Anyone able to help me out?

And i don't have FSM =)

 

Sure...

Buy a spring compressor- or rent one

Remove the top 4 bolts on the front strut towers under teh hood
remove the rim and tire
remove the bottom two bolts on teh strut itself
and pull the sturt/ spring assembly out
repeat on other side

compress spring using compressor
remove spring
install new spring
reveseof removal

same on rear just less bolts....have fun and pray you don't have an SE cause yoy have to move the caliper on the single piston brakes to get them out..good luck...

 

i have a s5 base.

I'm guessing i only have the single piston?

 

No you have the 4...

 

You forgot to mention to LOOSEN the center nut on the top of the strut. Not remove just loosen before you jack the car up.

Dude, you don't need a FSM. Just go to Auto Parts store and get a Haynes manual. If you are going to work on your car you need one.

http://pws.gamewood.net/~mb800/struts/struts.html

James

 

I disagree. I would seriously recommend against loosning the nut..... Leave it where it is while removing.. when it's out pu tht e strut in a vise and undo the nut from there. It's just not safe any other way....

 

S5 base has single piston calipers.

It's really not that big of a deal to remove the calipers..

How are you going to put the strut in a vice with the spring on there? Unless you put it on the threads, in which case you gum the hell of the threads.

Impact gun is the way to go. I don't see the problem with loosening the center nut on the car, just loop a strong chain around the spring to keep it from flying out when you raise the car.

Paul

 

is it really necessary to hollow out the rear strut and create a insert.. or is that only with koni's?? im looking to do a set of eibachs with the kyb agx's. will i have to do that with this setup ???

 

kyb agx's come in complete strut assembly, direct replacement of stock struts.

 

Koni's require hollowing out of the *front* strut. The rear is direct replacement.

 

RRTEC, it is safe to just break the nut loose. As long as there are threads thru the nut that thing is not going anywhere. And if it does, you have a major defect in your your struts metal.

Yeah, I understand the Koni's are more work and more expensive. But I think it is worth the time and money.

James

 

i'm bookmarking your page wankel7 for reference, for when i replace mine with KYB AGX's in a couple weeks

 

I have loosened the center strut nut before. What I usually do is remove the wheel and put the spring compressor on there as a precaution.

I put Koni Yellows in my 88 SE.
I didn't exactly care for them but I think the springs were worn out as well since it was pretty mushy.

I had to chop the tops opff the old struts and then drill a hole at the bottom.

I would put them in my 88 GTU but the tokico's in it are awesome. Stiff but good.

 

Ok you are going to learn something today.... A trick from someone who has done this more times then you have had sex i bet.......

If you put the part of the strut that is plastic with the bolts attached (upper section) into the vice put your wrench on there guess what it holds everything in place and POW WOW! The top nut comes right off....

 

Wow his profile says he's 23! I half expected him to be 14. Aslo, for the rears, you will just spin the shaft of the strut with the nut at the same time, hence the impact wrench. By the way, how is this way safe? You still end up unloading the spring without somehting holding onto it, even if there isn't much pressure on it.

 

you can buy spring compressor for like 30 bux, why doit any other way and risk getting hurt. I know a mechanic who has 30 years of experience, but one of his dumbo employees didn't put the strut together properly and it shot through his chin and messed up his face pretty good. There is alot of pressure on those springs. Be careful, and do it properly.

BTW, if you don't have the FSM, just download it.

 

Even better than buying a spring compressor......going to Autozone and renting one.

 

What kinda spring compressor do you all use? I bought some for 7 dollars and they are like.. crappy, you have to screw this bolt on top to compress the spring, that bastard takes FOREVER to use.

 

yeah, you keep believing that there dude. That shaft will spin and spin if you hold it simply from the shock body the way you describe it.

I agree with the spring compressor as the right way to go overall, but even still, you're going to have a tough time getting that top nut off without something holding that shaft in place, or using an impact gun.

Don't talk to me about spring/shock changes there RRTEC. I think I've done it a time or two.



PaulC

 

A friend of my dad's used to work on Volkswagens for a living, and he told us a story once about a spring getting away from him. He did all his work in his back yard, so there wasn't much to hit. But this one punched thru the fender and few 20 feet away and crashed thru his kitchen window. Just a reminder to be safe with these things. If a Volkswagen spring can fly that far after punching thru a fender, imagine what one of our springs could do.

 

Paul you need to make a sight with a crapload of high quality pics ASAP

 

I'm not going to do this with you guys tonight......

 

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I bet i have had more sex then all of you!