Replaced rear struts, now need to do front struts?

[jsabatini]

Just replaced the rear, leaky shocks on my 911 this weekend, once I got the air box out it was very easy. Hardest part was getting the air box back in. Also, while working on the left rear shock, broke the 20 yr old brittle connector for the Cylinder Head Temp Sensor. Was able to get it back together connected with electrical tape and tie wrapped to the bracket.

Next up are the front struts. Looks much more difficult and involved. Have a few questions from reading the procedure in the Bentley Manual.

1. Is there a special tool for removing the wheel bearing dust cover. I saw mine removed once at the shop and it looked like they used some kind of slide hammer thing-a-ma-jiggy-thingie??

2. Book says always replace "ball joint wedge bolt", guess I need to pick one of these up from the local dealer?

3. Need a "Strut Nut Wrench" to replace the strut cartridge. Is this a special tool, or will some other wrench get the job done?

4. Check and adjust wheel alignment when done, is this true?

Right now I think I am going to call my mechanic to see what it will cost to have him install the front strut cartridges. Any advice, things to look for, how long will it take, etc, would be appreciated.

Thanks

[HarryD]

Originally posted by jsabatini
Just replaced the rear, leaky shocks on my 911 this weekend, once I got the air box out it was very easy. Hardest part was getting the air box back in. Also, while working on the left rear shock, broke the 20 yr old brittle connector for the Cylinder Head Temp Sensor. Was able to get it back together connected with electrical tape and tie wrapped to the bracket.

Next up are the front struts. Looks much more difficult and involved. Have a few questions from reading the procedure in the Bentley Manual.

1. Is there a special tool for removing the wheel bearing dust cover. I saw mine removed once at the shop and it looked like they used some kind of slide hammer thing-a-ma-jiggy-thingie??

2. Book says always replace "ball joint wedge bolt", guess I need to pick one of these up from the local dealer?

3. Need a "Strut Nut Wrench" to replace the strut cartridge. Is this a special tool, or will some other wrench get the job done?

4. Check and adjust wheel alignment when done, is this true?

Right now I think I am going to call my mechanic to see what it will cost to have him install the front strut cartridges. Any advice, things to look for, how long will it take, etc, would be appreciated.

Thanks

Are you replacing just the strut inserts or are you planning to replace the ball joints, front bushes, front bearings, etc?

If you are planning on replacing just the inserts, you are doing too much work.

If it is just the struts, this thread has the straight skinny: Replacing front shocks

Please note that "Clark Griswold" is really "Chuck Moreland". His summary is pretty much my story as well when I did mine.

[KTL]

1. A hammer and a punch works good. That's what I use, tapping on alternating sides until it wiggles its way out and off. Some use a muffler clamp clamped around the cap and then pry against the u-bolt of the clamp with the claw of a hammer. Do a search and you'll find mention of this method.

2. Yes. Replace that wedge bolt. You can get ripped off at your local dealer or you can buy the bolt and a new locknut from Pelican. I'd support Pelican if at all possible.

But you don't need to remove the entire strut by removing the wedge bolt. All you need to do is remove the cartridge. It can be done with the strut freed at the top and the brake caliper line freed to give you room to tilt the strut out from under the fender.

3. You don't need the special wrench for removal. A large plumbing pipe wrench works great. Two pipe wrenches and a helper work even better for removal. If you get new Bilstein cartridges, you should get a new captive gland nut and the special crowsfoot plate wrench with the inserts. More often than not the inserts do not include a wrench. Call Bilstein and they should send you one. If you have Koni struts, I don't know if those come with a new nut. But they still install the same- captive nut. Boge struts? Pretty much same as Bilstein except they have a roll pin holding the insert in the bottom of the strut housing (near the wedge pin you don't necessarily need to remove). Do a search if you're curious about what you've got.

4. Your ride height will mostly change (rise up) with the installation of the new shocks and this will therefore change your alignment settings But alignment is not ultra critical because you haven't actually disturbed the alignment adjusting points by replacing these parts. Adjustment of ride height and then camber, toe settings will get you back to spec. But this is only necessary in my opinion if your car looks like a 4x4 after you get the new shocks in place and take it for a ride to settle everything down.

Do a search with varying terms and you'll see members have posted many, many times about their suspension work.

[HarryD]

Kevin,

Nice summary but one correction, the Bilsteins have the rolll pin and the Konis and Bilsteins have the gland nut.

We should also mention about the hydraulic fluid that may be in the strut housing. This oil comes gushing out when you remove the old unit. Put a towel or something to keep the oil off of the brake calipers.

[jsabatini]

Yep just replacing the inserts.

[jsabatini]

Originally posted by HarryD
Are you replacing just the strut inserts or are you planning to replace the ball joints, front bushes, front bearings, etc?

If you are planning on replacing just the inserts, you are doing too much work.

If it is just the struts, this thread has the straight skinny: Replacing front shocks

Please note that "Clark Griswold" is really "Chuck Moreland". His summary is pretty much my story as well when I did mine.

Thank you very much for the great link. Just did it today and it only took us about 1 1/2 hours, very easy job thanks to the link.

[HarryD]

John,

Glad it helped. Except for the oil gushing out from my old Boge Struts and the very difficult to compress Bilsteins, mine was pretty uneventful.

[jsabatini]

Originally posted by HarryD
John,

Glad it helped. Except for the oil gushing out from my old Boge Struts and the very difficult to compress Bilsteins, mine was pretty uneventful.

Harry,

It was very simple, thanks to your warning about the oil we were ready for it. It was very uneventful. I think it was the most uneventful repair we have done on either my 17 yr old Bimmer or 20 yr old Porsche, which was kind of nice for a change.

Thanks again!