Strut cartridge compatibility?

Dave L

Dave L

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Orange County, CA USA
I'm pretty sure the answer to my first question will be negative, because that's just my luck.
However I've gotta ask:

It appears I has a front strut cartridge fail last saturday. I have a box in the garage with a full set for my e24. Do they fit the e9 (70 2800cs)?

Second question, if I pull off the strut assembly, is it easy to swap out the strut cartridges? or do you need a spring compressor tool and/or anything else special?

Feel free to chime in with any guidance....
 
There are at least 3 different struts for the e9 and two different diameter ring nuts. 48mm and 50 mm
Go carefully here...
 
Stage one of the repair

disassembled the front suspension today. Not all that difficult. Even though I've has this car for a while it still never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to work on. Every time, I expect it to be a real chore. It never is. It is a great help to have the shop manuals though.
 
pls post some pics, and are you going to replace bushings, if so which ones (or all)?
 
Strut cartridge replacement

So, is there some trick to untightening the nut at the top of the cartridge in order to slide it out of the housing? If you compress the spring the whole thing just kind of spins in there when you turn it. What do you do to lock it in place to be able to unscrew it? The shop manual shows a special ratchet socket, but come on, how does a real "shade tree" mechanic do it?

Sorry I have not taken photos, I've been too intent on fumbling through this on my own. I'm just doing the strut cartridges now. I'll attack bushings later since you don't need to mess with them to replace struts.

Dave L
 
strut cartridge raplacement

impact wrench. Ok, I have one, it just seems to me that it would just spin, but hey I'm willing to give it a try.
 
Strut replacement

Ok, the impact wrench works like a charm. Amazingly so.

So now I have run into the next problem: Once you compress the spring, unscrew the top retaining nut, remove the top retaining parts, bellows and spring and expose the strut cartridge, the cartridge is then held in place by a chrome ring that appears to be threaded. The shop manual states that you remove this ring with a "6016 socket". It doesn't seem to budge/unscrew with any normal amount of force and I cant locate any tool that is called a 6016 socket. Can anyone tell me how to get this off so the cartridge slides out?

Dave L
 
Strut replacement

Well, a "bigass pipe wrench" didn't work. I'm more likely to snap my arm than budge that ring. I noticed in the old thread from when Bwana did this he said he pounded in this with a hammer and chisel. I may need to find a big vise to clamp this bad boy down.

Dave L
 
On a Porsche 911 a pipe wrench usually does the job...

On early Porsche 911 if you put the top of the strut back together loosely 4-5 turns of the top nut and then use a pipe wrench with an extension if necessary you can brake the nut loose...

Be very careful not to damage the strut housing when turning the wrench... With the Porsche struts they often come with a new ring nut so damaging that is not an issue... Not sure about the E9..
 
execmalibu said:
On early Porsche 911 if you put the top of the strut back together loosely 4-5 turns of the top nut and then use a pipe wrench with an extension if necessary you can brake the nut loose...

Be very careful not to damage the strut housing when turning the wrench... With the Porsche struts they often come with a new ring nut so damaging that is not an issue... Not sure about the E9..
Click to expand...

Yea, that does work...
 
Strut replacement

Ok, I just needed a bigger "Big Ass Pipe Wrench" I finally got that "PITA" ring to turn. Once it was unstuck it spun off easily. Now I'm just waiting for my replacements to be delivered. I'm glad I have the time to clean these up before having to reinstall.
 
Strut replacement

Finally got all the parts and the needed tools. Swapped out the cartridges easily, (didn't forget to add the oil). All went back together rather smoothly. I noticed that, while they were both bilstein, the old fronts were different. Slightly different cartridges with different rings to screw into the housing, hummmm. I asssembled them with the new parts and put them back on the car. They feel real nice except for the right (passenger) has a very slight "tick/rattle"). I've tried about every adjustment I can think of, as far as tightening or an extra washer goes, from the top. I think I am gong to have to pull the assembly again to figure it out. I was able to go out for a "test drive", to Murray's outing at the Lyon's Museum. Very nice! Most of the other cars are so nice it shames me.

I may try to replace to top part of the strut (above the dish holding the spring in place, the part the cartridge rod is secured to). Is that still an available part? Again, my two sides appear slightly different I assume that is not normal. Maybe a PO replaced one side with a complete assembly from another car.

I'll get it right one of these days.

Dave L
 
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