hi fitfreak folk. i had swift springs put on my old fit at a shop. it cost me more than what i payed for the springs. i read the DIY here on lowering and after reading about folks having their axles pop out, and what a royal pain it was to get it back in i chickened out. that and the fact i didnt have a floor jack or jack stands or spring compressors.
two years later, equipped with a new honda fit, jack stands, and a floor jack and after reading the DIY tut over and over and studying i am going go try and do the swift spring install myself this time.
theres one thing im still a little nervous on though, and thats the axle popping out. i know to put the floor jack right under the lower control arm to hold it in place while i remove the strut, but i also here people using a bungee cord yo hold it in place. my question is, exactly where would you attach the bungee cord? the outside of the control arm to somewhere on the inside so it doesn't swing open? also how much slack do i have before i can expect the axle to come out? i want to do this mod myself so bad im just a little nervous about muffing it up.

im gracious for any help given.

 

Hmm, it's been about 4 years since I lowered mine. I remember using bungee cord to attach from the unibody to to the lug studs and back to the unibody to keep pressure on the hub.

 

I installed mine about a month ago. I also read the tutorial and knew about the axle problem, so I came prepared with bungees and jack stands. I was also pairing the Swift Springs with some Tokico HTS Shocks. Since it was my first time doing suspension by myself (+ a friend) we ran into some problems here and there. We supported the brake assembly with bungees AND jack stands, but to get the strut out you have to remove the jack stand from under so that you can maneuver it. Needless to say we popped the axle out. Members in the old posts kept saying "Don't panic" and "be patient." They also said that they had success by hand turning the axle so that the gears line up. Yeah, I couldn't do any of that. It took us about an hour or two to get it back in. We just held the brake rotor with two hands and kept shimmying it until it went in. The drivers side took us 5 hours to do because of that. When we moved to the passenger side we took a different approach and it only took us 30 minutes! So here's the secret tip.

-Don't use bungees or jack stands. Instead, use a floor jack under the brake assembly. That way you can raise it or lower it as needed. This was super helpful when realigning the bottom of the strut to the mount.

-Another hard part was getting the end links to realign. Here's what we did. We put in the top end. I had to step on the front sway bar to bring it down low enough so that my friend could get the bolt to align with the bottom.

I would recommend having a second hand for the front struts. It helps a lot, esp for a first timer. The rear shocks I did by myself. It took about 2 hours to do one side because I'm slow and I was figuring things out as I went. But again, it took only 30 min for me to do the other.

Good luck!

 

I had mine done at my Dodge Dealer. One of the sons of owner is car enthusiast and did them. Only $96. I warned him about the axles. When the car was up onthe hoist he put another jack under the hub/disc to support them. No problem. I was out of there in about 1 1/2 hrs.

Good luck.

 

wow! thank you soooo much for your reply's! i appreciate it tremendously. next round is on me. i am confident i can do this job. now all i need is a second set of hands.

 

one more question. since the swift sport springs are a relatively mild drop, is it really necessary to cut the bump stops, or can i just leave them alone?

 

Leave alone.

 

fantastic, one less step. i can not wait to put these sick puppies on my Fit.

 

um, one more question for everyone if i may. i found this youtube video of a guy showing how to replace the strut on a 2004 honda. it not a Fit but similar. in the video i see how hes really manuevering the brake assembly around all over the place and wasnt having the axle pop out.
i was worried that i would barley be anle to move the assembly a few inches at most without the axle popping out but i think i have a lot more slack than i originally thought. as long as i have a floor jack supporting the assembly with the aid of bungees as well i really dont think i will have a problem with the axle popping out. also, is it better to have both front tires raised when doing this?

thanks.

 

Where in az u from. Im in gilbert if u need help.

 

We used a kayak strap to hold mine in place. The floor jack was use to help hold it in place until we were able to strap it. There is at least one good tying place you can loop something through in there.