DIY: Spring Install

I'm not experienced with springs but I do have experience with brake tear downs and reinstalls. Besides the DIY guide doesn't look too bad and I'd like to do this as a learning process.

And do u mean impact wrench instead of impact driver? I have an impact driver but not sure what that would be used for per the guide.

 

Impact wrench/driver is the same, used to break bolts loose. I used it to upload spring without compressor. Not recommended if you're not experienced. I also used it to take off sway bar link and rear shock bolt. Out of these 3 areas noted, only mandatory to unload front spring if you don't have a compressor.

Have fun!

 

Thanks. I'll just rent a compressor just in case. I have an impact driver, but it only fits drill bits thus cannot use it for the application. Do u think a breaker bar or cheater bar can substitute an impact wrench? That's the only tool I'm not sure I can get access to.

 

I think your not understanding the method but for safety sake, I won't ask you to try. Get a spring compressor and wrench. lol..

The impact driver holds hex bits and isn't a chuck. Pretty sure you have that mixed up.

The cheater bar wasn't to sub for impact. You still need that to break lower strut bolts.

 

Lol yea reading and seeing is two very different things.

 

don't forgot to put back the bumpstops on the front assemblies.

 

Anybody have issues compressing the OE springs enough? I'm obviously doing something wrong, I got the strut out with no issues ( thanks to these awesome threads! ) but could only get my $14 harbor freight compressor across 3 coils. I lubed it and got the clamps to within 1" of each other (3 middle coils) but still no play in the springs and I'm scared to kill myself. Thinking of taking the struts and front Eibachs to a mechanic to swap but don't understand, am I stopped by just a cheap p.o.s. compressor.

Update.. Found my compressor just wouldn't get it where it needed to be. Mechanic down the street will swap the springs in both struts for $50. Awesome but now I'm out of time.. Considering this a training experience until I get more time to play with. Waah!

 

The OEM springs do take a bit to compress. These are my trusty spring compressors who've helped me with over a dozen spring swaps

When you are compressing the OEM springs, you want to slide first clamp to the top as far up as it will go around the coil. The second clamp should go directly to the opposite side of the spring from the first one.

You can also pick these up from an AutoZone as a free rental if you don't want to purchase them.

 

Those look better to get across as much of the spring as possible, almost went with a similar if not same one, saw on Amazon for $59. Instead I cheaped and got these from Harbor Freight for $13.99..
I think the clamps are too fat for our springs with so few coils. Get what we pay for surely. I may try another set since I want to succeed and KNOW it can be done. Next time for real will be a snap! Hope soon so I don't have to get 2 alignments! Thanks for the help

 

Unloading them using a impact gun was the fastest. Bypassed the whole compressor step. You do have to know what your doing though. These springs are pretty low rate so not too bad to do it without compressor.

 

Others have said that but this is a first for me and I just couldn't get comfortable doing it. I think I'll lift the whole car, pull the fronts and drop them at the mechanic down the street with the Eibachs and $50. While I wait I'll get the rears done and maybe I can have the whole job over in 3 hours so my wife doesn't say "how long are you gonna screw with your new car that was fine before!?" She just doesn't understand

 

So I recently lowered my 2013 Prius with Eibach pro kit. Everything went great, the install was flawless. Now I noticed that on my driver side it seems like their is some knocking or it sounds like something is lose under the hood or some body parts rubbing. Anyone heard of this before? I have installed the springs correctly and they were seated in the strut correctly. It makes the noise all the time when I'm driving. Thanks for your help.

 

You should probably go back and make sure all the bolts are torqued to spec and that some didn't work their way loose.

What size wheels tires are you running on your lowered setup?

 

Has anyone tried more than one different brand springs on their Third Gen?

I'm mostly looking for responses from those who can provide a comparison in comfort between the different brands. I had Eibachs on my 2010 and was thinking about switching to H&R springs for the 2013 or possibly some other brand.

I had no problems with the Eibachs. I had H&Rs on previous vehicles and would have actually originally purchased those if I knew they were available when I bought my Eibachs.

 

I'm running 18x8 TSW wheels 225x40x18

 

Thanks for the install guide! I installed Megan Racing Coilovers this weekend and it was really helpful.

For those who are installing coilovers a couple of tips (PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I DID ANYTHING WRONG):

1) Fronts install the same. I set the height to 1.5" (bottom of spring perch ring to top of height adjustment ring). This gave me ~1.6" drop. You can adjust up/down from there depending on the drop you want.​

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2) The rears you have to replace the shock. There's a panel in the rear hatch that you pop out to unbolt the shock. You will need to reuse the rubber mounts from the stock shock. There are two rubber pieces that you reuse, one is inside the trunk under the nut. The other is on the the other side on top of the dust cover.​

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3) The instructions, aren't very clear for the spring mount/adjuster. From what I could tell, you will reuse the rubber pieces. One for the top and the other goes underneath the mount/adjuster. There's a big washer that bolts and holds the mount/adjuster to the bottom. I set the distance between the bottom perch ring and the base to 1 1/4" and this gave me ~1.5" drop in the rear. Here's some pictures that will hopefully explain it better:​

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The finished product:

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Hows the ride? What did you set the dampening to? I am sort of interested in these Megans as well.

 

So far I like the ride. I'm still playing with the dampening. Right now I'm set on 25 and it's giving a pretty nice street ride. I dialed it down to 5 for some up/down hill twisties & that was fun!

I looked at springs as well as Tein and Tanabe coilovers. I like the coilover idea as it would (hopefully) have a better matched damper than stock or other replacements. I also liked the adjustability range as well as the price of the Megan's compared to the Tein and Tanabe's.

 

Are you running stock rims and tires?? Your ride looks really good. I'm thinking of doing the Megan's but don't want it to look bad because I can't afford to do rims and tires for a while.

 

Yes, I'm running stock rims and tires for now. I upgrade the wheels with the $4 or so electrical center caps. It looks pretty good with the stock rims. If I wasn't saving and trying to decide on new rims, some spacers would finish off the look.