installation of the rear is much easier, aside from the seat removal. All you have to do is remove the (2) 19mm bolts and the 12mm ABS sensor line bracket. Next you will remove the (3) 12mm bolts from strut top by the rear deck lid. Thats it! Easy stuff.

If you have any questions, direct them to Impresiv 2.5!!

I can show some pictures of snapped coilovers now too!

This was one of the coldest installs I have ever done. Very FRIGID!!

I remember this day......twas a chilly morning at the Card house.

I actually just installed a set of these on Andy's white RS... this write-up cleared up a whole lot of questions, also thanks Dougy for quickly getting back to me about what measurements your used on yours, they are precisely what I was looking for and they work perfect. The only difference I made with the install is I used a caliper measurement instead of a tape measurement and I didn't loosen the lower control arms but either way the same result. Thanks you guys for this write up!

DigitalSpecV03 wrote:

I actually just installed a set of these on Andy's white RS... this write-up cleared up a whole lot of questions, also thanks Dougy for quickly getting back to me about what measurements your used on yours, they are precisely what I was looking for and they work perfect. The only difference I made with the install is I used a caliper measurement instead of a tape measurement and I didn't loosen the lower control arms but either way the same result. Thanks you guys for this write up!

Ya i agree with dan it only took him right around 20 min to do one of the back ones so it helped alot.

Glad the writeup helped you guys.