I'm with you on this. The DIY posted here and others have said that it's OK to just remove the top nut wihtout compressing the spring first. I wouldn't do that under any circumstance.

 

And that's why I'm leaving the fronts to the professionals!

 

I purchased these two from Harbor Freight Tools and did the springs install today. To my surprise, the electric impact wrench actually works great! I did spray some penetrating oil and let it sit overnight, then when I tried to use the impact wrench, it took about 10 seconds before the nut begin to turn. I was worried for the first 5 sec that it might not work, then it just started to turn slowly, and more afterward. The total install took about 4 hrs for front & back, that also includes the rear camber kits (which was very easy). I will wait until I get the Eibach Sway Bar before get them aligned. Thanks for all the help on this thread!

1. 1/2" Electric Impact Wrench Item #68099 $49.99


2. 13 Piece 1/2" Metric Socket Set Item #67904 $21.99


Btw, I have a 2012 G37 about 3 months old, so the nut that everyone is having hard time to get loose may not be as easy as mine when the car is older. I just want to share my experience with my install, with the tools I used.

 

Good to know that the electric impact works well. You don't need to wait for installation of sway bars before alignment, they don't affect the alignment of the wheels.

 

FYI for any canadians out there that want to do this but don't have a spring compressor. Canadian Tire will lend you one for free. well what they do is give you a used one but charge your credit card for a new one. Then when you bring it back they reverse the charges. They do this for alot of tools.

 

I'd like to see an electric impact remove the lower strut bolt on a 2008-2010 that has more than 30k miles on it. :P

That thing was hell only on my driver side.

 

A number of parts stores in the US do this as well (O'Reilly, Auto Zone, others). It's a great deal for parts that you will only use once or very infrequently if you don't want to buy them. It's about a $50 deposit at most places here.

 

I agree. I tried 3 days to get this damn nut off and no go. I gave up today and tried to go to a shop and get it done, and well all were busy except the place that scuffed my mint rims. I had no choice but to try them. Well after an argument that it was gonna take them 4-5 hours plus alignment which I told them I'm gonna wait a few weeks to let the springs settle. Finally I just walked out and was pissed enough to try again.

This time I went the "drop the whole arm" way and it was a lifesaver. Saved a few bucks doing it myself. I still used a spring compressor to the OEM spring so it didnt come out like a jack in a box. Those Eibach springs are scary to compress as pretty much you have to go all the way for them to fit correctly. Walking on eggshells for the first side, but much faster the other side (even with installing the sway link nut instead of the actual top hat nut on the strut , I did correct that though).

If anyone else has issues with that bottom strut bolt, this method would probably be a less of a headache.

 

Followed the posted instruction and was able to do the install with no problems. The rears where very easy to do. The front took a little more work but I was able to get the strut bolt off with a breaker bar.

 

just accomplished this last night...for a 11g37x Sedan on Eibach springs
Backs were cake only took about 10 mins with air tools...
Fronts were a PITA...With the X models you have to remove your cv joints an remove the top control arm...
On one side though we removed the Strut Arm (towards the bottom of the strut, one bolt) and it came out much easier...
But heres some pics...I f*ck'd up my cv boot
Before

After

I'll post more later...

 

A friend and I actually just put the Eibachs in on my 08 G35x on Monday. We began at my house... but then went to his for his air setup. I can't even imagine without it. We just unbolted the upper wishbone and with a bit of pressure pulled the strut out.
Just went to Orileys for a spring compressor as well, easy job overall just time consuming.

 

I removed the struts and had the front springs put on by a local shop. I had trouble lining the struts back into place when I tried to re-install them. Did anyone else have this issue?

 

The top hat has to line up with the rest of the strut body properly. The FSM should have the proper diagram showing this.

Most folks would just mark the top with a sharpie so they know where it should be positioned when putting things back together.

 

Yeah had the same issue... with one side. But it worked out just fine afterwards...

 

Sometimes it lines up perfectly the first try and sometimes it needs coaxing. Having a jack and a rubber mallet helps so you can jack the lower spring bucket up or down and tap it with the mallet to line up the hole for the bolt. Also a long thick screwdriver or something similar helps to put through the hole and push or pull it into alignment so the bolt slides through easily without damaging the threads on it.