[Shotimes] Removing front struts

Fri, 4 Jul 2003 13:13:59 -0400 (EDT)

I finally got both front sides done about a month ago.  This was the first time I removed struts on my car. Gotta tell you, the front left, which I did first, took a loooong time. Days! Right side took 2-3 hours using all the experience I had gained from the left. Here's what I did to get the struts out:

First of all, I kept the LCA attached to the spindle. But there was no way the tension strut would give me enough room to lower the spindle below the bottom of the strut. So what I did was to put a ~2.5' long 2x4 under the sway-bar-link bracket of the strut to keep the strut about 1-2" higher than in the relaxed state. Of course now the strut would be in tension when slipping out of spindle. So I used a strut compressor to relieve this tension to a minimum.  When the strut slipped out of the spindle you can then guide it into the proper direction without getting hurt. I positioned the strut compressor on the side of the strut that's closer to the rear of the car.

Putting the Intrax/Koni struts on was quite easy since the length of this combo is about 1" shorter than the Eibach/Tokico.  I disconneted the tie-rod so that I could tilt the spindle enough to the side to allow the strut to slip into the spindle. Then a little pushing is required to bring the spindle back into its upright position.

After driving around with the Intrax/Koni combo, the total drop in ride height has now settled to almost 1/2" per corner (same in all 4 corners.) The flat-road ride is not much different than before, except when turning and hitting bumps where it is clearly firmer. After driving with the Konis at minimum firmness for the first 300 miles, I adjusted the Konis for average firmness (right in the middle). The front-end bouncing up when driving over a "valley" or over a bump in the road, is practically gone.  This bouncing always bothered me with the Tokicos.

Btw, adjusting the Konis in the rear may be done as follows. Cut the adjusting knob to size so that it fits under the seat bell cover under the rear shelf.  I had to remove even amounts of plastic at both the key tip and at the bottom of the knob head.  I probably removed close to 1/4". But don't cut more off than you really need.  I also had to redrill the key hole which is no longer deep enough after removing 1/4". One more thing. The key hole is actually a round piece of plastic with a deep slit in it, and which is INSERTED into the knob.  This insert may fall out after you mess around with it. My insert got stuck on the front strut after I pulled the know away from the strut. So that's how I know. Luckily this didn't happen on the rear strut where it could possibly get lost in the mounting cup.  So what I suggest is that you deliberately take the insert out of the knob, and then glue it back into the knob.

Michael
94MTX,green,BOS+

 --- On Thu 05/15, Ron Porter < ronporter@prodigy.net > wrote:
From: Ron Porter [mailto: ronporter@prodigy.net]
To: molsen@excite.com, vanOss@centurytel.net, shotimes@autox.team.net
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 17:30:05 -0400
Subject: RE: [Shotimes] Removing front struts

When I pulled my stock struts/springs off my '95, the right side came out in<br>10 minutes, with only unbolting the strut and pushing down on the knuckle.<br><br>Now, the left side!!!!!!  Knuckle didn't drop NEAR enough!! Turns out that I<br>had borrowed a spring compressor from AZ, so I snuck it up on the bottom few<br>coils, and it was enough to compress the spring to get the strut out. Turns<br>out that the strut mount was cockeyed on that strut (maybe from the<br>factory??), and extended the strut. That also explained why my car sat high<br>in the front, because the Koni/Eibachs then dropped the front a full inch.<br><br>I suppose it would have been easy to pull the knuckle/LCA off, but I had not<br>ever done that before and the spring compressor was convenient.<br><br>FWIW, I would hate to mess with a spring compressor without using air tools,<br>it would seem to take forever by hand.<br><br>Ron Porter <br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: shotimes-admin@autox.team
 .net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]<br>On Behalf Of Michael<br>Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 4:13 PM<br>To: vanOss@centurytel.net; shotimes@autox.team.net<br>Subject: Re: [Shotimes] Removing front struts<br><br><br>I have spring compressors. But how can I use them while the strut is still<br>mounted in the car (in the strut tower)?<br><br>And even if I could fit the compressor onto the spring, doesn't the downward<br>force of the strut itself ensure that the strut is still fully extended?<br><br>Michael<br>94MTX,green,BOS+<br><br> --- On Thu 05/15, van Oss < vanOss@centurytel.net > wrote:<br>From: van Oss [mailto: vanOss@centurytel.net]<br>To: molsen@excite.com<br>Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 14:55:28 -0500<br>Subject: Re: [Shotimes] Removing front struts<br><br>Are you using spring compressors?<br><br>Joseph<br><br><br><br>-----<br>Original Message -----<br>From: "Michael" <molsen@excite.com><br>To:<br><shotimes@autox.team.net><br>Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 2:51<br>PM<br
 >Subject: [Shotimes] Removing front struts<br><br><br>I just started<br>removing the front struts (Tokico/Eibach) to replace them<br>with<br>Koni/Intrax. On ShoTimes.com someone mentioned that the struts can<br>be<br>removed without removing the spindle. So far, I have disconnected<br>the<br>swaybar link and the tie-rod end and I have removed the<br>brake<br>caliber+bracket, rotor and shield.<br><br>I'm sitting here looking<br>at all the suspension components, and there doesn't<br>seem to be room<br>enough to pull the spindle off the strut. When I try to do<br>it, the<br>tension strut hits the subframe and prevents the lower control arm<br>from<br>moving further downwards. I didn't disconnect the LCA from the<br>spindle<br>yet. Should I? (This can't be done either, btw, since the tension<br>strut hits<br>t<br> he subframe. Only way to remove the LCA is to push the spindle upwards<br>~2<br>inches or so with a jack.)<br><br>Any advice how this should be<br>done?<br><br>Michael
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