[RallySport Direct]

Today we took our little Fiesta out for some spirited driving and wanted to see how it felt cruising around some cones. I have to say, it felt pretty nimble and a blast to drive. But I will say that it felt like it could use some improvement. We looked around for a bit and decided to throw on a set of the Pro Kit springs from Eibach. We have run these on the shop Focus ST for over a year now with nothing but great things to say about them. They perform well on track day, and they are very easy to live with on a day to day basis. They aren’t too stiff and doesn’t ride like a wagon.

While we were installing these springs, we documented our installation and wanted to share it with you guys for informational purposes. Keep in mind that If you’re not familiar with suspension parts, or spring compression, you probably should take your car to a shop and have them install it. Also, as with any suspension change, be sure to take your car to get an alignment shortly after getting your springs installed. No matter how well you think you have them set up, chances are, they are at least a little whacky.

Here’s a blurb from Eibach about them:

The Eibach Pro-Kit precisely lowers your car's center of gravity, reducing squat during acceleration, body roll in corners and excessive nose-dive under braking. When combined with Plus-1 or Plus-2 wheels and tires, the Eibach Pro-Kit is the finishing touch to a winning recipe for performance. Pro-Kit also reduces excessive fender-well clearance, making your car look just as hot as it performs.

Here are some technical specifications:

Mfgr. Warranty:	Million Mile
Adjustable:	No
Drop Height Front:	.8 in
Drop Height Rear:	.7 in
Drop Height Front Metric:	20mm
Drop Height Rear Metric:	18mm

For more information, click here: Eibach Pro-Kit Lowering Springs Ford Fiesta ST 2014 35143.140 at RallySportDirect.com

Here’s a picture of the springs waiting to get installed, you can see this is a very simple, basic kit so you won’t have to worry about changing bump stops, or any other suspension parts.

For a quick over view of what we need to take off, here’s a shot of the bolts and nuts and clips we need to remove that are behind the tire/wheel. These are all pretty easy to remove. Don’t let it intimidate you! We don’t have a picture of it, but we marked the top hat and strut tower for reference for re-installing the strut. This is a good time to do this so you know what direction the top hat needs to be when re-installing the struts.

Here are the three strut tower upper nuts that need to come off on the passenger side

And these are the bolts on the driver’s side. Note: you have to move the master cylinder reservoir out of the way to get to these bolts. There are 2 10 mm bolts holding it on.

Now we have room to get to the 3 13 mm bolts behind the reservoir.

Now that we have those loose, we can move on to the fender well, we took the end link loose first. We used our impact to break it loose and had to grab our 3/16 allen wrench to hold the stud while using our 15 mm wrench to get it off all the way.

Now there is a rubber grommet holding the abs line in place, as well as a zip tie, just pull the rubber grommet out of the sleeve, and cut the zip tie and it will be free.

Holding the brake line in place is a 10 mm bolt through a bracket on the side of the strut, simply remove the bolt and the brake line will be loose.

Next we’ll get the bolts that hold the strut to the spindle on removed. These are a little odd, as the head is a 15 mm and the nut is an 18 mm. We marked the bolts and strut and spindle so we could get the strut as close to factory specs as we could before taking it to get the alignment done. This isn’t perfect, we still need to align the car, but this is a way you can get it close enough not to cause too much damage on the way to the alignment shop.

Now that we have them marked, we can remove them.

 

[RallySport Direct]

Then we can slide the strut out of the strut tower and slide it down and out. The brake line will be in the way slightly, just hold it back as you slide it out.

You will need a spring compressor to perform the next step; you can rent them from your local auto parts store. Place them on opposite side of the spring and try to compress as many as you can. Tighten the bolts down to compress the spring.

Next we will need to remove the top hat nut. It’s an 18 mm, we took our impact and zipped it off, it came right off, you can get it off whatever way you find easiest.

Remove the top hat

Slide the dust boot out. (the bump stop will likely come out with it.

Now the spring will come off of the strut.

Here’s a look at the stock springs vs. the Eibach spring. They appear close in size, but the secret is in the spring rates that gives you the ride height.

We have to compress the Eibach springs before putting them on the strut, so take your spring compressor and clamp down on the Eibach spring

Once you get the spring on the strut, re-assemble the strut in reverse of the disassembly, and then you can put it back on the car in reverse of the removal.

Moving on to the rear, here’s a look at how it’s set up, this was the easiest spring installation I have ever done, there are 2 bolts holding the shocks in place, remove them, and the spring will pull right out.

They are a 15 mm bolt, just take them out and the shocks will pull out as the rear suspension drops down

You’ll have to wiggle the spring just a little bit and it will pull right out.

Now we can slide the Eibach springs in place, making sure that the spring sits in the seats like this

This looks a little odd (like the spring isn’t in the right spot) but it is correct, once you jack the suspension back up it will look normal

Jack up the rear axle and replace the bolts in both shocks and you’re done! See the rears really were just as simple as can be.

