If you are refreshing the whole car, start with the suspension refresh guide, then work through the sections below. Several of these parts are safety-critical, so follow the torque figures and check the fasteners.
Start here
- Suspension refresh: what to replace and what it costs
A planning guide for stripping and refreshing the suspension: which parts owners replaced, the order of work, and what it cost in 2009 and 2011. Prices are dated and will have changed. - Hub carrier bolts
Known to snap without warning, dropping that corner of the car. Inspect, and renew with higher-grade bolts if there's no record of it being done. - Bolts and nuts to replace on refit
A list of the bolts and nuts our guides say to renew when you refit them: the angle-tightened engine bolts, exhaust and manifold nuts, the driveshaft nut and split pin, mount, shock and steering nuts, and the hub carrier bolts. Collected from the factory manual figures and owner reports; not complete. - Torque values
A searchable list of recommended tightening torques for the VX220 and Speedster: body, suspension, brakes, steering, gearbox, fuel, the NA (Z22SE) engine from the Vauxhall TIS, and two forum lists for the Turbo engine. Figures the forum thread disputes are marked.
Wishbones, hubs and bearings
- Front wishbone removal: access tips
Getting the front upper and lower wishbones off: the awkward upper rear bolt (turn the steering to full lock), reaching the lower wishbone nut past the anti-roll bar, separating the tapered ball joints, and putting the shims back in the same place so the geometry survives. - Wishbone ball joints and bushes
Replacing the ball joints (a very tight press fit that is best done in a press) and the wishbone bushes (rubber versus polyurethane, how to press them in, which way round they go, and torquing the bolts at ride height). - Wishbone corrosion protection: coatings compared
Owners’ experience of powder coating, plating, galvanising, POR15, 2-pack paint, Hammerite and waxy sprays on wishbones and uprights, plus how to protect them without taking them off the car. - Wheel hub and bearing replacement, front and rear
Replacing the hub-and-bearing unit at either end. The same steps as a disc change, plus three tight hub bolts and, on the rear, the driveshaft nut and splines. Where owners got stuck: seized bolts, rusted-in hubs, and hammering the driveshaft. - Wheel bearings: which to buy, and the front clamp bolt
The VX220 uses one hub-and-bearing unit at all four corners (the Astra G / Zafira A part with the ABS sensor built in). What owners say about brands and prices, how to tell a failing bearing, and why the front hubs need the M16 centre clamp bolt if the bearing is the cheap tapered-roller type. - Rear toe links
Replacing the rear toe links (tie rod ends), either like-for-like or with an uprated kit. A straightforward job, but the inner joint has a left-hand thread and it needs a geometry check afterwards.
Shocks, springs and anti-roll bars
- Shock absorber and spring removal and replacement
The factory steps for removing and replacing the standard shock absorbers and the suspension spring, from the Vauxhall TIS. - Shock absorber choice: refurbishing, replacing or upgrading
Worn or leaking standard shocks and what owners did about them: how to tell, refurbishing the originals, Exige and Elise Bilsteins, and the non-adjustable and adjustable upgrades (Quantum, Nitron, Gaz), with their reports on ride, ride height and reliability. Threads from 2004 to 2025. - Adjustable shocks: fitting (Gaz Gold coilovers)
Swapping the front and rear shock absorbers for adjustable coilovers, shown with Gaz Gold kits. A straightforward bolt-in job, but the front driver’s side top bracket is a tight fit, the suspension doesn’t drop the way it should if you have an uprated anti-roll bar, and you need to plan for ride height and a geometry check. - Anti-roll bars: choosing uprated, adjustable and rear bars
What owners fitted and thought of uprated front anti-roll bars (Elise Parts, Plans, EP, Cornering Force blade), where to set an adjustable one, whether to add a rear bar, how it interacts with springs and geometry, and why a bar knocks or touches the wishbone. Opinions from 2007 to 2018, often in disagreement. - Stabiliser bar (anti-roll bar) removal and refitting
The factory steps for taking out and refitting the front stabiliser bar (anti-roll bar) and its link, from the Vauxhall TIS.
Steering
- Track rod ends and rear tie rods
Which joint is which, where owners buy front track rod ends and rear tie rods, how to check them for wear, the 30 Nm nut torque from the TIS, whether S1 ends fit, and a 2017 warning about taper fit on aftermarket steering arms and ball joints. - Steering rack replacement (with a DIY tracking check)
Swapping the steering rack at home, plus a cheap laser gauge that lets you put the tracking back exactly where it was. The author did it alone in about four hours. - Steering rack types, refurbishing and replacements
How to tell whether the play is in the rack or the intermediate shaft, which rack your car has (Titan or Sona), whether Elise and Exige racks fit, how owners refurbish a Titan rack with bronze cups, and the pinion preload check. - Steering column universal joints
Finding play in the steering column joints, which joint kit to buy, and the ways owners have got the awkward upper joint off and back on, with the airbag and clock spring precautions. Includes the 2017 case where tightening the two joint bolts cured an MOT advisory. - Aftermarket steering arms and ball joint tapers (2017 thread)
A 2017 safety concern about the taper fit of some aftermarket steering arms and ball joints: the two kinds of arm, what was reported, what owners said to check, and what was never settled in the thread.
Setting up afterwards
- Wheel alignment (geometry) settings
The factory alignment figures from the Vauxhall TIS, the older figures still quoted on the forums, the fast road and track settings owners use, how the camber shims work, and what to check before you book an alignment. - Camber and castor adjustment (TIS method)
The factory steps for adjusting front camber, front castor and rear camber with the shims, from the Vauxhall TIS. - Road tyres: standard sizes, the 175 front problem and what owners fit
The standard tyre sizes, why the original 175/55R17 front is no longer available, the 195/45R17 swap that is now the practical answer, the rim-width warning that comes with it, and the road tyres owners have named from 2015 to 2025.