Shock insert will not pull out

Craig Stevens · 01-18-2002, 12:38 PM

I am replacing the inserts on my 80SC. The pn on the strut is 91134104132. I removed the roll pin at the bottom of the strut & the damn insert will not pull out of the strut !!! I have checked past posts,Waynes book,Bentley manual & every source that I can think of. Can anyone enlighten me? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks Craig

Eric Coffey · 01-18-2002, 12:56 PM

If you have removed the bottom pin, and top cap, and the insert is loose, but won't come out, you may have a bent strut housing. The slightest bend/crease will bind the insert in the tube, making it very difficult to remove.

john walker's workshop · 01-18-2002, 01:05 PM

put the nut and washer back on the shock and hammer it out from below the washer.

Dave Bouzaglou · 01-18-2002, 01:09 PM

There may also exist some corrosion on the bottom of the shaft. If you cannot remove it with LOTS of upward force, you need to remove the strut from the car, place it in a vise, attach a slide hammer to the upper threaded area and pull away. If it still does not come out, then you will have to drill a hole thru the bottom of the ball joint housing into the base of the strut. Then you can drive it out with a hammer and round drift.
BEFORE you do all of this: Check that the gap on the spindle knuckle is equal all the way around- this is a fast check to see if the strut is bent. If there is no gap on one side or the other, don't bother with pulling the insert, go buy a new strut!
Good luck

Craig Stevens · 01-18-2002, 01:23 PM

Thanks For all the info, the insert compresses ok. It feels like there is tremendous suction when trying to pull out. I'll put the top nut & washer back on & beat the crap out of it!! Thanks, Craig

89911 · 01-18-2002, 08:40 PM

You have a hydraulic lock in the insert and the shock housing. This happened when we removed these from an 87 last week. It took my brother and me, one holding, the other pulling, to get this out. We took it out when it was still attached to the A arm, which may of helped.

Zendalar · 01-19-2002, 08:25 AM

WELL, yesterday I did 6 hours of work in removing the front suspension. I did not plan to take off the shocks, but I had to because the damn shocks did not come off the ball joint.

I decided to remove the drivers side shocks after several hours of hammering. Now all of it sits on the garage floor, theres gotta be a way to remove the ball joint from the shock (yes, the wedge bolts are removed but its stuck).

No help from 10lbs hammer.

Gonna sandblast and paint it and put new bushes to the arms.

john walker's workshop · 01-19-2002, 09:13 AM

the ball joint is a bittch sometimes. take it to a shop with an airhammer. even then it resists sometimes. heat and an airhammer would be the next move.

Craig Stevens · 01-19-2002, 12:57 PM

Got them off ! I put the top nut & washer back on with a small chunk of 2X4 with a hole drilled in the center under the washer. Then placed a second chunk of 2X4 on top of the rotor with a small hyd jack between them. They popped right out. I then installed the monoballs on top of the tower,& new turbo tie-rods with the Smart Racing Bump Steer kit. Next weekend 22mm torsion bars in front with all new bushings. Then I'll start on the rear suspension. Does anyone have a trick on tightning the top nuts on the tower with out the shock shaft turning? I hope I can get my ball joints off the strut when I do the torsion bars & the bushings! Thanks for the help so far! I'm sure that there will be many more questions, Craig

P.S. I installed the factory short shift kit,robotek & stomski coupler Last weekend, if any one has questions about these upgrades let me know

autobonrun · autobonrun's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Craig Stevens
Got them off ! I put the top nut & washer back on with a small chunk of 2X4 with a hole drilled in the center under the washer. Then placed a second chunk of 2X4 on top of the rotor with a small hyd jack between them. They popped right out. I then installed the monoballs on top of the tower,& new turbo tie-rods with the Smart Racing Bump Steer kit. Next weekend 22mm torsion bars in front with all new bushings. Then I'll start on the rear suspension. Does anyone have a trick on tightning the top nuts on the tower with out the shock shaft turning? I hope I can get my ball joints off the strut when I do the torsion bars & the bushings! Thanks for the help so far! I'm sure that there will be many more questions, Craig

P.S. I installed the factory short shift kit,robotek & stomski coupler Last weekend, if any one has questions about these upgrades let me know

Not sure what type you have. I just looked at mine. The rear Bilsteins have a place for a 5mm hex to fit. The fronts only have a key slot. If you have Bilsteins, you may be able to hold it by inserting a screwdriver down into the key slot. I assume the shock tower does not have a inset that holds it.