Now you can go out and drive it around a little bit to get the springs to settle, they will settle just slightly over time, but here’s what it looks like fresh off the lift.

Next we will be taking it to the alignment shop, then take it to the track for some fun! Stay tuned, as we are just getting started with this project! Thanks for reading.

Hope this helps
Corby

 

[rodmoe]

Great Info and looks good with a drop like that Thanks

 

[RallySport Direct]

No problem, we're happy to help.

Corby

 

[carramrod]

When the rear is compressed with a passenger in the car, it looks like the top half of the spring will just bunch up and not be much of a spring :/

Front too, a bit.

 

[RallySport Direct]

When the rear is compressed with a passenger in the car, it looks like the top half of the spring will just bunch up and not be much of a spring :/

Front too, a bit.

I believe what you are seeing is the progressive rates of the springs, the upper portion of the rear springs is basically there to give you your ride height. The lower portion (for the most part) is where your spring compression comes in to play.

Hope this helps
Corby

 

[no-pistons]

How accurate is the drop amount? Did it drop exactly what they say it should? Thanks.

 

[RallySport Direct]

How accurate is the drop amount? Did it drop exactly what they say it should? Thanks.

I would say it's pretty close. If anything it might have dropped very slightly more. According to the tape measure, It's pretty near what they advertise.

Hope this helps
Corby

 

[yunost]

Do you have the proper torque specs for all the hardware that was removed ? And also are any of these bolts "one time" use ?

Thinking about purchasing a kit from you guys along with some other parts ....

 

[RallySport Direct]

Do you have the proper torque specs for all the hardware that was removed ? And also are any of these bolts "one time" use ?

Thinking about purchasing a kit from you guys along with some other parts ....

We looked, but could not find the proper torque specifications for these bolts/nuts. None of these bolts were a "one time use" or "stretch to yield" bolt.

Corby

 

[GTIKILLER]

The car looks great! I am interested in installing these springs along with some spacers. Do you think that once lowered will there be room to install the spacers? Or do you think there will be rubbing of the tires?

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[RallySport Direct]

The car looks great! I am interested in installing these springs along with some spacers. Do you think that once lowered will there be room to install the spacers? Or do you think there will be rubbing of the tires?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Thanks! Yeah you should be okay with spacers as long as you do not go too wide with them. What size spacers were you wanting to run?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[GTIKILLER]

The spacers from Eibach start at 15mm and go as far as 30mm. I wonder if the 15mm would even work after dropping it.

 

[RallySport Direct]

The spacers from Eibach start at 15mm and go as far as 30mm. I wonder if the 15mm would even work after dropping it.

You should be able to run 15mm spacers, but that is about as far as I would go. We did a rough measurement and had a bit over .5 inch(12.7mm) on the front from the tire to the fender. 10mm would be safe, but you should be okay with a 15mm.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[rgodri1]

You should be able to run 15mm spacers, but that is about as far as I would go. We did a rough measurement and had a bit over .5 inch(12.7mm) on the front from the tire to the fender. 10mm would be safe, but you should be okay with a 15mm.

Thanks,
Rick

I Lowered with Eibach springs then used H&R 10mm spacers all around with no rubbing.

 

[no-pistons]

View attachment 3009
I Lowered with Eibach springs then used H&R 10mm spacers all around with no rubbing.

Would love to see pictures of the car if you have a chance. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rgodri1]

Would love to see pictures of the car if you have a chance. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here goes..!!

 

[RallySport Direct]

Wow!

That looks really great. Thanks for taking the time to post your pictures. I think red may be my new favorite color for the fiesta.

Regards,

Jeff

 

[dubtastic]

I've been looking at the current option for springs on the market... my only worry with Eibach is the notorious reverse rake their springs always seem to exhibit. Does that seem to be the case in the fiesta?

I am also concerned about interfering with the balance of the fiesta as is, a lot of companies are quick to release products, but spend little time testing them. In the case of lowering springs its generally as long as they fit they are good. Does anyone make a linear spring for our cars as opposed to the progressive rate that Eibach and H&R seem to use?

 

[RallySport Direct]

I've been looking at the current option for springs on the market... my only worry with Eibach is the notorious reverse rake their springs always seem to exhibit. Does that seem to be the case in the fiesta?

I am also concerned about interfering with the balance of the fiesta as is, a lot of companies are quick to release products, but spend little time testing them. In the case of lowering springs its generally as long as they fit they are good. Does anyone make a linear spring for our cars as opposed to the progressive rate that Eibach and H&R seem to use?

So far we haven't had any fair weather issues at all with the eibach springs whether installed on our shop Fiesta, or other vehicles. The balance is usually improved because you will have a lower center of gravity of course. And Eibach has been in the car game for a long time with extensive research and development. So they usually have a pretty good formula per car application. But because the Fiesta ST is still a relatively new platform, Eibach is the spring we currently carry for the Fiesta ST.

Regards,

Jeff