Bilstein Strut Insert Tool (Or: If you Want It Done Right, Do It Yourself)

[Chris Bunker]

Hey Folks-
Does anybody have a spare Bilstein strut insert tool? The one they supposedly supply with the inserts (for a Boge strut) to tighten the big ring nut on top of the strut?

The reason I ask is that the ring nuts have come loose after only a few thousand miles and two track days of use. I suspect they weren't tightened properly to begin with, since I have uncovered numerous problems with the work done on my car last summer.
You know, missing parts that are kind of important (the inner bearing spacer on the front axle!), unconnected wires, untightened strut insert nuts. I had wiped out my driver's side front corner in an off track excursion that required the replacement of the strut, a-arm and fender. I am less than pleased with my discoveries.

Anyway, if someone has one of these tools that they would sell/loan me, I would be higly appreciative. The other thing I could use help with is the part number of the inner bearing spacer, item numbers 24 and 23 in the figure below:



My inner bearing was sitting against the large radius on the axle shaft and has scored it slightly. It doesn't look too bad, and once I have the proper spacer in there it should keep the bearing away from that area.


One other thing:
With the strut assy out of the car and in a bench vise should I be able to wiggle the top of the insert rod back and forth slightly? It feels like there is too much clearance with the ring nut. I would think there should be no play there at all. I am thinking maybe that the ID of the ring nut got wallowed out by the insert moving around because the nut wasn't tight? Any thoughts?

Thanks for listening, if you made it this far.
Chris Bunker
78 SC

[ChrisBennet]

I have Boge struts with Bilsteien inserts. I had the retainer rings loosen up on me soon after I installed them. Maybe I didn't tighten them enough, I'm not sure. I haven't had any problems since.
I was advised by people to put some oil in the strut and this turned out to be a bad idea. I asked Bilstien about this and they said not to put fluid in the strut. (This is standard operating procedure for other struts, just not Bilstein I guess.)
The ring that holds the insert in has a seal that I've had to replace a couple of times. You can get them from Bilstein USA. A loose ring or damage to the seal may be causing your problem.
-Chris

[Joeaksa]

Chris,

Make it easy on yourself! Bilstein will send you a wrench for free. One should be shipped with the shocks but many suppliers "forget"...

They have two offices, one in San Diego and the other in Windsor Locks CT area. They have an "800" number...

Joe

[Chris Bunker]

OK guys, thanks for the info.
The oil in the strut housing was another question I forgot to ask. As I was examining things today I noticed the housing has a bunch of red oil in it. Since the insert is a sealed unit, it does seem quite out of place. It will be removed.
I found the part numbers to the missing parts by doing a bit of searching here at Pelican. It still burns me that they left that spacer out.

Chris Bunker
78 SC

[89911]

A good pipe wrench is even better. When I tried to remove my old inserts with the Bilstein tool, it started to bend from the force. It seemed the pipe wrench was able to put more direct force to loosed. Just puts a few scratches in it that are covered by the shield.

[Chris Bunker]

I guess my visions of what this Bilstein tool looks like are a bit idealistic. Can someone describe it? If it is a cheesy POS, I'll make my own.

Chris Bunker
78 SC

[autobonrun]

Originally posted by Chris Bunker
I guess my visions of what this Bilstein tool looks like are a bit idealistic. Can someone describe it? If it is a cheesy POS, I'll make my own.

Chris Bunker
78 SC

I have a picture of a spanner wrench on this link. Not sure what the Bilstein tool looks like. I installed four and they did not come with the wrench. This wrench cost me about 45 dollars. I took the insert with me to make sure the tooth would fit into the slot on the Bilstein insert. It is also useful to hold the concave washer on the front shocks while you loosen the top bolt. As you can see from the picture, there is no way this tool will ever bend. Got it from a specialty tool shop. If you can't locate one in your area, send me a private message with your address and I'll let you borrow it. Jdub also recommended checking a bicycle shop. If time is of concern, you may find one locally before the mail delivers.

Strut Cartridge Replacement??

Strut Cartridge Replacement??

[MBradbury]

Hi,

Not sure whether it's too late, but here's my tip. I fiitted Bilsteins to my '83 SC Borg struts a few weeks ago and didn't receive the tool either. To be honest I didn't know the supplier was supposed to include it with the struts. In lieu of the correct tool, I used the fan pulley wrench supplied as part of the standard 911 toolkit. It even looks like the proper tool as shown in one of the responses. The radius isn't perfect, but the lug fits nicely into the ring notch and it's a close enough fit to get a good turn on the retaining ring nut without slipping.

Regards
Mark Bradbury
1983 911 SC

[wcballance]

Mark is right. After replacing my struts I was not able to get things tight. I took my car over to Osidak's and he came up with the bright idea to use the fan pulley wrench. It worked like a charm! We over torqued the nut a little (didn't read up on the right torque until after), but it wasn't by much such I didn't bother backing it off and doing it again.

