KW Coilovers Variant 3 Installation Guide
Hello everyone! We decided to go with the KW Suspension Variant 3 coilover setup on our own Project Focus ST. There isn’t a whole lot of explaining to do about why we went this direction. KW has a great reputation and for good reason. They are heavily involved in racing and anything coming out of Germany is usually the highest of quality. KW doesn’t disappoint with this set for the Focus ST. After putting them on, we definitely don’t regret it. The ride is near perfect for a lowered car. It retains factory comfort levels while providing awesome feedback when you ask it to turn hard. We are still a fan of some of the less expensive coilovers out there because of the adjustability range given the price. But I will say they just don’t compare to a set of KWs. Enjoy the write-up and ask us any questions you need.
Pre-Install Recommendations
Make sure you have plenty of room to work on the car. Take your time and don’t force anything. Make sure you pay attention to detail. To make it easier on you, follow KWs recommendation for rebound, compression, and height settings. Starting off conservative is always easier and more convenient than going too aggressive and having to change it to a more usable setting. We’re still on KWs recommended dampening settings on our car even after lowering it to the right height. It feels and drives awesome.
Tools and Supplies Needed
Floor Jack and Jack Stands or a Lift
19mm Socket for lug nuts
Breaker Bar
Torque Wrench (recommended)
8mm Socket
10mm Socket
15mm Socket
15mm Wrench
Socket Wrench
5mm Allen key
Various Extensions
Spring compressors (you can rent these for free at many auto parts stores)
Step 1 – Adjust settings pre-install
Preset all dampening adjustments PRIOR to installing the suspension or working on the car. Follow KW's instructions (included) to find out what the recommended settings are.
Step 2 – Remove the Bottom Portion of the Front Shock
Start by jacking the car up and taking the wheels off. You will need to have both sides in the air due the end links and sway bar being unloaded. The factory lug nuts use a 19mm socket.
Using an 8mm socket, remove the brake line bracket.
Using a 10mm socket, remove the ABS sensor bracket. Unplug the sensor and move it out of the area where you are working.
Using a 15mm socket, remove the top end link nut. You’ll need to use a 5mm Allen key to keep the end link stud from rotating as the nut is being rotated off. Use a pass through style socket or a wrench for the larger nut. Take the wheel off of the other side and disconnect the end link on the top of the opposite side of the vehicle to unload the sway bar.
Using a 15mm socket and breaker bar, remove the bolts that hold the bottom of the shock inside the clamp.
Loosen the bottom clamp enough so that you can remove the shock. You’ll have to use a pry bar or a specialty tool to pry the clamp apart. This clamp is very tight, even without the bolts on and it does not expand easily. You can also take something solid and insert it in the middle of the clamp as shown and put the bolt in through the clamp in the opposite direction and tighten onto the solid object in the center of the clamp. This will push the clamp apart and free up the shock allowing you to pull it out. You might need to force the entire hub off the shock by hammering a rubber mallet on the steering knuckle or hub or using your foot to push the clamp off the shock. Be patient with this as it’s not easy. Make sure you get the clamp as spread as possible. At some point, the strut will slip right out.
Step 3 – Removing top mount for front shock
Move to the top side of the vehicle and begin removing the components covering the top mount area. You’ll start with the windshield wipers first using a 14mm socket / wrench. Then, remove the black plastic cowling from the car. Underneath the plastic is another black metal layer that you will remove. After that, start to remove the 3 13mm bolts mounting the shock to the car from the top. Make sure you hold the shock from underneath while you hand loosen the remainder of the top threads so that the shock doesn’t drop down.
Step 4 – Installing KW Front Shock and Spring
Once again, if you haven’t already, make sure you adjust as much as you can before this goes on the car. It’s easy to adjust while it’s on the car but it’s even easier at this point so do as much as you can now. Make sure you count the amount of threads showing to make it easier to preset the other side. There’s no need to measure it, just count the threads. It’s much easier.
After the strut and spring assembly is off the car, using spring compressors, compress the factory spring to relieve the tension on the upper mount. Please use spring compressors with caution. They are very dangerous if not used correctly and can injure you. Make absolute certain they are on 100% correctly and start tightening down in small amounts to each compressor so that the spring compresses evenly and slowly. After the spring is compressed, remove the top nut on the factory strut to remove the upper mount. Keep the order of components in mind when removing these parts because they will need to be reused in the same way on the new setup. Now slowly loosen the spring compressors a little bit at a time going around the spring so that it unloads evenly and slowly.
Remove the nut at the top of the new KW strut to remove the cardboard packaging and to place the factory upper strut mount on the KW strut. Place the factory top mount components in the same order that they came off the factory strut onto the new strut. Not all the components will be reused, only the upper mount. You should be able to get the nut to start threading on to the strut rod by simply pressing down slightly on the upper mount to compress the spring. It shouldn’t be necessary to use spring compressors to get the upper mount and nut on the new strut.
Tighten the top nut securely onto the new strut using 2 wrenches, one to hold the strut rod in place, and the other to tight the nut down securely.
