Hey guys, I'm just in the process of installing my KW V2's and had a quick, simple question.

When you guys are installing them, do you take the plastic piston rod protector (hose looking thing) off the original damber and put it on the new one?

I would have thought an automatic yes to provide maximum protection for the piston rod, however the KW instructions show a picture with the V2's installed with no plastic protector. The V2's came with a small protector that sits at the base of the damper and that's all that's pictured in the KW instructions. It seems with the original proctector in place the damper loses a bit of travel. This is maybe an argument as to why one would not include it.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

BTW if anyone reading this is planning on installing their coilovers, buy a breaker bar!! I regret starting my install without one and wasting several hours prying on stuck bolts

 

i just followed the picture on my install, but just installed v3's a week ago and havnt had a chance to play around with them yet

 

ok so you didn't reuse the rubber boot protector that comes on the stock dampers?

Is a bit of your piston rod exposed then?

 

Ok so another question just arose, how on earth do you torque the piston rod nut that replaces the old one. Or for that matter how do you even tighten the nut. I'll post a pic soon here. When the nut catches the piston rod threads it just turns the whole piston rod and without getting a grip of the piston rod you can't tighten the nut any further. Suggestions??

 

Did you really Halfprice? Nice!!! Can't wait til the next time we meet and ride on those before I get them.

I hope you like em! lol

 

The nut in the center of the rubber mount is the one I can't figure out how to properly tighten.



This is the stock piston rod protector that I'm wondering whether or not should be put on the new KW damper.

 

I didn't put that piece of rubber on my V3's. I haven't seen anyone do it with the G37's or 370z's.

 

use the open end of i think was a 7mm wrench to hold the piston while using a closed end on the nut

or invest in air tools or electric impact wrench

 

Perfect thank you for the feedback.

Yeah don't really wanna buy airtools lol. I was trying to do this but I can't even get the nut down far enough to properly grip the piston rod. Then again I'm not using a spring compressor so if I had one maybe it would be alot easier Either way thanks for the advice looks like I'll keep trying with this method.

 

electric impact would be a cheaper route, as you can just plug it into your wall socket, they usually range anywhere from $50 to couple of hundreds of dollars, mine was $35 on sale at local tool store, made my install that much faster, they also make cordless ones as well but those can be $$$

 

Interesting, I may have to go check that out. Thanks!

 

Alright I just went to crappy tire and rented a spring compressor and turns out lowering the rubber mount gives just enough clearance to use a 19mm closed ended wrench on the nut and a 7mm open ended on the piston rod. Couldn't torque to spec obviously, but felt out the 26ft lb's lol.

In summary, for anyone else doing a KW coilover install, rent a spring compressor at the beginning of the install, you will need it!

 

dont use the impact tool to tighten the nut on the top of the piston.. the risk is too great if you mess up the threads.. use an open wrench to hold the piston while another open wrench to tighten the nut.
looks like you did it right. 26# is not much, doesn't have to be that tight.


as for the v3 club sports. i did not re-use stock piton covers. just installed as is from the kw out of the box. plus the clubsports come with top mounts for the front suspension..

front








rear

 

Thanks Chebosto for the pics, helped back my decision up. I ended up not re-using the stock piston covers cause it seemed pointless. Yeah that nut was awful to tighten, but a spring compressor helped a ton!

Sick suspension btw, but I know I'd end up doing more bad than good if I had adjustable compression and rebound