Tuesday 29 November 2016

Perodua Viva : Changing Air Press

In my time of hiatus, I changed my Viva's air press from Move style to Mugen style. I broke my air press as it was soft and I accidentally pushed the air press while trying to close the door.

Move style air press - wider
The broken piece
The air press was hideous, so I decided to buy a new one from Lelong, where I found a seller who was selling Mugen style air press for RM50.

The air press, delivered safely
It was delivered to my house within 2 days of ordering it online. Although I've read that GDEX's reputation is not that good, but I was satisfied with it.

New air press installed
The air press is not as wide as the Move style
It took me half an hour to open up the old air press and installed the new one. The old double tape is hard to peel off, so use a pen knife to scrape off the old double tape.

Perodua Viva : Increasing Height of Lowered Springs

It's been quite a while since this blog was updated, and in that period of time, I ended my internship and graduated 2 weeks ago. Today, I am going to share how to increase the height of your Perodua Viva for those who are using standard lowering springs, like mine.

My setup for the Viva is using Kelisa's springs in front and Myvi's springs at the back, because when I bought the lowered springs, they did not have the springs for Viva. But then, after years of use, and being in Sibu where the potholes and bumps are unforgiving, the springs seems to be too low for me, and everytime the car is fully loaded, it would scrape at even the smallest bump on the road.

I did some research, and found out that I can actually raise my car a few centimetres by using thicker coil spring buffers/pads/cushions (not sure what is the exact term for it). I found the information from some forums for Saga BLM owners, and tried asking the spare parts shop, whether they sell the same thing.

Original Viva on the left, Myvi/Kenari on the right

Viva on the left, Myvi/Kenari on the right
The difference of height of the coil spring buffer is obvious, with the Viva having thin rubber, and the Myvi's rubber being twice thicker than the Viva. It costs RM14 per pair, and it is easy to install. 

Tools needed:
1. Car jack
2. Spanners
3. Size 16 box spanners

Initial measurement of the ride height
Before I start, I took a rough measurement of the car's height and the space between the fender and the tyres fits 3 fingers, but it was very tight, and I can feel that my fingers are squeezed between.

Jacking up the car
First, jack up the car and take the wheel off the car.

Location of the spring buffer
The coil spring buffer is on top of the spring. Pull it out and take it off the car.

New coil spring buffer in place
Then, put the new coil spring buffer in and install the springs at the original place. 

Taking off the rear absorber
I found it difficult to put the springs back as the absorber was in the way, so I used a size 16 box spanner to open the absorber, set the springs back in its original position, and installing the absorber back in its place.

Height measurement after installing the coil spring buffer
After installing everything back, I took another rough measurement of the car's height. The space between the fender and the tyre can easily fit 3 fingers and there is an extra space in between.

Happy DIY-ing!