replacing front shocks

bimoverde

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Just bought a set of bilstein and i will attempt to replace the front shocks(i do have a hoist).. can some share with me the best way to do this.. i did not find much infos online..
 

m_thompson

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I have a new, well they were new when I bought them 30 years ago, set of Boge struts that I need to install in my CS. I have been putting this project off for a very long time.
 

bavbob

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Abridged without images
1) Tire off, caliper off (just off, no need to disconnect, rest on or suspend from something other than strut tower)
2) Cut the wire stringing the 3 specialized bolts on bottom of housing (cannot see unless car on lift or you on your back), remove these, think 17mm ( may need to turn steering to get access to all of them). This will separate strut housing from control arm /tie rod. You may have to give the housing a wack or turn the steering wheel a bit.
3) Undo nuts holding strut housing under the hood. As you do this, someeone should support the housing, after all are out, you can drop the entire housing with spring and remove it. Now you go spring compressor etc on the benchtop. Keep track of order of parts as you remove the spring and strut housing bearing.
4) I loosing the large nut holding the strut in the strut tube before I start anything. A discussion here a while back on it but I use a pipe wrench that fits between the spring coils. Just loosen. When on the bench, and spring etc are off, then unscrew and remove old strut.
5) I grease the new strut body a bit either lithium or a bit of anti seize. Others may not do this but it helps years later to get the thing out if changing again.

Strut housing bearing..well they are like 250 bucks each, so clean, grease etc and reuse unless totally shot.
Order up some spring cushions from the dealer, cheap. You will want to change these.

NB: Here in New England, the strut housing drain holes that are part of the spring support flange, get filled with sand and water sits in this trough and causes rusts. While you have them in view, clean them out.
 

Markos

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You don’t need to remove the bottom three safety wired bolts. You can undo the top three fender bolts, drop the control arm, and swing the strut away from the fender.

If accessible, attempt to crack the strut retaining ring free before unbolting anything. Being mounted to the car, you will have much more leverage on the retaining ring. I’ve never done it that way, so the spring may be in the way.

I posted this video last week that shows how to use an impact gun and a spring compressor to remove the spring. The next step is to remove the retaining ring. I didn’t do this in my video because the ring is not OEM and will require some type of heavy duty pin wrench. I haven’t sourced a tool yet so I am
stick at the moment.

 

bimoverde

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thanks a lot this just the infos i needed.. will keep you posted on the installation. Hopefully i got the correct front shocks i was told there are 2 different length.
 

Peter Coomaraswamy

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DQ's write up is great, as usual- a little over-the-top, but you'll be able to fix any problem you come across by using the thread provided above, also the comments by the other contributors to that thread are priceless. My two cents would be that you look at the diagrams and be sure you get the strut bearing washers put in correctly, they go together "counterintuitively" if that's a real word? but it sucks taking them apart just to flip over a couple washers, yes, I know, I know-

If you are using CN springs what you may find is that you hardly need a spring compressor to re-assemble the strut, but there should be some pressure against the top plate.

Also, be sure the threaded collars are tight against the strut tubes, really tight and put a couple of ounces of ATF in the tube before putting in the strut. If your old strut won't come out or your new one won't go in you may have a bent strut housing. I have a couple extras if anyone needs one.

Now, grab a beer and a wrench and have at it!
 

m_thompson

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I found two part numbers for the strut bearings. The one with the short studs for '72 and earlier was quite expensive. The one with the long studs for the US '73 and later was much less expensive. I bought a set of short studs and the less expensive '73 and later bearing.
 

Markos

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I snapped some pics of a technique you can use if your strut retainer doesn’t want to come off. A vise and a pipe wrench:


A171690D-1AB7-4B3A-9DDD-B699717310BD.jpeg
A18C2806-6844-46CA-81F0-D02C8781DDF4.jpeg
 
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