# Sticky  KYB-AGX Strut and RS-R Install



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Well All the Parts are finally Here.
KYB Dust Boots PArt Number SB103 X2 17.88 Each 
KYB Strut Mount Kit(front) Part # SM5101 59.98 Each
KYB Strut Mount KIt (Rear) Part #SM5154 9.98 Each
Above from PartsAmerica.com

*KYB-AGX Shocks and Struts $349. With Shipping From* Performance_parts_store on Ebay My only Ebay Purchase
Right Front 733006
Left Front 733007
Right Rear 741017
Left Rear 741017
RS-R Race Springs From www.sportcompactonly.com
1989-1994 Nissan 240SX (drop: front 1.4", rear 1.2")(279lbFront 251lbRear)
Part#: 35-N010 $180.63









Just a little Quick measurement before removal and Install...Or as My wife said "couldnt find your tape measure?"


Tools Needed for this Install
1. Wheel Chalks
2. Jack(Floor Jack Prefered) and Jack stands
3. 21mm 14mm Sockets or Wrenches...and 17mm you will need two of these either sockets or Wrenches. A complete set 1/2inch will help greatly
4. Spring Compressors(DO NOT DO THIS WITH OUT YOU COULD GET HURT)
5. Sea Foam/WD-40 or some other penetrating oil. 










Optional Tools
1. Air Compressor
2. Impact Gun (If I haddent had this I would not have been able to get these bolts out)
3. Impact Sockets

PREPING THE CAR FOR LIFTING THE FRONT

1. Chalk the Rear Wheels. I use 2 chalks per wheel.One in the front and the rear of the tire .Since my Drive way slopes a bit. this way the car doesnt roll back or forward when brought back down. Also When I am doing the front I put the Emergency Brake on.








Yes those are Stock Nissan Wheel chalks....found them in bubble wrap in my trunk

2. Use a Floor Jack and lift the car from the frame and place a jack stand under the frame Lowering the car slowly onto the Jack Stand. And remove the wheel. You can see that the dust boot is toast.
























Here you can see the Lower bolts that have been covered with the penetrating liquid. And Ready to be removed. Use a 17mm Socket(This is where the impact wrench comes in handy)


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

*GOT Logged Off due to one of my dogs or Kids

After removing one of the 2 bolts on the lower part of the strut. Unclip the Brake line from the strut or when you remove the 2nd bolt it will pull on the line could cause a break. 
















In the upper right hand corner of this pic you can see the brake line clip and also the grove on the strut that it goes in.
Now Unbolt the top of the Strut.(Do Not Remove the center nut Until you have a spring compressor on the spring.)








Remove the Strut
















Use the spring compressors to compress the spring before removing the shaft nut.








Remove the center nut when the Strut Mount Spins.








Make sure you dont lose this tab it allows you to tighten the strut nut. 









Working on Storing the rest of the Pictures. Will post the rest soon


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Now uncompressing the spring Take it slowly and do each side a little at a time. 








Once one of the spring compressors is loose it becomes a little harder. Now remove the last compressor. 2 people is better but you can do it with one. PLace your foot on the top of the spring and push down while removing it.
















Now that the spring and strut and spring perch(top Part of the Strut assembly under the Strut Mount) are all separated. I took the perch and cleaned it. This part will be reused and you dont want a dirty part with all the clean ones going in. SO Now onto reassembly....Starting this morning Will post pictures tomorrow morning.


----------



## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

Good write-up. I lost my spring compressors, so I used a cutoff wheel and cut my springs in half to remove the top mounts.  A little dangerous maybe; btu if done properly, no less so than AutoZone spring compressors IMO.

-Andy


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Thanks I have more see below.....The "car Place" Spring Compressors are good as long as you know what your looking for and can judge. 

Looking at the actual difference between the old springs and new springs.


Time to install the new Springs Struts and Dust boots
















With the front struts I had to press the springs down with my body(Thanks to my wife for taking this picture)to get the spring compressor on. As it was with removal just compress the spring and tighten the nut. And Remove the Spring Compressors. Here is the strut installed. I put the setting on #2 to start with.
[


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Now the rear....
THe Removal of the rear is much like the front. Just less bolts. The bottom 17mm bolt on the shocks needs to be hit with some penetrating liquid. Once again an impact wrench is good to have for this.
Here is the shock out of the car.








Looking at the bottom loop of the shock you see how dry the rubber is around it. These Shocks were so shot that the liquid was dripping from them as I Took off the center nut.
















The wheel will hang loose and be ok till you get the new shock in place. Here you can look over your drive shaft and dust boots on the shafts.








And as with the front Struts you will need to compress these springs to get the nuts off of the perch.









INSTALLING THE REAR
Looking over the difference between the Old Springs and the new ones. 
















Installing the rear is just like the front. Place the new boot onto the shock and secure. Then Compress the spring to get the top attached. Remove the spring compressor. Put the top part of the assembly up into the car. If you want to be able to adjust the shock with out removing the wheels then put the adjustment knob towards the inside.








Use the jack to help compress the spring assembly and get it over the bottom bolt. see above picture. I started with the setting of 6 0f 8.









And what it looks like all together


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

*UPDATE On Settup*

Well I have had my suspension setup for 2 days now. Currently I have the front at 2 of 4 set points. And the rear 6 of 8. It is a very good setup if it isnt raining. I currently have Michelin performance all Weather 195 60 R15. My back end is a little to stiff for this. Allot of Slipping even with my LSD . Anyone else have these KYB-AGX settings or could suggest others?


