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Karbon Koncepts Ridgid Collars / Stiff Rings - Install tips and videos

42K views 101 replies 26 participants last post by  K5NOOB 
#1 · (Edited)
Here is some Youtube video of me and Isaac13SX during the installation process for the KK Rigid Collars.

Issuing fair warning, these vids were a last ditch effort to help forum members, but literally we had already started and said, hey - should we try to do a video :\ So, they are not the most informative, or even correct LMAO. But use them as a visual guide to help along with the written notes below and the instructions provided by KK.

You can crack jokes at my lack of automotive knowledge, Isaac does all the time.....it's cool. I'm getting there slowly.

The first thing you should do, Open up ONE bag at a time Front/Rear.
Lay out the Instructions flat on the ground.
Find each style Collar - ABC for the front / AB for the rear
Line each Collar style above the picture on the directions so they are all separated and grouped on the ground
Then pick up the directions and compare the photo and collar locations and locate them on the vehicle under pan

Tools:
Breaker Bar / Air Tool / Penetrating Oil (may need at least one of these for higher millage vehicles)
Deep 19mm 3/8 drive at least
Socket or Impact gun
Flash light
A pen or popsicle size stick
Something to support the unibody as you drop it down to insure no accidents happen
Pair of glasses - especially if you are using power or air tools

Couple of Notes on the FRONT:
- Remove the 14mm bolts that next to the two 19mm bolts on the front suspension support
- Then support the front unibody with something before you begin dropping it down for install
- Loosen EACH 19mm bolt that uses a Rigid Collar so it's still threaded to support the unibody weight
- Do not remove or loosen the 19mm that does NOT get the collars installed on it. It doesn't support the unibody
- Go through the hole (as big as a oil filter) in each lower A arm and loosen these 19mm bolts but leave slightly threaded
- Start by installing the Lower A arm collars one at a time/remove bolt, slide on collar with correct orientation with the collar facing upwards - BUT DO NOT run the bolts all the way up. Just hand tighten a little and move on
- Then go to the 19mm bolts one at a time and remove the bolt
- Using a flashlight, slide the proper double sided collar up in between the unibody and the body of the car. Use a breaker/pry bar to pull it down if it's not down low enough already. Use the flashlight to look through the hole until the upper collar drops in place properly. Then slide the bottom onto the bolt threads with collar facing upwards and slowly place the bolt into the hole WHILE watching the upper collar with a flashlight to insure that the bolt goes through the collar and doesn't knock it out of place. Hand tighten BOTH right and left sides after getting the collars in place.
- Now you can go back and tighten up the Long A arm bolts that you did first......and at this point, you can make your way around all removed/hand tight bolts and tighten them all back up while watching to insure the collars sink into position correctly and don't bind or crush into place.

Notes REAR:
- The rear is JUST 2 19mm bolts on each side located up by the wheels near the axles
- In the rear, you may be able to drop both bolts on ONE side, then remove by hand ONE bolt at a time and insert the upper and lower collars. Then put them in hand tight and do the other bolt on that side.
- BUT, once you have inserted your collars on ONE side already - DO NOT tighten up those completed "collar'd" bolts - WE found that you must leave this first side loose to allow the other side to drop the unibody enough to allow easy install on the other side probably due to the sway bars.
- JUST be SURE to support the rear end unibody so that if you unthread the bolts too far, the unibody doesn't drop down and cause an accident. It's heavy!
- Remember the rear has both TOP and Bottom collars on each bolt like the 19mm in the front.

As for torque specs - we used an air impact so they are "Brap Brap BRAAAAP" and on the smaller 14mm, we put them "brap brap braaah" that's my specs ;) I would recommend looking it up and using a torque wrench if you aren't experienced with automotive stuff. I had a pro watching my every move and I knew he would go behind me or stop me if I did something wrong. I believe Isaac can feel 5lbs of torque in his sleep with an air gun.

On a side note, I noticed that the mysterious collars provided in the D2 and K-Sport Coilover sets are remarkably similar in design/size. They must be meant to perform a similar function on 19mm bolts in certain model HUBs which have smaller hinge pins??? But in any case, These collars provided in the Coilover kits WILL work for this usage. They aren't as perfectly engineered for unibody usage as the Rigid Collars as you will see if you ever compare them side by side. But indeed they will get the job done. So this might be an option if you know someone like myself who happens to have 8 of these steel D2 collars ;) You just won't have enough to cover ALL locations as this nicely designed kit that Karbon Koncepts provided for all of us. You will still need to buy some collars to get the full effect.

Just be sure to match the collar TYPE with the pictures in the directions and apply them in the correct locations.

Here are some video's for reference points. I'm sorry we didn't take our time and prep for the install video's as it was an after thought.


***Please NOTE there are mistakes in this video, just use it as reference to get a visual for any of the above directions that are unclear. There are some mistaken info in the vids as I tried to narrate what Isaac was doing or going to do and it got a little messy at times LOL. But the combo of correct instructions above along with these visual aides, you guys should have no trouble at all.



Corrections - Only ONE 19mm bolt on the front gets the collars installed on them. The front most 19mm bolt you should NOT touch.
Also, Don't pay attention to my ABC description, it's wrong!!! Place the collars per the written instructions. A is double sided and goes on top ;) Hey, we were wingin it lol




Hope this helps you guys


Feel free to PM me or if you have my Cell# already, call me for help.

This is also posted in my build thread for anyone who needs an easy way to look up the directions. I always title my How To's and Tips with a searchable term that should be easy to find.
 
