[omg grip]

For some this may be pretty straightforward, and even more so with the free shop manual on the HMA Service website. But I saw we didnt have a DIY for this yet in the "Accent 3G Document Library" and I thought I would put one together with actual photos.

I compiled the necessary info from HMA Service into a PDF and it is attached to this post.


This install took me 3 hours, with just hand tools. Car is a 2009 Accent SE. This was my first time attempting a spring install on any vehicle and other than having to use some strength a few times it was easy.

I did the fronts first to get the hard part out of the way. On the first strut I more or less followed what HMA Service reccomended as the procedure to remove the struts, but here is my "modified" procedure where I will point out what I did differently to help the uninstall/install go much quicker and smoother.

 

[omg grip]

FRONT SPRINGS


Safely get both front wheels off the ground and the car supported on jack stands, and remove your front wheels.

Remove the bolts securing the speed sensor and brake line brackets to the strut. 2-10mm bolts for the speed sensor line, and 1-12mm bolt for the brake line. Step 4 on the HMA Service printout indicates also removing the speed sensor from the hub assembly. It is stuck in there pretty good, I found it is not necessary to remove it. Also, remove the top nut for the sway bar end link and swing the end link out of the way.

This is where I deviate a little from the HMA Service instructions. At this point, you will be making things a lot easier on yourself in a few minutes if you loosen up some bolts in advance. First, loosen (but do not remove!) the 2 lower strut mounting bolts (17mm I think). This may take a little muscle. Its easier to do this now when the strut is still bolted tight up top and not moving around.

Loosen the self locking nut on top of the strut (19mm), you can back it off to where the top of the nut is even with the end of the threads, but do not remove it yet. See what I mean in the picture below...


Now, take your floor jack, and raise it up to where it is supporting the base of the spindle where it attaches to the lower control arm. Just a little support.

Now remove your 3 upper strut mounting nuts. They are 12mm. Since you are supporting the strut, it shouldnt just drop. You can also remove the 2 lower bolts at this time. It may help to lower the strut just a little, but I found it easiest to work with the lower bolts when the 3 bolts on the upper insulator plate were still sticking through the strut tower and keeping the strut in place.

With all bolts removed, lower your jack and roll it out of the way. Since your speed sensor may still be mounted, and there's a brake line there, obviously be careful removing the strut. Swing the lower end towards the front of the car, and swing the top towards the rear and swing it out leaning it back towards the door. Be careful not to ding the paint on your fender. Sorry, no pic, my hands were full.


For the sake of safety, compress your stock springs until the nut and spring seat are loose. If you loosened the top nut a little already, you won't have to compress them as far until its loose. If you decide to just take off the top nut without spring compressors, which some people do, at least point it away from items you don't want damaged, and also where you can see where the nut goes if it shoots off. It would suck to lose that nut.

Since you are installing lowering springs, I found it wasn't necessary to compress the new springs to reassemble the struts. Your springs may vary. Pay attention to how the ends of the springs sit in the insulators. There is a notch where the end of the springs should sit. Don't worry about torquing the top nut until after you reinstall the struts, just make sure it is threaded well.

Carefully reinsert the struts the same way you removed them before, being careful not to nick your paint or get the strut caught up in the speed sensor or brake lines. Insert 1 of the lower bolts just to hold the strut in place.

Notice how the top plate for the shock is offset. Consult the HMA Service guide for your car. On a car with power steering (which my car is), the locking nut should be more towards the back of the car. Try and get the top bolts lined up with the holes in the strut tower. Use your floor jack to slowly raise the top plate bolts into the strut tower properly.

Commence installing all the nuts and bolts to mount the strut using factory torque specifications. ****This would be a great time to install a set of camber bolts. A camber bolt will replace one of the OEM lower bolts**** You will likely need them anyway when you take your car in for the necessary post-install alignment.

Once the strut is installed, torque down the self locking nut on the top of the strut. Reconnect your sway bar end link, and reinstall the brackets for your speed sensor and brake lines. Congratulations, You have completed 1 strut. Now the other side should be twice as easy for you.

 

[omg grip]

REAR SPRINGS


These are super easy. You do them both at the same time. Put the rear up on jack stands and remove the wheels. It is probably a good idea to chock your front tire(s).

This is a step I thought I could skip over, but you can't. Remove the brackets for the rear brake lines and speed sensors from the rear beam. Do this for both sides. If you do not do this, the rear beam will not drop enough for you to remove your springs, and place unwanted tension on your brake lines.

Remove the lower bolts for the shocks. You may have to lift each side slightly under the spring with a floor jack to release any tension on the shock so you can wiggle the bolts out. When both bolts are removed you can lower your jack and you should be able to remove the springs by hand, they should already be falling out. Oops, no pic here.

Reuse the rubber spring seats from your stock springs on your lowering springs. They slip right on, ensure you thread the top one on all the way

Reinstall the springs, I don't think it really matters which way they sit as long as they have the seats on correctly. Raise the rear beam back up slowly with the floor jack while installing to ensure the springs seat correctly.

Reinstall and torque the lower shock bolts to spec. Reinstall the brackets for the brake lines and speed sensors. Thats it, you're done!

 

[graham.webb89]

Hey man, great step-by step! I'm wondering if you have any before and after pics of your car because I'm considering doing this but I would like to see what it looks like when it's back on the ground. As well, do you notice any difference in handling? Thanks :thumbsup:

 

[omg grip]

if you skim through my build thread, there are a number of before and after pics.

it rides good, its a little rougher over bumpy pavement but thatll happen when you lower a car. Its been about 15k miles or so since the install and they still feel nice.