----------



## xs04298 (Oct 28, 2005)

Great writeup, i'd like to get shocks like that, sans the lowering springs, that'll come in usefull someday


----------



## 240on430 (May 3, 2005)

great post!

i just have tein springs on oem struts. it suprisingly rides ok. i don't race competitively so im good. it was well worth the $150 shipped.

did you consider the basic tein kit for around $700?


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Thanks I enjoyed writing it. And when I do my KA-T install Ill be doing the same thing. As for the Tein Springs not as stiff as I wanted with out having them compressed then you loose the travel of your Struts/Shocks. I love this setup. I ran a twisting course (parking Lot) against a 05 350 stock. My times was 10 seconds better same course a week before I was 25seconds slower. So I know it made a difference. (Might have been my back shocks were blown)I am still at setting of 2 of 4 in the front and 6 of 8 in the back.


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

UPDATE: After two months and 40degrees in temp changes since i installed these. The rear Shocks are really almost too much. I loose traction at a moments notice. Temp here in Austin for the past week is 100. So for drift practicing it works great at a setting of 6 of 8 very stiff...But for normal driving a setting of 4 is just perfect. No tail sliding on the off ramps on the freeway...Not fun when not trying with no coffee cup holders....I will try an 8 later this weekend for a little drift action. ......Some people may have not noticed this if they drive there car all the time...as for me i just got back from a 30 day trip(no it wasnt to county lock up for street racing) And the difference in the cars attitude was very different. Over all I still love the setup and still holds the road really well even in a full drift....


----------



## bridrive55 (Aug 26, 2004)

Excellent post brother. Do you have problems with wheel hop during a launch? What's the best setting for a hard launch?


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Thanks.....As for the questions.....So far no wheel hop to speak of but then again its an auto and i havent done a full rev and drop into drive. .. When i power brake with my LSD a little hop on or two at the start but not bad I can go into a full tire burn and stays solid no hop. I am going to try to get some vid up soon. of an auto vlsd tire burn. 


Even when I jump on it and do spin the rear I havent had any hop. So as for setting in the rear start in the middle 4 or 5 of the 8 and work from there...


----------



## Dustin (Dec 14, 2003)

bridrive55 said:


> Excellent post brother. Do you have problems with wheel hop during a launch? What's the best setting for a hard launch?


sorry to bump an old thread, but brian, you want to go FULL soft in the rear for a drag launch. leave the fronts alone, unless you're worried that the rear will lift too much during shifting, then stiffen them up.


----------



## landon42390 (Jul 14, 2006)

*240sx meet in MN, Brooklyn center, pepboys.*

10/08/2006 5:00pm


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Just an update...Setup still is strong and running a setting of 8 in the rear was really good during the summer since the tires have a little more stick. Now that the weather has gotten colder going down to a 6 setting. As for the 4 setting in the front made for a really hard ride over bumps, down to a 2 now. Also checked all bolts and connections about 3 months ago and found the front strut bolts had come loose Just had to re torque them.


----------



## 180hero (Apr 23, 2007)

hmm... i was debating between a shock-spring set up or adjustable coilovers.... is driving regular predictable?? it seems like u slide in the back still... and how much was ur set-up??


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

180hero said:


> hmm... i was debating between a shock-spring set up or adjustable coilovers.... is driving regular predictable?? it seems like u slide in the back still... and how much was ur set-up??



Setup was under 800. And yes the driving regular is very predictable. If I want ti to get loose I can if I am hard in a corner it stays stuck. Most of the slipping I was feeling was due to hard tire compound and cold temps. I have a softer compound set of tires for the colder weather better grip.


----------



## 240wrx (Nov 21, 2006)

Great writeup. I put AGX's and Tein S-Techs on my S14 last winter. Like you, the rear is still a little loose. I was thinking a new set of sways would keep the traction a little better. have you done anything besides sruts/springs?


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Thanks. I am Working on a Turbo setup. but suspension wise I havent yet. Considering doing solid bushings on the rear and seeing how that does. I am thinking that will help with the loose rear. Ill keep this upto date if I do. Or like you maybe a new sway bar.


----------



## MR. KA (Aug 17, 2007)

Trippen said:


> Thanks. I am Working on a Turbo setup. but suspension wise I havent yet. Considering doing solid bushings on the rear and seeing how that does. I am thinking that will help with the loose rear. Ill keep this upto date if I do. Or like you maybe a new sway bar.


your turbo manifold...did you use a jgs or make your own???


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

I have 2 one is an unknow bought it off of someone on KA-t.org. the other is a nizzx. Once I get back from Germany I am finally taking some vacation to build on it. And figure which one works better


----------



## safira218 (Feb 24, 2011)

Trippen said:


> Well I have had my suspension setup for 2 days now. Currently I have the front at 2 of 4 set points. And the rear 6 of 8. It is a very good setup if it isnt raining. I currently have Michelin performance all Weather 195 60 R15. My back end is a little to stiff for this. Allot of Slipping even with my LSD . Anyone else have these KYB-AGX settings or could suggest others?


Great writeup, i'd like to get shocks like that, sans the lowering springs, that'll come in usefull someday


----------



## jaysonbarn (Jan 4, 2011)

Wow that tip was a really professional one. I wanted to have similar change but was afraid to do so due to some confusion but after your demo I think I should go for it.


----------



## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Thanks Jayson. Setup still is great by the way. But not much drive time been working on my 95 ka-t doing some drag racing with it... All info for the 95 is here

Tripps Quest for 12's - TexasNissans.com

and my normal hanging out place if you have questions same user name


----------



## MayaWilson (Mar 22, 2020)

great post!

i just have tein springs on oem struts. it suprisingly rides ok. i don't race competitively so im good. it was well worth the $150 shipped.


----------

