Originally Posted by ap350

Just wanted to tell the world about my suspension conversion since I felt like I climbed Mt. Everest when It was finished. After the front left air strut failed rendered the car undrivable in my garage, I decided to do the conversion after taking everything into consideration. I went with the Arnott kit over the others in the price range since it came with everything needed to complete the job. It was not an easy job mainly due to the Lock-tight on all the bolts not to mention that they were all different sizes. That being said, I should tell you that I'm not a mechanic but have done a lot of work on my own vehicles over the years and this ranks up there with the harder jobs. I didn't go with the instruction which recommended dropping the exhaust, drive shaft, and rear sub frame because I wasn't concerned with taking all the other parts out. All and all, the fronts were easy with the only hang up being separating the upper control arm to lower the suspension out of the way. After trying for hours with every piece of equipment I had, my friend told me to just beat the **** out of it until it broke free and low and behold it worked by the third blow with the BFH. After I figured that out it was simple. The rear was not so easy, I had to use a jack pushing up on the wrenches to break some of the bolts free. Others required a pipe extension or a 4 foot pry bar. The right tools or a impact gun might have made it easier but it's such a confined space that I'm not sure how much it would help.
When it was all done I have to say the ride and handling were drastically improved. In all fairness the original suspension had 86000 miles on it and was probably due to be replaced. I can't stress enough how pleased I am with the ride quality and handling and would definitely recommend doing it. I'm sure other kits work just as well so good luck to anyone considering a conversion.