Front struts installation

Jezebel · Jezebel's Garage

I have these Boge front struts ( the portion that attaches to the ball joint is threaded )
the regular lock pin does not work with this kind of strut. What do you guys use to secure the lower portion of the strut to the ball joint ? Is there a special kind of bolt ?

thanks
Francois

wrxnofx · wrxnofx's Garage

Yup, it's a special tapered bolt:

The bottom of the strut is not threaded. The ball joint just pushes up and into the bottom of the strut. Then, the notch cut in the ball joint shaft is lined up with the hole in the side of the strut and the pin is driven through that side hole, capturing the ball joint shaft.

From Craig_D's thread on his '78 suspension rebuild:

Trackrash · Trackrash's Garage

Sorry, wrxnofx. That is only for "newer", after 72 cars

On the earlier cars a bolt is used to clamp the bottom of the strut to the ball joint. It is a 10mm high strength bolt, with a high strength washer. The ball joints on the pre-72 cars is also different.

Be careful that ball joint is not loose where it goes into the strut. This can be a problem on the older cars.

wrxnofx · wrxnofx's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trackrash

Sorry, wrxnofx. That is only for "newer", after 72 cars

On the earlier cars a bolt is used to clamp the bottom of the strut to the ball joint. It is a 10mm high strength bolt, with a high strength washer. The ball joints on the pre-72 cars is also different.

Be careful that ball joint is not loose where it goes into the strut. This can be a problem on the older cars.

Oh man, my bad! I had no idea. Sorry to the OP for my misleading info.

Jezebel · Jezebel's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trackrash

Sorry, wrxnofx. That is only for "newer", after 72 cars

On the earlier cars a bolt is used to clamp the bottom of the strut to the ball joint. It is a 10mm high strength bolt, with a high strength washer. The ball joints on the pre-72 cars is also different.

Be careful that ball joint is not loose where it goes into the strut. This can be a problem on the older cars.

Hi That is exactly it. where can I source that 10mm bolt ? thks