What are the steps to change F & R springs?

Any tricks or tip for changing the front & rear springs in a Micra?

How long should it take 1 person to do?

I have an adjustable panhard rod and it will be taking the car for a wheel alignment after the job is completed.

Any advice is appreciated.

First time round and doing by yourself - assuming you have appropriate tools, set yourself half a day at the absolute minimum to do it.

loosen (1/2 turn) the strut top nuts on the front whilst counter holding the piece sticking out. Otherwise their a major hassel to undo later when off the car as its very aqward to brace/hold the entire strut and unto the nut > even with vice. And if you stuff up the top of the strut you may need cut it off between the springs, like i did when putting in koni's and king springs. Make sure you have procured a set of spring compressors also,

Alex

Yeah your right it takes a bit of time to do if you have not done it before. But the easier part is the rear, if you undo the shocky at the bottom and undo the panyard rod and jack each side up and pull the wheel downwards the rear ones come out easy. But as for the front they are a bit harder, I could not get my top nut off as it was spinning the shaft so i did mine in a vice seemed to work ok but make sure you get good spring compressor it makes it much easier. It should take you about 1/2 day or less if you have everything or some help, good luck.

See that little flat spot on the top of the strut? Yeh, well you put some multigrips on that and then with a deep reach spanner you rotate the locknut on the strut in an anti-clockwise direction (i think anticlockwise). You shouldnt have to cut the strut unless you ruin the flat spot area on the top of the strut.
imo anyway...

btw as you can see, alex had to cut the strut because his top flat spot piece thingo is STUFFED!

Buy a maunal, saves heaps of stuffing around & it usually full of helpful hints, which will stop you having to cut the shock (I'm a mechanic & thats the first time I've heard of anyone doing that!)

yep, get yourslef the Haynes. Yes you shouldn't need to cut anything, i was replacing the dampers anyway,as teh old ones were well and truly shagged. Tried a variety of options to hold that top flat piece > hehe that twas a fun day, but as i said earlier try and lossen it when the strut is still on the car, which i didn't,

have fun, and show pics of your low ride when done

Alex - btw this is the bit were talking bout below

Yep. Good work on that one alex. I've never seen such hard steel get mangled like that!

Thanks for all the info folks.

Next question...Who makes a reasonable shock/strut for the Micra.

I do not want to spend large amounts of cash on adjustable ones.

I just need some reasonable price/reasonable performance suggestions and they muct be available in Australia.

To give you price idea...

In uk you can get a set of 35mm drop springs for about 60pounds brand new.. no NEED for uprated shocks with a small ish drop like that...

micra-man, best bet to invest a couple of dollars into the koni adj. Dad put some pedders front struts in his for around $660 fitted and their noticably firmer than std (he reckons too rough) now he whishes he got the koni's as i got mine for around $580pr i think (rears are around $350pr), but fitted them myself >i couldn't tell you how much labour a workshop would charge > maybe another member can help. The koni's on soft are as soft maybe softer than factory, then you can work up from there to best suit yourself. Its really great to be able to fine tune them to be 'just right' for the quality of your local roads, std/nonstd tyre profile, carryload and driving style,

otherwise the front KYB factory replacments are under $500pr (not fitted),

Alex

Hi Micra-man,

FYI in the end I ordered a Weitec sports suspension kit from Germany...
http://www.weitec.de/2003/produkte/ultra.php?lang=en

This kit includes both springs and shocks (front & rear). These shocks aren't adustable like the Koni dampers, however the lowered springs and dampers are specifically designed to work together.

I wasn't able to find any reviews about these kits fitted to Micras... however i did find some VW Golf forums where people talking about them and were very pleased with the results. The VW Golf people reckon they are excellent value for money....

I ordered them through the following supplier in Germany.
http://suspensionsupplies.us/?lg=en&pg=products
Don't worry, the guy (Fredrik)that I have communicated with via email speaks english.

The Australian Weitec distributor quoted $1400 for this kit !... However, direct from suspension supplies in Germany the cost was around $700 including postage (but may be some customs charges when I collect).

I expect my kit to arrive this week.... You will need to be patient as mine was on backorder for 4-5 weeks....

However, I have been very happy so far with the service from suspensionsupplies. Fredrik returns emails very quickly and keeps you up to date on the progress of the order.

I hope this helps... If you are interested I will post some pictures of the kit once it has arrived.

Hi Everyone, I have just received the Weitec suspension kit I ordered from Germany. Horray!. My first impressions are very good, all the components seem strong & well put together. The springs will certainly stand out as they are a vibrant green colour !.

Final cost was $680 including postage from Germany plus Australian customs charge of $128 (GST + Import duty)... This was still a lot cheaper than a local Australian Weitec distributor who quoted $1400!.

I can recommend the supplier "Suspension Supplies" but you would need to be patient as it took mine around two months to arrive from time of order... I am looking foward to getting the kit fitted to my micra asap.

A few pictures below for those who are interested.

The bushes in the rear shocks are poly urethane not rubber.

Seems to be a fairly decent size shock absorber cylinder ?.

Looks pretty high quality. And the price is VERY good considering what set of whiteline spirngs and shocks set you back, or even a humble set of KYB Excel-G's and King Lows!

I will be very interested in going for a ride when you have them installed. The ride height should be interesting as well.

Good work Makes with the suspension kit it looks good. I installed my new springs on the weekend went with low kings springs and installed front and rear in a couple of hours so that was not bad as I have done it a couple of times it looks ok only 30mm lower. Will be good to see yours when done.