Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension BAT kit is intalled

Took the day off and put it on after staring at it for a couple of weeks...

Installation was a breeze, IMO. I went into it expecting a nightmare on a car w/ 102k miles. Not one stuck nut, nothing was rusted. I didn't encounter a single solitary hiccup. Nothing went wrong. During my test drive I kept waiting to hear that "CLANK", but was utterly dissapointed. Start to finish, taking my sweet time as I acclamated myself with this car as I've never done anything with it besides changing the oil, it took about 6 hours for the front and rear. Granted, I do have air tools, but like I said, I wasn't working with any haste.

The good ~ car handles like it should have off the showroom floor. It makes you realize how much the stock setup left to be desired. I'd say it retains 90% of the stock ride comfort and eliminates 95% of the inherant American car sloppiness. It's nice and tight, but certainly not harsh in any way. Nose dive under braking is kept in check as it should be. I don't think I've experienced its full potential so to speak as I discovered today that my ball joints are completely toasted with both boots torn and one actually severed in half I've gotta wait a few days on some new LCAs so that I can then get it aligned...*sigh*

If anyone is in doubt about LCAs, if you're thinking your car needs new shocks, I'd put money down to say that your balljoints/LCA bushings are toast as well. I doubted it and look what I have to do now...

The bad ~ the drop. So far, granted it has had approximately 5 hours to settle, only the rear has dropped at all. It dropped more than I was expecting and is a touch uneven. The drop in front is completely indiscernable. Again, hopefully with time, things will even out. I'm not too concerned with aesthetics, if I wanted a slammed car, I would have gone with a different spring. I just want it to look even...

Long story short, I'm glad I went with this setup as opposed to replacement SVT shocks...

-Jason

I was similarly happy with my BAT setup. It's nothing overly-wonderful, and you do keep very good ride-comfort. I've had mine for about 18 months or so now, I think. Still great.

Just like you I didn't get the drop I wanted, and at times I notice it looks uneven at times too. Overall though I am very happy with it though.

As an overall statement I would say I got what I needed for the price I wanted.

My front ended up lower than my rear over time with my BAT kit. I can't say that it started out higher, though, but I think it was relatively flat when it came off the lift.

do the springs come compressed on the strut or do you have to get it done?

plus what basic toold u need for the installatin of the BAT kit?

Nope, didn't have to use a compressor to assemble the BAT kit, though, as was said, i did need it to disassemble the stockers... You can rent the spring compressor or just buy one from Sears or wherever

hrrrm....tools....lets see:

Good socket and ratchet set...you will specifically need 8mm, 10mm, 13mm, 15mm, 18mm sockets. You will also need 15mm & 18mm combo wrenches. Also, the knuckle to ball joint pinch bolt up front has a very large torx bolt. It was larger than my biggest (T50) so I just clamped a set of vice grips on it and went to work on the 18mm on the other side. You will also need a long extension (8" +) to easily work on the rear upper strut mount

A large pry bar is quite useful in removing the rear struts from the subframe.

I used a ball joint seperator fork w/ an air hammer to break the LCAs away from the front knuckle, although as easily as it came off, I'm sure you could get away w/ the pry bar.

Ummm...oh yes, you will need a few hex keys (a hex key socket is most useful). I don't recall which sizes you need.

There are very few specialty tools that were required on this. I didn't even have to make a single run to Sears for tools....

Heyy Bohdi put up pics in the Pics and Videos section. I was trying to find out how much of drop the BAT kit would be on an SVT.

Like I said, thus far, I've seen little to no drop up front...*sigh* hopefully it will settle down a bit...

The rear looks about the same as it did with sagging blown struts...

I'll try to get some pics up w/ in the next couple of days...

Oh, one other thing: for those who prefer to travel incognito, the tacky bright red springs are NOT visible with the car on the ground.