Procedure
- Measure and record stock fender-to-hub heights at all four corners before touching anything - your baseline for corner-to-corner consistency.
- Remove the top hat nuts (leave one started), the sway bar end link, brake line bracket, and the two big knuckle bolts. Note the knuckle bolt orientation - some cars use a camber-adjusting eccentric.
- Drop the old strut. Never spin the center shaft nut off a compressed stock spring without a compressor fitted - the assembly is a loaded weapon.
- Set the coilovers per the manufacturer's baseline: spring seat to the recommended preload (usually zero to a few mm), then ride height via the lower bracket, NOT by cranking spring preload.
- Install, torque knuckle bolts to their big spec, top hats to spec, and reconnect lines and links. Brake line brackets matter - a stretched line at full droop is a brake failure.
- Set all four heights with the car on the ground, rolled back and forth to settle - measure hub-to-fender, aim within 2-3mm side to side.
- Alignment shop instructions: give them target camber and toe numbers for your use (a mild street GD setup is around -1.5 front camber, zero front toe, slight rear toe-in). 'Factory spec' on coilovers wastes the hardware.
Work at your own risk. Torque values and procedures vary by vehicle — always confirm against the factory service manual for your exact model.