Rod, did you reuse the small metal collar at the top of the strut?
Rod, did you reuse the small metal collar at the top of the strut?
Never mind. I used the spacers. The rebuilt struts are in. With KYB's in the back the car sits about 3/4" higer in the back. I haven't drove the car yet. I will in the morning since I finished up just before 10 o'clock tonight grimy and nasty.
^
You will need to roll the car forward and backward at least ten feet to allow hte tyres and suspension to settle to normal. Changing shocks/struts will not change ride height.
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Sorry, missed your post. As you found out, yes use the spacer.
How hard was it taking the top off of the strut? Mine were TIGHT and almost tore the vice off of my bench removing them.
Keep us posted on what you think after you drive it.
This is what I though was thread locker? All I know is it took 1,000,000 ft lb to remove them.
PA100068.JPG
That's a lot of torque.
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The tops of my struts were no problem. Stuck them in my vise and tackled them with a very large pipe wrench. Came right off no problem. The ride is wonderful now.
BTW. 30cc is equal to 2 tablespoons of oil. I used hydraulic jack oil.
The very large pipe wrench was the key! I was maxing out my large tools and my little vise mounted to my wooden work bench was straining but did the job. In hindsight I think I'd consider 3/4" drive stuff and more leverage.
Thanks for the review on the ride, I didn't have any drive time before installing the cartridges so I don't have a good reference point.
Seems my suspension seems fairly stiff and when I hit bumps, harsher than I remember. Might be spoiled with the newer cars and technology. Still a blast to drive!
When I was talking to myself, I mentioned the defective thread.
Here it is. Oh the joys of finding this while trying to wrap up the task at hand and not having a M16 tap handy and finding no one in the area seems to stock them. Sure I can order online and wait a week or come up another idea.
Slept on it and in the morning pulled out the Dremel, a thin cut off wheel and did some precise surgery!
Threads.JPG
Look into thread files in Metric size.
Helping SVO owners & racers since 1984
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The oil between the strut housing and the insert is just for heat conduction. It has no affect on damping, unless the strut insert gets hot.
The strut to spindle bolts have a 21mm head.
I would avoid using an impact gun on the strut nut. The impact gun spins the strut shaft, along with the piston in the strut very fast. This means that the piston seal is spinning against the inside of the strut tube very fast and heating up. You can damage the seal doing this. If you have to use an impact gun, only use very short bursts (1 sec) and then wait for 10 seconds or so.
Jack Hidley
Maximum Motorsports Tech Support
Had to use the impact on the strut nut of the old Konis, been there since 1984 and wasn't budging. Nut came off but pretty sure the guts aren't adjustable any more. Oh well, Koni can fix that if I ever decide on a rebuild.