mshihrer

hello all,

Ok, here's where I am at, so far. I decided on the Eibach Pro Kit springs for my car. When I got these springs, at first, I was like 277 dollars for this? then, I compared them to the stock springs. They are obviously about 1 inch shorter, so the car will sit lower. Also, the stock springs have about 6 turns to them, the Eibachs have about 8. And, the way the Eibachs are coiled up, it's obvious that they are progressive, getting tighter more towards the bottom of the coil. Also, I learned something that may be a quick way to tell if you need shocks. The dust boot is held in place by the bump stop. When I first jacked my car up, the dust boot was all the way up to the top of the shock, and when the suspension expanded, it left the piston rod for the shock exposed. Now, after I installed the new shocks, I figured out the only reason this happened is because the shock went all the way to the bottom of it's travel, moving the bump stop all the way up the piston rod, and when I jacked up the car, it exposed the piston rod. With the new shocks in, and the bump stop about 3/4 of the way up the rod, the rod is totally covered by the dust boot. So, my thinking is, unless you really hammer the suspension, there should be no reason for the bump stop to be to the top of the piston, unless your shocks are shot. So, if you jack up your front end, and see the piston for the shock, you probably need new shocks.

mshihrer

Hello all,

Ok, I finally got my rotors, I had to threaten the ebay guy with a bad review, but, he came thru. So, tonight I thought I'd get those puppies on. So first order of business was to get the old wheel bearings out and pressed in to the new rotors. I ended up buying a 12 ton shop press from harbor freight for 99.00. This is a good tool to have, it made the control arm bushings a snap, and now it's gonna press my bearings, or, so I thought. I couldn't find anything to fit the inner race to get them out, so I did the old fashion method, a flat punch and hammer. I got it out ok, and tapped it into the new rotor. It was going in good, but, when it got to the bottom, it just dropped in! The whole race spins freeley. NOT GOOD. More than likely, I damaged it by tapping it out and in again, so, I just ordered new bearings from MazdaTrix (like 100 bucks for the set). I know I could probably find them somewhere, alot cheaper, but let me say this about MazdaTrix. They ship fast! So, front rotors are now on hold until I get the new bearings. And I am not going to even try to hammer them in. I found a wheel bearing drive set here..

http://www.brandsonsale.com/closeupview211.html

and ordered it. I hope it works with the new bearings. So, I guess for the rest of the night, I'm gonna put my dash back together, and later, post some of these pics I took. Oh, and someone down the street from me is selling a 2nd gen GXL. I did a little research on them, so, I might stop by and see what's up with it. Future project? Maybe...

mshihrer

[quote name='Shane.Trammell' date='Apr 13 2005, 08:22 AM']this is my fave. its on the eibach prokit, with 17in konig imagines






[/quote]

That looks cool. But something I'm a little worried about now is the camber adjustment. There is none. Eibach makes some camber adjuster thingees for the later 7's, but not the first gens, at least I haven't seen them yet..so, I hope I don't go thru tires on the inside like crazy..