Suspension Installation

Today was really nice out, around 50F so I installed the rear suspension. Here is the Old and Busted:

And here is the new Hotness:

What I first had to do was the obvious, jack up the car and remove the wheel. Then I had to use another jack to compress the strut so I could install the spring compressor I rented from AutoZone. That part was tricky because the compressor could barely fit, but I did eventually get the struts and springs off. I then had to disassemble the old struts to get the Dust Cover and the top part of the strut assembly.

Using the spring compressor wasn't as scary as I originally thought. In the above picture it actually did get a little scary on the second strut when it came to decompress the springs. One of the compressors started to slip, but it caught itself.

The lower control arms on Civics have a nasty habit of freezing and busting the lower bolts. So I did not undo this bolt like the Civic Service Manual says too, but instead undid the upper bolt on the control arm and used the spring compressor and lots and shoving to get it out. It was about an hour to remove each strut, 10 minutes to build the new struts and springs and another 10 to install them. Now I have only done the rear suspension, I will do the front later on after I get my inspection this week.