Aveo Spring Mod w/Pics!!

[blown240]

I thought I would share my Aveo rear spring install for those who are thinking about doing the same...

I ordered rear springs for an 05 Aveo hatchback. I am not sure if these are the same springs that others have used since they are not an exact replacement. But they are pretty close and they worked good.

First off, get the rear of the car up on jackstands and unbolt the rear wheels. You dont need to take the skirts or the wheels off, just unbolt them so that the rear suspension can drop down all the way. Next, remove the lower bump stops. Put a floor jack under one if the springs to support it while you unbolt the lower shock bolt. Once the shock bolt is out, slowly lower the jack. At this point you should be able to get the spring out. Now repeat on the other side.

It should be noted that I cut one coil off the new springs. They looked to long to me and would have been difficult to install if they were not cut. The next step is to remove the covers off the bottom of the stock spring and put it on the new spring. You wont be using the upper rubber spacer on the spring as it wont allow the new spring to seat all the way on the top mount.

Once you have the new spring in, jack up the arm so that you can install the shock bolt again. Then put the wheel back on. Repeat on the other side.

DONT FORGET TO PROPERLY TORQUE THE LUGS NUTS!!!

The rear of the car now sits about 2 1/2 inches higher. It give the car a nice little rake. It is now much stiffer and to be honest I was a little worried that it would be TOO stiff. But in reality the ride is alot smoother and there is NO harsh bottoming thru dips. There is a dip on my street that I had to go thru at about 10 MPH before. Yesterday I went thru it at 35 and didnt bottom out! Another huge plus is that the car now turns better, with alot less body roll.

Total cost of this mod is about $100 for the springs. There is nothing else to buy. I highly recommend doing it!!

Here are the pics:

First few pics show the differences in the springs:

Stock Aveo, Stock Insight, Cut Aveo


Difference in diameter:



Difference in thickness of springs steel:

[blown240]

Pics of springs installed:

Stock:


Aveo:


Difference in ride height:

Stock:


Aveo:

[blown240]

And finally the side profile shot:

Stock:


Aveo:

[02insight]

did the ride become more firm because of the thicker springs? and when sitting in the car, do you feel like you're tilting forward, because from the pictures, it looks very slanted forwards

[blown240]

Originally Posted by 02insight

did the ride become more firm because of the thicker springs? and when sitting in the car, do you feel like you're tilting forward, because from the pictures, it looks very slanted forwards

yes, and a little. you get used to it real quick though.

[Kevin Dougherty]

Cool,nice mod. What is the new spring rate?

[blown240]

I have no idea what the new rate it. Just that its alot better than before.

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

Just to add another point of view, I did some experimenting with rear suspension height and the effect on areodynamics.
As you may remember, I had added adjustable air springs to carry the extra 300 lbs of batteries and the e-wheel
I could dial in any rear suspension height I wanted on the fly, and found that getting the rear that high had negative effects on MPG at highway speeds, as it changed the angle of air flow of the front of the car.

[02insight]

so I am guessing that you concluded that the stock angle was best aerodynamically. Maybe this mod can be altered to just thicker springs, not longer ones?

[uhtrinity]

Mine now sits as yours, with the H clearly visible. If there is a mpg difference it is within the margin of error. I put in Matiz springs last summer and have noticed no difference in mileage at highway speeds.