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#7 ·
We were on a lift both times. I'm going to say that this job is 20mins in it's entirety if you have lift, air tools and some mechanical experience on your side (Isaac2013SX ;) )

It's very doable on the ground, but if your car is lowered aggressively, I'm going to say it will be quite the chore just because you don't have much room under the vehicle and having a helper under there with you is probably out. And it can be tough to LEVER a torque bar/wrench from your back with suspension parts in the way sometimes.

But then you will also need to either raise the front fairly high, then raise the rear fairly high in order to comfortably do the job.

Doing on the ground - I would recommend using TWO 2x6 boards staggered for the side you plan to leave on the ground. In other words.....Take ONE board 2x6 or 8 even better, 4ft long, then stack another 2x6, 3.5ft long on top of each other such that you have two RAMPS to setup underneath the rear wheels and drive up onto them so it gives you more clearance on the side in which you are NOT JACKING up on JACK STANDS. The reason I use 4ft first layer boards - so you have ample room to brace your wheels so the vehicle doesn't roll.

Also, the higher the milage, the more I recommend hitting the bolts the day before with brake fluid (another Isaac2013SX trick) or penetrating oil to loosen up bolts that look rusty or you've tried by hand and it wouldn't budge. Just stop there and oil them all and revisit the next day or so. You can also try a torch if you know what you're doing. We had no problems with a high power pneumatic air impact wrench with a torque limiting bar on it so we didn't break any bolts off.

I've used the above wooden steps to drive the front of the vehicle up onto the curb, then jack stand the front end up on the curb so I have more room (but it was scary and I don't recommend being too creative) My car is extremely low and it's hard getting her up in the air with my small low profile floor jack.

I've had to jack my car up for people just to get them to change the oil because they couldn't figure out how to lift the car. Any garage with potential lowered cars MUST have 2x6+ boards ;)
 
#11 ·
Sorry no vids for the rear.

But I can try to see if Isaac will snap some pictures of the bolt locations.
They are located if you are laying/standing just under the rear inner fender. Look just to the front and rear off the axle for a 19mm bolt. There are TWO on each side. Collars go on top and bottom of the metal underbody pan. See my notes in the OP for specifics.

You can drop both sides first. Then install one side but don't tighten the bolts. Let it lay low because you will need the opposite side to still be hanging low in order to install the other side. Because the sway bar links will pick up both sides of the suspension as you tighten either side.

Just make sure you have a helper to support both sides so you don't drop anything too far.
 
#13 ·
Got my rear set installed this weekend.

Did mine on jackstands, My car is lowered and i lifted the rear as high as my jack would take it.
Laying on the floor(i used a creeper) and trying to loosen and tighten those bolts is very hard. I found that you can take the wheel off and you will have access to the rear bolts without having to get on the floor. Also my socket wrench was to short to give me the leverage needed to break those bolts loose, so i took the handle from my jack and slid it over the handle of my wrench and used that as a makeshift breaker bar and was able to break the bolts loose.

Spent around 30 minutes trying to get the driver side off because i was laying under the car trying to get leverage and sliding around on the floor. when i got to the passenger side i took the wheel off and was able to do it sitting down without getting under the car and that side only took maybe 10 minutes

also going to need a long extension to get to those rear bolts easily.

cant wait to do the fronts next week
 
#14 ·
I look fwd to hearing ur experience on the fronts. I had that mother literally 20" off the ground, on stands, wheels off, and still ccouldn't break the bolts loose, especially the ones behind the swingarms. You need a crazy long socket for those. What did u use as a brace for the rear once u started to drop the frame?
 
#18 · (Edited)
Great info guys. I didn't think about removing the rear wheels to access the bolts, but I am thinking along the same lines as you as far as using the threads to support the subframe. Thanks for sharing. I will be very interested in how the front works out for you.
 
#35 ·
Mr Miagi himself.....THIS guy is who showed me how its done right!
They don't make'em like they used to! Ha, ha...

I'll be lucky if I get off the floor when I'm 66. :)
Im lucky if I make it period
All I can say is that if they don't buy and install Stiff Rings they better not pi@@ and moan that their car doesn't handle. These things work.
Yea, these rings are simply amazing....for such a small part, makes a huge impact!
 
#24 ·
When I did my Stiff Rings (front and rear) I used my 1/2" Craftsman click type torque wrench. I set the torque for 130 ft-lb and used a 19mm Impact socket. All of the bolts/nuts broke loose at a torque less than 130 ft-lb (torque wrench never clicked. I torqued the bolts/nuts to 123 ft-lb (half way between 115 and `130 ft-lb).

Question for you guys using ratchets or breaker bars. What did you intend to use to tighten the bolts? You should have a torque wrench handy before you attempt this mod.

Come on you young studs get off the padded creeper and put some grunt into it. Don't let a 66 year old old fa** beat you out. lol
 
#29 ·
So, after having these on for approximately 2 weeks, how would you say things are now? We only have 1 set in stock at the moment and I'm trying to determine if everyone thinks this is something that we should regularly stock.
 
#43 ·
And to think, you where once worried no one would buy the rings, and you would be sitting on a mountain of unsold rings :D

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
LOL

Yea, now it's just a mountain of customers sitting on uninstalled rings.
 
#49 ·
I had mine installed today on my '12 KOH. WOW ---- things are might tighter, much worth while installation! I am impress with what these rings can do. I would recommend this to anyone. I have not had a chance to take it out on the highway yet, but so far I like the results.
 
#58 ·
I'm so excited for my set to arrive and have the shop install! All your reviews have me ancy -.•

How is many hours should my shop charge me (they did my coils)? They will already have the car on the lift adjusting the coils, so it should be the amount of time it takes while it's already on the lift.
 
#61 · (Edited)
crap my credit card is gonna cry.... still have to install that ARK exhaust....
 
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