Knock knock, from the top of the struts

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 22 Jan 2009, 21:52

Larry,

Can you get a shot of the top of the spring where it goes into the spring seat? Actually a couple of shots would be even better - both with particular emphasis on the very end of the spring in relation to the end of the seat and the end of the strut spring mount plate. Both ends of the spring should be spot on at the stops on the both the strut and the spring seat for it to fit correctly.

...Lee

Post by **holler1** » 23 Jan 2009, 19:23

Should have stayed in bed today. I got a compressor and took the strut apart. The seat and mount look OK. Here is a photo of the spring and the old and new seats.

: Img_2079a.jpg (217.02 KiB) Viewed 1292 times

I remounted the spring backwards, and it didn't fit at all well. Here's a photo.

: Img_2086a.jpg (219.85 KiB) Viewed 1285 times

The spring end doesn't fit in the seat; the coil at that end is too small. I took it apart again, put the spring back in original direction, and put it back together. Here's a photo of that and photos of the ends as Lee suggested. Both ends are still "out of pocket" a little.

: Img_2088a.jpg (235.04 KiB) Viewed 1289 times

: Img_2094a.jpg (134.48 KiB) Viewed 1284 times

After all the remounting with no good way to hold the strut shaft, I messed up the threads at the top. I got the x nut pretty tight, but could not get the top nut down tight at all. At best I may be able to use a die on it. Discouraging day. No new info on the problem and thread damage on the strut. I'm going to put it back in the car tomorrow and see how it does.

larryh · Post by **larryh** » 23 Jan 2009, 19:36

that spring is goofy looking. is the other side the same? I think the spring is bad....

JFO · Post by **JFO** » 23 Jan 2009, 21:22

The spring does look strange in the pic's. Is the strut centered within the spring, and is the spring straight...ie no twist or bend? It should be. It's been awhile since I changed mine, but I'm sure it was not asymmetrical within the spring. In the pic's the strut looks offset and the the spring looks like it bends to one side.

Jim

larryh · Post by **larryh** » 24 Jan 2009, 20:59

so there's a picture of a strut in this post... http://www.v70r.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17070
it's def. not all bent like yours. I think that your spring is putting a whole lot of uneven stress on the seat/mount and could easily cause a noise. my 2 c's

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 25 Jan 2009, 06:23

holler1,

I am stumped. I was very careful to get my springs all the way to their end stops on both the base plate on the strut and on the spring seat but your pictures don't look like you are far enough from the end to have the problems with the spring that your pictures show.

Has this car been in an accident? I wonder if something on the strut is bent.

...Lee

Post by **holler1** » 25 Jan 2009, 08:59

Lee - No accident other than a sideswipe on drivers side 5 years ago that affected the sheet metal. I replaced both struts in Sept 08. However, there seems to be a growing consensus here that my springs are bad.

I compressed the pass side spring again and made sure the spring ends were "in the pockets". Here are a few more pictures. The first is the pass side strut after remounting. The second is taken up the strut well after putting the car's weight on the strut by jacking it up under the ball joint.

: v70 pas side strut with ends in pockets small.jpg (31.15 KiB) Viewed 1342 times

: v70 pas side strut with car weight small.jpg (117.37 KiB) Viewed 1339 times

The last is a drivers side pic from last Aug when I took out the old struts.

: V70 driver's side strut old 092708.jpg (157.45 KiB) Viewed 1340 times

Note the strut pictures are taken from an angle to maximize the asymmetry, from the front of the car if the strut were mounted. The pics posted here by other folks are from the front of the strut itself and minimizes the asymmetry.

Assuming I do need to get new springs, any opinions on which or where? I found Scantech springs for $49 at FCPG. OEM springs at ~$110 appear to come in 3 varieties from swedishautoparts, depending on markings, but I found no markings on the springs and have no idea which to order, or even if it makes any difference. Or I can get a complete used strut with springs, mounts and all from ErieVoVo.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 25 Jan 2009, 12:19

You might want to post your pictures over on Swedespeed in the IPD section. I think Lucky at IPD knows as much about springs for these cars as anyone on the planet.

http://forums.swedespeed.com/zeroforum?id=53

...Lee

Knock knock, from the top of the struts

Re: Knock knock, from the top of the struts