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/t46951-omg-g...ross-thread.htm

 

[bland]

Installed mine last week and want to say thanks for the build thread. Covered everything.

Only issue is the front end is noisy now. Makes like a rubber squshing sound when I turn and go over bumps slowly. I'll take the front end apart again this weekend to make sure I put everything together properly.

 

[bland]

Reading around people are saying its the bump stops, (which are in the strut boots) which would also explain why the front end seems to be very stiff. I'll cut a nub off this weekend when I take them apart again.

 

[bland]

Can't modify my other posts.

Are there bump stops in the rear also? I'll check how much travel there is, but I might cut a nub off those also. I have the canadian base model, so it had the softest suspension.

 

[omg grip]

bland, i have heard of others trimming the bump stops and no more squeaking. Post up if it fixes your issue. Mine sqeaks too only while turning at low speeds and I never trimmed mine.

I have even heard of lowering springs that come with instructions that tell you to trim the bump stops a little bit.

I would not bother with the rear shocks. I dont think they are anywhere close to hitting the bump stops. Even with my car completely loaded down for a road trip I have never heard any noises from the rear of the car.

 

[bland]

I don't have any noise in the rear, but it only has about a inch or 2 of travel. It hits them a lot since I have about 100lbs in the back all the time. Will post results after the weekend.

 

[naveddunn]

would removing the isolators lower it more?? but what effects would it have not having them?

 

[bland]

Going to add to this thread to talk all about bumpstops.

Once the front shocks were removed and taken apart I noticed the boot was not as extended as before I installed the springs. I also noticed on the strut there was a mark in the dust showing that the boot was resting on the bottom of the strut. When I put the boot on loosely to the bottom, it is sitting on the bump stop. So I had no front suspension travel. The bump stop is inside the boot.

I wanted to remove about 1 inch, which is the 2 lower nubs on the bump stop. It is not removable, so I bent the boot to the side and cut around it with a knife.

Fronts are done. Reassemble and enjoy the new suspension travel. On to the rear.

The rear bump stops are also part of the boot, but the are mounted on the upper part on the outside, and thay are loose. With the car sitting on the ground reach in there and try to move the boot up and down. I was bearly able to move mine, so the rear was sitting on the stops also.

Support the rear axle (or whatever its called) since we don’t want the springs to come out. Were just removing the strut. Undo the bottom bolt and the 2 top bolts.

Undo the top nut and take the top parts off to access the boot. You’ll have to stop the strut from spinning as you remove the nut.

Once out you can just pull and twist the bumpstop off the plastic boot. I wanted to remove 1 inch in the back also, so that is the 1 num that was sitting inside the boot.

Once the nub is removed you will need to trim down the next nub to get it back in the boot. I used a pair of pliers to help push the nub back in.

All done. Reassemble and enjoy the smooth ride once again. My suspension doesn’t make any more of the rubber on rubber sounds it made before when going over bumps slowly and also turning at slow speeds.

 

[omg grip]

Good info and writeup. Ill probably do this to mine at some point.

 

[Gir92]

OMG GRIP, two of your pics are not working for the rear springs.

 

[Geekdragon]

OMG GRIP, two of your pics are not working for the rear springs.

Those pics were down when I tackled my lowering springs a little while ago, and the good news is that you should be able to carry on without them. The back springs were very straighforward.

Granted, that was probably for the best, since I did manage to pop the driver's side axle shaft out of the transmission while doing the fronts. Then waited three days for the dealer to get me a new retainer clip. So the experience balanced out.

 

[omg grip]

Uh oh. Right now none of the images are working for me. I would attempt to edit the posts to fix them, but hyundai-forums is retarded and gives you approximately a 5 minute window to edit your post after its been posted.

here is a link to my imageshack account. on the right i created a tag "accentspringinstall"

http://imageshack.us/homepage/?user=bairdvanner

click on that to access all the images, they show up backwards, so go to page 2 and work your way back from the last image to the first

 

[Gir92]

Those pics were down when I tackled my lowering springs a little while ago, and the good news is that you should be able to carry on without them. The back springs were very straighforward.

Granted, that was probably for the best, since I did manage to pop the driver's side axle shaft out of the transmission while doing the fronts. Then waited three days for the dealer to get me a new retainer clip. So the experience balanced out.

Ouch! How did you do that? I'd like to know what to avoid when I'm doing mine.

Uh oh. Right now none of the images are working for me. I would attempt to edit the posts to fix them, but hyundai-forums is retarded and gives you approximately a 5 minute window to edit your post after its been posted.

here is a link to my imageshack account. on the right i created a tag "accentspringinstall"

ImageShack® - bairdvanner's Profile Page

click on that to access all the images, they show up backwards, so go to page 2 and work your way back from the last image to the first

Thank you!

 

[Geekdragon]

Ouch! How did you do that? I'd like to know what to avoid when I'm doing mine.!

You're supposed to use a compressor on the front springs before removing the top self-locking nut on the strut assembly. This article mentions that you can skip the compressor if you pay careful attention to where the nut goes when it takes off flying.

I thought I was pretty smart when I skipped all that business and let the spring expand while it was still on the car and it had nowhere to go. I actually had no problems getting the strut assembly out after doing this. However I had removed the top big knuckle bolt first, and this allowed the whole hub to shift outward, yanking out the driveshaft.