Installed all of the above, an hour or two at a time, a night or two a week. Not the best way to do it, but that's what life dictated. Just making some notes to supplement what I read in other threads on some of these topics.
Eibachs: I looked at various threads on here and then just started taking things apart. I did NOT use a spring compressor at any point. One side in the rear fought me, doing the second side, I knew how to push and pry. The key that I didn't have in my head from reading, but learned by getting mad and really pushing and pulling on shit is that the rear LCA's outer connection needs to come totally out. So, push it down and pull it back to get it free. Then the spring comes right out. Otherwise, mostly followed what is documented on other threads.
Front LCA's: Straight forward. Unbolted shock, ball joint and the two bolts at the cradle/sub-frame. My one lesson learned: I wailed on the balljoint to pop it loose and as is standard practice before doing such an operation, I flushed up the nut with the end of the "bolt". First side went fine, second side I managed to deform the top thread of the nut enough that I can't reasonably put it on the new balljoint. I bought and installed Nordlocks on the cradle bolts, but specifically on the larger of the two bolts, I question the size of the Nordlock being smaller than the head of the bolt. I'm installing them this way for now, but something I'll definitely keep an eye on.
Sway bar end links: I hope I was doing something "the hard way" because the front end links were a bitch-and-a-half to get unbolted. Just tedious. I'm assuming that the nuts are deformed thread locknuts as they never spun freely until the bitter end, requiring you to constantly hold back with a 6mm hex key on the lower stud in a tight space up against the knuck. Luckily I have a set of "stubby" hex keys as the standard length wouldn't fit anywhere for me. Did I do something the hard way? Miss something obvious? Also, I'm normally pretty adamant about torquing to spec, but I can't fit a torque wrench on the lower nut and the top nut spins without something holding back on the stud, so I gave it all I could with my 21mm wrench, while holding back on the stud in both cases...and that's what they got.
Stainless Brake Lines: They were probably the most tedious part(s) to get on. I have fat fingers and working back in the tight spaces required to get the flare to hardline connections threaded tight was a pain in my ass. Taking the bracket loose on the right rear was helpful, just don't forget to have it sandwiched between your connections when you connect the new lines. I had two adapters leftover when I was done. Hopefully that's right. Needed adapters up front to get Goodrich thread to mate to Cadillac threads, rears matched with no adapter needed. None of the lines felt totally "right" and I'm overall not impressed with the Goodrich kit. As discussed in another thread, they're just half a notch too generic and feels like they did as little as possible to make a workable product for the car.
Bleeding brakes tonight, alignment next week. Anyone have proven alignment specs for sedan with stock wheels/tire sizes and eibachs? Any thoughts or comments on above. Always like to learn from others or help where I can.
Eibachs: I looked at various threads on here and then just started taking things apart. I did NOT use a spring compressor at any point. One side in the rear fought me, doing the second side, I knew how to push and pry. The key that I didn't have in my head from reading, but learned by getting mad and really pushing and pulling on shit is that the rear LCA's outer connection needs to come totally out. So, push it down and pull it back to get it free. Then the spring comes right out. Otherwise, mostly followed what is documented on other threads.
Front LCA's: Straight forward. Unbolted shock, ball joint and the two bolts at the cradle/sub-frame. My one lesson learned: I wailed on the balljoint to pop it loose and as is standard practice before doing such an operation, I flushed up the nut with the end of the "bolt". First side went fine, second side I managed to deform the top thread of the nut enough that I can't reasonably put it on the new balljoint. I bought and installed Nordlocks on the cradle bolts, but specifically on the larger of the two bolts, I question the size of the Nordlock being smaller than the head of the bolt. I'm installing them this way for now, but something I'll definitely keep an eye on.
Sway bar end links: I hope I was doing something "the hard way" because the front end links were a bitch-and-a-half to get unbolted. Just tedious. I'm assuming that the nuts are deformed thread locknuts as they never spun freely until the bitter end, requiring you to constantly hold back with a 6mm hex key on the lower stud in a tight space up against the knuck. Luckily I have a set of "stubby" hex keys as the standard length wouldn't fit anywhere for me. Did I do something the hard way? Miss something obvious? Also, I'm normally pretty adamant about torquing to spec, but I can't fit a torque wrench on the lower nut and the top nut spins without something holding back on the stud, so I gave it all I could with my 21mm wrench, while holding back on the stud in both cases...and that's what they got.
Stainless Brake Lines: They were probably the most tedious part(s) to get on. I have fat fingers and working back in the tight spaces required to get the flare to hardline connections threaded tight was a pain in my ass. Taking the bracket loose on the right rear was helpful, just don't forget to have it sandwiched between your connections when you connect the new lines. I had two adapters leftover when I was done. Hopefully that's right. Needed adapters up front to get Goodrich thread to mate to Cadillac threads, rears matched with no adapter needed. None of the lines felt totally "right" and I'm overall not impressed with the Goodrich kit. As discussed in another thread, they're just half a notch too generic and feels like they did as little as possible to make a workable product for the car.
Bleeding brakes tonight, alignment next week. Anyone have proven alignment specs for sedan with stock wheels/tire sizes and eibachs? Any thoughts or comments on above. Always like to learn from others or help where I can.
