HalV

My backordered KW V3s arrived just in time for Father's Day (whoohoo!). Any tips on the install and initial setup? Do I need any special tools to get the job done? Can I reuse all the nuts and bolts or do I need to make a quick Pelican order?

Thanks!

FeralComprehension

Some of the suspension fasteners are one time use; IIRC the ones at the front lower strut mount may be like this. I got new ones from McMaster Carr instead of P-parts.

Have plenty of anti-sieze on hand, and make sure to support the rear arms when you take the old dampers off.

I found that to get legit ride height measurements post-install it was helpful to have platforms made of doubled-up sections of 2x12 under each wheel; it was simply too low to measure otherwise.

jack.pe

Check the shock mounts are not too worn, mine were fine but some people change theirs at the same time.

Also careful with the little plastic fasteners for wires and so on at the front, they are pretty delicate, can be reused but i ended up cutting out the metal flanges they were mounted on so I could push the pins out and reuse them..

Vegas993

The brake hard lines can bend and break pretty easy, definitely load them up with anti seize before trying to loosen them.

Vandit

Having a thin and curved set of needle nose pliers goes a long way toward transferring the plastic hardware from the old struts to the new struts.

All those plastic pieces have a cylinder-like push pin through the center that locks them in place. Use the pliers to push out the pin a bit and the pieces come of easily.


If this is the first time the lower rear shock bolts have been removed, be sure to prepare for the tightest bolts of your life.

RicardoD

I remember I went to a shop to loosen the lower rear shock bolts then tighten it again. Shop went through three progressively bigger impact guns before it broke free.

SuperUser

I too had to have a local gas station free up the rear bolts.

Vandit

My 340ft/lb electric impact was able to loosen one of them, but the other wouldn't budge even after like 10mins of sitting on it w/ the impact. I ended up putting the breaker bar on the fastener, put the floor jack under the breaker bar handle, then I firmly held the socket on the fastener while my wife slowly started to raise the jack. That finally got it loose.

HalV

Thanks for the tips! This is all good info but it's making me a bit nervous!

HalV

Good tip! I'll need to remember this one!

RicardoD

HalV,

It cost me $20 to get a local shop to do this for me. Just have them loosen it, then tighten back up, but not too much, then gently drive home. I can't remember the full torque spec but you will want to do that upon re-install. Don't use breaker bars, and jacks, etc, if you can avoid it (Kudos to Vandit for making that work).

Vandit

Torque spec on those is 147ft/lbs.

HalV

I'll try to break it loose before messing with the top end. If not, I'll run to a nearby garage. I've got a good high end torque wrench that will work for torquing to 147 ft/lbs.

PChar

Halv, read here maybe a bit of help:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=93081

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=93081

On the second tread start on page 3 at post 45, this may be helful. You will also need this tool:

HalV

Thanks! This is useful info. I was hoping to avoid that tool, but it looks like I need to reuse the front hat(if that's the correct term). I assume I don't need to disassemble the KW strut to where I need a spring compressor? How does the Hat fasten to the new purple perch?