Eibach rear spring slipped off the top.

[nis350]

I noticed that one of the rear Eibach springs has slipped off the top tower plate and seated crooked. There is a piece of rubber ring between the top of the spring and the struct tower plate, and it also got pushed off the plate. I guess this rubber ring is from Eibach and not stock?? Any idea?

Looks like the spring was not seated properly when installed or it just slipped off sometimes ago. I bought the car with the springs.

I am thinking about getting a spring compressor to clamp down the spring and re-seat that rubber ring.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

The rubber ring is a stock part. There is an impression in the ring that matches the top spring coil pattern. Orientation is important for the top perch so the spring seats correctly, which is probably why it is hanging out. I would suggest having the strut removed and the spring reinstalled per the service manual. I would say about 1 hour labor would do it.

I have had these on my car for 5 years with no issues (well they do sag a little, but not a big deal)

HTH,
LarryB

 

[nis350]

The rubber ring is a stock part. There is an impression in the ring that matches the top spring coil pattern. Orientation is important for the top perch so the spring seats correctly, which is probably why it is hanging out. I would suggest having the strut removed and the spring reinstalled per the service manual. I would say about 1 hour labor would do it.

I have had these on my car for 5 years with no issues (well they do sag a little, but not a big deal)

HTH,
LarryB

HI Larry,

Would I be able to clamp down a couple of coils with a spring compressor and reseat the rubber ring? The top of the spring is not seated properly, it actually slipped toward the inside of the car. I guess the pressure and the struct is holding it in place. I suspect that the spring has been slipped off for quite some time. Would that damage anything?

Thanks.

 

[titaniumdave]

I have Eibach springs on my car. They are short enough when I have the car up on jack stands, the rear springs are loose on the spring perches on my Koni shocks on the rear. I have mine zip tied so they don't pop out.

You might be able to jack the back end up and pull down on the suspension to take all the slack out and re-position the rubber liner. If not, the strut is pretty easy to remove and you won't need a spring compressor to get them apart. Just be careful putting them back together. I was able to assemble all the parts on mine, press down on the top plate and start the nut on the shaft with only my body weight.

 

[nis350]

I have Eibach springs on my car. They are short enough when I have the car up on jack stands, the rear springs are loose on the spring perches on my Koni shocks on the rear. I have mine zip tied so they don't pop out.

You might be able to jack the back end up and pull down on the suspension to take all the slack out and re-position the rubber liner. If not, the strut is pretty easy to remove and you won't need a spring compressor to get them apart. Just be careful putting them back together. I was able to assemble all the parts on mine, press down on the top plate and start the nut on the shaft with only my body weight.

I was able to move the rubber and the spring back in place after I clamped it down a couple of inches and loosen the sway bar. The spring was still quite tight on the top even with that. It seems to made the car higher now, but I am not too sure.

Is it normal to have the Eibach springs slipped off the top? After tightened the sway bar, the spring does not move when the car is jacked up. Would you explain about the zip tie? Does it prevent it from slipping off the top?

Does your car have the even height on the L & R front and L & R rear? My car's L rear is about 1/4 in. higher than R rear, but the L Fr. is about 1/8 in. lower than the R fr.???

 

[titaniumdave]

No, it is not normal to have the springs slip at all. The spring mounting rubber should be a tight fit between the damper mounting base and the damper spring. You should need to press these together with some force. If rubber is cracked or damaged this could account for the spring falling out and being out of position and could acount for the car not being level. The mounting rubber is part of what makes up the total height of the srping, so all 4 need to be installed and in good condition.

The way to check the height of the car is show on page 18-6 in the wheel aligment section. This is the only way to check. The clearance above the tires in the wheel wells can look off, but the distance is dependant on spring height, having no pre-load twist from a bent sway bar, and wheel alignment. If the camber is off different from side to side the wheel clearance differences will off. Do some measuring and I would suggest getting the car aligned, I just had mine done this week just to check, and I was surprised how far it was off. The car looks more level and has much better balance on the road.

The zip ties hold the bottom of the spring on the spring perch, which is mounted on the damper. There are holes in my perches which makes this easy to do.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

This was why I recommended removal of the strut. I am thinking the strut and top cap are not oriented properly, this is why it is not seated correctly. Page 18-42 in the on-line service manual describes how to orient the top cap with the lower mounting bolt.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[nis350]

No, it is not normal to have the springs slip at all. The spring mounting rubber should be a tight fit between the damper mounting base and the damper spring. You should need to press these together with some force. If rubber is cracked or damaged this could account for the spring falling out and being out of position and could acount for the car not being level. The mounting rubber is part of what makes up the total height of the srping, so all 4 need to be installed and in good condition.