After all adjustments are made, place the shock into the bottom shock mount inside of the clamp. There is a small key way on the back of the strut housing that fits into the clamp. Make sure that lines up and slide the strut into place as far as the shock will allow. Now, insert the top mount into the fender where it will mount on the top. Thread all 3 screws in from the top just like when you took out the factory strut. Keep it loose for now until all the brake lines and brackets are in proper position. If it's easier to put the spring and strut assembly in the top first, go for it. Whatever makes it easier for you to install. As long as the strut is fully inserted into the steering knuckle clamp.
This image is focused on the wrong component but in the blurry foreground, you can see the keyway.
Now take the brake line and mount it to the bracket on the KW strut housing using the factory hardware you removed. Put the ABS sensor back into place. Don’t put the end link back together until the other side is done. Only reinstall the end links after the suspension has been completely installed. When you go to reinstall the end links to the new bracket on the strut housing, use the same allen bit and pass through socket or wrench to tighten down securely.
Step 5 – Remove the Rear Shock
Start by jacking the rear end of the car in the air and putting it on jacks if you aren’t working with a lift. Make sure the vehicle is in gear so it doesn’t roll as you lift the car.
Remove the sway bar end links on the sway bar side only using a 14mm socket.
Take a floor jack and place it underneath the lower control arm that holds the bottom of the spring in. Put a slight amount of pressure on the control arm with the jack but only until it barely moves it up. This is just to release tension in order to remove the bolt holding the control arm in place.
Using a 15mm socket wrench or possibly a breaker bar, break loose the lower control arm bolt and remove it completely. You may need to raise or lower the jack position depending on the tension needed to loosen the bolt. After the bolt is fully removed, lower the jack so the spring slowly unloads and expands to push the lower control arm down. Remove the spring by holding the lower control arm out of the way and manually pulling the spring out of the perch.
Now that the spring is out of the way, you can access the rear camber arm. This is not 100% necessary for this job but if you lower your car enough, you’ll need to replace these with adjustable versions. We decided to use the SPC camber arms because they are OEM strength and quality with the ability to adjust camber while on the car. These are extremely strong and have done a great job on some other projects we’ve worked on. Using a 15mm wrench and the closed end of another wrench for extra leverage, remove the bolt holding the inner part of the camber arm to the chassis. Then, remove the bolt holding the outer part of the arm. This also holds a brake line bracket in place.
After removing the camber arm, place it next to the new arm and adjust the new arm until you can put the bolts through both ends of both arms. This will put the new arms in a stock position and will give you the best starting point before you actually get the car professionally aligned.
Put the camber arm back in place and tighten down both bolts. Typically, we use 30-40 lb ft of torque when tightening these bolts.
Move to the lower shock mount and remove the bolt. Next, move to the top of the shock and remove the two nuts holding it to the chassis on the top side.
Remove the top nut of the shock. If you have a drill press or access to one, this would be ideal to drill a larger hole to fit the new KW shock into the factory upper mount. We used a 3/8” drill bit for this.
Step 6 - Install KW Rear Shock and Spring
After drilling a larger diameter hole and cleaning the surrounding area to clear debris, insert the new KW rear shock into the factory top mount. Using 2 wrenches, tighten down the nut onto the strut rod until it is pretty snug.
Now insert the shock and upper mount back into the car and hand tighten the two upper mount nuts down but do not tighten completely. Allow them to sit loose until the bottom mount of the shock is put in place. Mount the lower portion of the shock, as well.
Insert the lower spring perch onto the car as instructed in the KW manual. This is how you will adjust height in the rear. The large black portion goes in through the top and the lighter colored metal plate goes on the bottom to lock the height position in place. Before you tighten the 3 supplied bolts and washers into place, thread the black perch from the bottom with an allen socket bit to the right height. If you go all the way to the top, it will be close to factory ride height. Since the KWs aren’t an extremely low setup, we lowered them to their maximum only in the rear to get our desired height. Once you achieve the right height, tighten the 3 allen head bolts in place until they are snug and put the c-clip on the end of the threads.
Put the upper spring insulator on the new KW spring. Insert the spring into the lower control arm perch and raise it up while guiding the top of the spring in manually so it sits correctly in the upper perch. Using the floor jack again, raise up the lower control arm until there is enough tension to hold the spring in place. Line up the bolt holes for the lower control arm outer mount. Insert the bolt and thread through. You might need to manually move the lower hub around slightly to get the bolt to slide into place. Once you do, thread the lower bolt in and tighten to about 30-40 ft lbs of torque.
Leave the sway bar disconnected until you complete the other side so the tension is still relieved. Repeat the instructions for the other side of the vehicle. As with any installation, go through all of the components that were changed or removed at one point to make sure everything is snug and put back together correctly. Many times during an install, you’ll forget about one or two components that were supposed to be buttoned back up. You always want to double and/or triple check your work.
When you tighten the sway bars down, you need to do so while the car's suspension system is loaded with the full weight of the car. We have 4 stacks of 8x2 wooden blocks stacked 4 high. Make absolute sure that the e-brake is engaged and the car is in gear during this adjustment. Since we use a lift, we kept the legs of the lift underneath the car for safety, you can do the same thing with jack stands.
After lowering the vehicle, torque the wheels down between 70-80 lb ft of torque. Drive it around for a couple hundred miles to allow the springs to settle and then perform a professional alignment.
Go out and carve it up!!