By the way, did you disconnect your brake lines to rotate the strut out of the fender? I'm starting this exercise tonight.

Had to spend $42 for a spanner wrench which will probably only be used once a lifetime! Aargh!

Craig Stevens · 01-19-2002, 02:24 PM

I just pulled the clip between the soft line & the hard line. That gave me enough play to swing the strut out. I also placed a floor jack under the strut to hold it up & to pivot on. Good luck, Craig

89Targa · 01-19-2002, 02:53 PM

Just finished replacing my front Boge shock inserts with Bilsteins. The floor jack under the strut not only saves your brake lines, but also gives you a way to push the top of the insert back into the upper mount. Make sure you don't jack the car up off the jack stands! I didn't get the special spanner, I just used a monkey wrench.

With the help of my 16 year old son, the first insert took an hour to replace and the second one took about a half hour. Much easier than I thought, but there would have been a lot more guess work without all the "how to" threads on this board regarding this proceedure.

autobonrun · autobonrun's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Craig Stevens
Does anyone have a trick on tightning the top nuts on the tower with out the shock shaft turning?

I think I have an answer for you if your 80 SC has the same setup as my 79. I just got my top bolt loose. The dish shaped metal piece immediately under the top bolt has a tooth that fits into the grove in the shock shaft. The outside of the dish has an indention that is designed for the spanner wrench. Basically, when you use the spanner wrench to hold the dish, it holds the shaft. Just make sure as you tighten the bolt, that the outside indention is set at a convenient place to allow the wrench to attach. Someone had mine up against the fender so it was nearly impossible to get the wrench on. I rotated it by tightening up on the bolt first.

79SC

Craig Stevens · 01-19-2002, 11:28 PM

I replaced te top shock mount with monoball mounts, & the monoball does not use the large washer,just the small one that pinches against the nut. I am afraid if I use my air wrench, the entire unit will spin & destroy the seals. Craig

dickster · 01-20-2002, 12:15 AM

craig

whats the shifter like now with the improvements?

i've read that what you have done is the way to go.

richard

Craig Stevens · 01-20-2002, 06:15 AM

Richard, The factory short shift kit & the stomski coupler made the biggest difference. The robotek spring loads first & second gear just like 5th & reverse on the other side. The main purpose on the robotek is to prevent down shifts from 5th to second & you have to use side ways pressure when shifting from 1st to 2nd to avoid going fron 1st to fourth. The short shift & the stomski define the gates very well.When I first assembled, everything was to tight. It was a ***** to shift! so I backed off a little on the front set screw & the 22mm nut on the front of the tower. Then I backed off the perssure on the robotek to give the shifter a small amount of play. It shifts great now. It took a long time to remove the console the first time. I also removed the drivers seat for more working room.The most difficult part is correctly installing the coupler. It is a lot easier if you mark the end of the coupler on the shaft before it is disassembled.When reassembling, twist the coupler twards the right side of the car when looking forward till you feel the stop.Then make sure the the shifter is straight up & down, & put sideways pressure to the left side. I placed a small piece of wood on the reverse side to leverage to the left untill I tighened the front of the coupler. the stomski coupler is a little longer than the factory one so you might have to adjust a little. make sure that you tighten the front of the coupler very tight. Mine slipped,& locked in reverse & it took some time to find neutral so I could restart the allignment process over again.
I hope that answered you question, Craig

Groovy911SC · 12-07-2004, 07:01 AM

Just as an FYI - "Removal of Bilstein insert" My Bilstein inserts were impossible to remove from the strut housing. I did employ the hyd jack method. That worked!
What I found was not what I suspected. I expected to see that rust had welded the tip of the insert into the housing. I sprayed an "anti-rust" agent into the roll pin hole for days expecting the assembly to loosen. What I found was bits of rubber had found their way into the knuckle of the insert at the tip. I guess over time, rubber material had welded itself at the lower portion of strut housing with the help of gravity and 24 years of use. The rubber created a powerful lock that no amount of WD40 etc would have helped. The hammer method just made me mad. It took mucho force to get the insert out. I hope this helps out someone in the future when they run into these "impossible to remove bilstein struts"!