I finally finished installing STI pink springs (cherry red or whatever) on my 06 WRX. This was my first time and it took way longer than I expected. 4 hours yesterday for the rear and 3 hours today for the front. I thought this was going to be easier than installing a TBE. I did it by myself but it would have been much easier with a helper. My hands are kinda sore from grabbing and tightening things but i'm glad i finished.
I ended up buying all the tools i needed, but i'm sure it still cost less than paying for the springs at the dealership and having it professionally done. Plus I like learning things doing installation on my own and if something goes wrong later, I can happily blame myself. I bought an electric impact wrench, which i ended up using only to compress/decompress the spring compressors which I also bought from Sears. What made me most angry about this experience was having to buy a pass through set from Sears to get the stupid 17mm nut out from the top of the strut, while holding the bold steady with a 6mm allen key. I couldn't find any place that sold individual passthrough wrenches and sockets to go with it so i had to pay $80 for the whole set. I tried to find alternatives to removing the nut which included gripping a regular deep socket with locking pliers but couldn't. Anyways, glad that's over.
The couple of pink springs installation guides I followed didn't tell me to cut the bump stops, so I didn't. But I've seen some that say you have to. From what I understand, since the pink springs barely lower the car, you don't need to cut them. But if you have others like Cobb's, you do. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm still not really sure.
I'll feel a little better driving my car after i take it in to Lithia Subaru for an alignment this Thursday. I have spring compressors and the stupid pass through wrench if anybody wants to borrow some tools for their spring installation. It would probably cost you pizza to rent
