Blown a shock, any guidance?

[Ferret]

There any howto's about changing the strut carts?

Easy job or a hard job? I've changed struts on another car previously and found it just needed a lot of elbow grease...

I've no hoist so will have to do this on a trolley jack and stands... any tips? Hard bits where there's stuck bolts?

[winfred]

the biggest pain in the ass is compressing the spring, the threaded rod el-cheepo compressors suck but they will get the job done, i like to use 3 instead of 2 to compress the spring, less likely to launch the spring across the yard (saw a guy get hit in the nuts by a launched spring)

[Evan]

there must be 100 posts about this subject.. you can do it in your driveway on a pair of stands.

gather all your tools and parts and a case of beer... you can do front and rear in one day.

I used KYB struts/shocks and H&R springs. I ordered all brand new hardware:

strut mounts
bump stops
washers
protective sleeves
spring pads

On a scale of one to ten I rate it a five in difficulty.

[Ferret]

the biggest pain in the ass is compressing the spring, the threaded rod el-cheepo compressors suck but they will get the job done, i like to use 3 instead of 2 to compress the spring, less likely to launch the spring across the yard (saw a guy get hit in the nuts by a launched spring)

Ouch >.< reminds me of seeing the same thing with a piece of wood coming off a circular saw at school...

How's about that nut off the top of the shock insert... how hard's it to get off?

[Evan]

no prob

[neil_004]

not bad. The factory ones have flats that you can put a wrench on. Bilsten have a hex hole in the top. Not sure on the KYB. They dont really get torqued all that tight.

[Ross]

An interesting way to compress springs for removal was passed along to me by my brother in law who is in the Austrian army.
This is how they do it on some pretty large trucks there; enough weight is applied to compress the spring by simply having lots of soldiers sit, stand, whatever on the corner in question. Large zip ties like the kind HVAC guys use for flexible ductwork are then used to bind the spring. Once the weight is removed the spring remains compressed.
The important caveat here is to use lots of very strong ties. He swears it works and has witnessed it being done several times.
However, speculating as to the cost of mil spec zip ties and given that "lots of them" are used, a spring compressor may be cheaper.
I thought this was a resourceful idea though.

[Ross]

No prob usually. If it's rusty and fights you just jam a vise grip on the shaft to prevent it from turning. Don't do this on the new ones.

[Ferret]

No prob usually. If it's rusty and fights you just jam a vise grip on the shaft to prevent it from turning. Don't do this on the new ones.

Hmm, I'm not sure if I've crossed everyones wires...

I was talking about the one that locks the shock insert into the strut... not the one at the top that holds the spring on?

[Ross]

Ahh, that one. The "nut" is just a thin piece for the wrench, err spanner to grab so I usually use a big pipe wrench, spanner, tool.
EDIT most new inserts will come with a new nut.

[Vanguard]

KYBs have a female hex in the top. I just did the job two weeks ago with a $12.99 HF spring compressor (was $8.99 on sale). I used an impact to remove the top nut after the springs were compressed.

[Bimmer man]

just did the same thing to mine as well used 2 spring compressors a pipe wrnch for the shock housing and a few metric sockets.

i loosened the lock nut before i completely compressed the springs the other side i had to use a vice grip to break the darn thing.