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Will Ballance
'82 911SC coupe

[Argo]

I just put Bilstein inserts into Boge struts and didn't get a special tool either. I wrapped the nut with a rag and tightened it with a pipe wrench. It seemed to wind on pretty tight and didn't leave any marks. A few days later I learned about the tool here and got one sent free from the place I bought the inserts. Unlike the fan pulley tool, this one is a (fairly robust) ring that fits over the insert with 2 tabs on the inside diameter that fit the slots in the nut and a large tab on the outside perimeter with a 1/2" square hole that fits the drive on a breaker bar or torque wrench. Being a ring, it'll be necessary to remove the top of the shock from the fender and remove the dust cover in order to get it onto the nut. I haven't bothered to do this yet; I don't really want to remove and replace the nylon insert nut that holds the top of the shock to the fender (they advise against reuse), the cap nut is still tight and I really wanted to drive the car awhile before storage time again. Once it's up for the year, though, I'm sure I'll start tinkering and take it apart enough to do it right with the Bilstein tool. What's the torque value for that cap nut, anyway?

PS You're going to love those Bilstein's - they made a huge difference (at least when compared to my blown out OEM Boges)!!

Argo
88 Targa

[Chris Bunker]

You know, there are a lot of companies out there that could learn a lesson from Bilstein Customer Service.

I just got off the phone with a VERY pleasant young lady who is putting the proper installation tool in an overnight package so that I'll receive it tomorrow. THAT is customer service!

She said that Germany has stopped puitting them in the boxes with the inserts.

My day has been made!

P.S. Argo- they are great, I've had them on for a few thousand miles and a couple track days, and I am very pleased with them. I only wish the ring nut had stayed tight.

Chris Bunker
78 SC

[KFC911]

I too have recently installed the Bilstein inserts (into Boge struts), and used the pipe wrench technique (protectiing the nut w/ a shop rag in the process). Although I purchased the Bilsteins from Pelican, when I inquired about the 'special wrench' that should have been shipped with the inserts, the person I was talking to indicated that he had no idea what I was talking about. I also called the Bilstein HQ's 800 #, and got nowhere...they said to contact the vender from whom I had made the purchase. It's no big deal to me now (since I'm finished), but it sure would have been an appreciated 'customer service' if Pelican would have included everything that I needed.

[wcballance]

Chris,

After reading your post I thought I would try calling Bilstein to see if I, too, could get the right tool for the job to have on hand just in case I need it. I called their 858/386-5900 number and was transferred to some guy's voicemail. I left my name and number. Did you use the same number?

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Will Ballance
'82 911SC coupe

[wcballance]

I just got off the phone with Steve at Bilstein. I believe he was the one that I was transferred to originally. It turns out that he works in their R&D dept. He took the time to find out about the tool and was able to tell me that they no longer include them in the box. He did have a part number for me, though. The part number is 420017. He started to take an order from me, but could only tell me that it was a "few bucks." Not wanting to get hit with a surprise amount, I asked if he could just put me through to someone else to take the order. He politely put me through to sales and I got another voicemail box. I thought I would just wait to see what Chris had to say about how he got his before doing anything more.

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Will Ballance
'82 911SC coupe

[Chris Bunker]

I called their Aftermarket office in North Haven, CT (whose existance I discovered from their website), since I had left the magazine at home that had the advert with the 800 number.
The North Haven number is 203-401-4415. The woman who answered the phone was the one who handled my request, no need to be transferred or anything. She seemed as if she wouldn't ever dream of charging me for the tool. I never got her name though.

Chris

[jkeyzer]

Don't get your hopes up too high about the tool. I had to modify mine to work at all (the fingers that go into the slots of the ring were too fat) and by the time I was done I had rounded it off pretty badly by slipping off of the ring a couple times. At least it was free from the shock retailer after a little prodding.

[wcballance]

I thought I left one more message here yesterday, but it looks it isn't here....

I called the number in CT and got passed off. I was given a new number, 1-800-537-1085. I called it and ended up in their automated phone system. I made my way to customer service and was told that there is no special tool made by Bilstein for the struts made to fit in Bilstein green housings, which is what I have for my car. After having read through the previous messages on this thread again, I realized that the struts for the Boge housing are a little different. I still can't help but wonder if there is a better tool for installing and removing the nut on the top.

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Will Ballance
'82 911SC coupe

[KTL]

Darren at Pelican Parts sent me the Boge-Bilstein ring tool when I discovered my inserts did not include the tool. Maybe you can ask him for some assistance on this differing tool issue. If not, maybe you can try shox.com for some tech info. They sell a bunch of them, so maybe they can provide you with the info. you need about the green housing tool? Dunno.

Pipe wrench is excellent for getting the old nut off the Boge housings. Pipe wrench would obviously do the replacement Bilstein nut as well. Just that you can't torque the nut properly without the ring tool. I'm not trying to be anal. I just figure if you know the torque value (stated on the paper that comes with the Bilsteins), then it's nice to crank things down to the recommended spec.

[89911]

I think the torque on those is around 85 ft/lbs from hazy memory. The problem I had with the Bilstein tool is that is would slip off when any sizable force was applied, not something you want when cranking on it. I opted for the pipe wrench and the torque setting in my elbow. I can also tell you that the torque needed to remove these was about 300 ft/lbs and took all of 2 men to remove!!

[KTL]

Good point about the tool slipping off. I was removing and installing the inserts in my vise, so I wasn't thinking about that kind of problem! There's all sorts of ways you can take stuff apart when it's mounted in a shop vise.