Thank you all for the suggestions.

By the way, how many fingers can you put through the gaps between the fenders and tires on your Eibach (front and back)?

What size of tires do you have?

Thanks.

 

[Bart Geerts]

Now that we're talking about the eibach - koni combination : Mine tend to rattle when driving over an uneven surface. I took this as being normal because the eibachs needn't to be compressed when installing. So the spring is loose when the strut is 'out'. Can anyone affirm this? thx.

 

[nis350]

Now that we're talking about the eibach - koni combination : Mine tend to rattle when driving over an uneven surface. I took this as being normal because the eibachs needn't to be compressed when installing. So the spring is loose when the strut is 'out'. Can anyone affirm this? thx.

I guess the KONI may be a longer struct so when the car is jacked up, there is enough room for the Eibach to loosen up, just my guess because my eibach springs are compressed and can't be move or turn when the car is jacked up. I have stock structs.

However, the springs are compressed under normal driving condition. Something is really wrong if your springs are loose....

Have you checked to see if your springs are seating properly? One of my rear springs slipped off the top mount.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

When you install the Koni's you must transfer the lower perch from the stock shock to the Koni. The Koni is slightly smaller in diameter, so the lower perch is loose. When I install these I use a small amount of electrical tape to build the diameter up just where the perch mounts (above the welded ring). This keeps them quiet. But...This also means you must orient the perch correctly since it will not spin anymore. You have to compare it to the stock perch position and match it.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[nis350]

When you install the Koni's you must transfer the lower perch from the stock shock to the Koni. The Koni is slightly smaller in diameter, so the lower perch is loose. When I install these I use a small amount of electrical tape to build the diameter up just where the perch mounts (above the welded ring). This keeps them quiet. But...This also means you must orient the perch correctly since it will not spin anymore. You have to compare it to the stock perch position and match it.

HTH,
LarryB

I am sorry that I am not too good with the terminology. What is exactly is a perch?

 

[Larry Bastanza]

It is the piece that the srping sit on at the bottom.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[titaniumdave]

nis350,
I am running 215/40-17 and 255/40-17 tires, I have just a hair over 1 finger clearence to the fender well. I am running 7mm spacers under the front spring perches to even out the appearance.

When I installed may spacers, I put a bead of silicone glue on the damper body under the spacer and perches. This filled the that space where they can rattle about. There was no need to align the perches beacuse the springs can rotate on the top.

 

[nis350]

nis350,
I am running 215/40-17 and 255/40-17 tires, I have just a hair over 1 finger clearence to the fender well. I am running 7mm spacers under the front spring perches to even out the appearance.

When I installed may spacers, I put a bead of silicone glue on the damper body under the spacer and perches. This filled the that space where they can rattle about. There was no need to align the perches beacuse the springs can rotate on the top.

I have driven the car for a couple of days now. I re-measured it again last night and the height seems to be even out now.

My tires sizes are 215/40/17 and 255/35/18, I have about 1 1/2 fingers gap on the front about 2 1/2 fingers gap on the back. Your car must be sitting really low. I scrape the front on most of the driveways...

Does that 7mm spacer make the front higher?

From what I saw on the rear springs, I don't think the spring rotate on the top because there is a notch on the lower perch that prevents the spring from rotating. I don't know if the spring in completely flat on the top, but I can tell that it is not on the bottom. The end of the spring on the bottom is lower and goes into that notch on the perch. Am I correct?

 

[titaniumdave]

The tops of the springs are flat and can rotate into different positions. The bottom does indeed have a pigtail end which locates in the perch.

The spacers will raise the front end by about 10mm. I made a spare set if you want to try some, I got tired of bolting my air dam back on.

 

[nis350]

The tops of the springs are flat and can rotate into different positions. The bottom does indeed have a pigtail end which locates in the perch.

The spacers will raise the front end by about 10mm. I made a spare set if you want to try some, I got tired of bolting my air dam back on.

Thanks. How do you install the spacers on the front? Do I need to remove the structs or springs?

 

[titaniumdave]

You need to remove the dampers from the car, take the springs off the dampers, glue the spacers under the perches and re-assemble the whole mess. The second time I did this it took about 1.5 hours for both sides. Once you are done with the install, I would also recommend having the alignment done on the car. Changing the ride height will change all the settings.

 

[nis350]

You need to remove the dampers from the car, take the springs off the dampers, glue the spacers under the perches and re-assemble the whole mess. The second time I did this it took about 1.5 hours for both sides. Once you are done with the install, I would also recommend having the alignment done on the car. Changing the ride height will change all the settings.

I guess I just deal with the low clearance. I will not able to install them. Thanks for offering.