strut insert replacement help

[RonnieJ]

I have a 75 914 and purchased front strut inserts and want to replace them my self. I need some direction because this seems a lot different then when I've replaced shocks. What is the easiest way to replace the inserts. Thanks

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

How I've done it:

I put the front of the car up on stands, break the lug bolts loose but leave the wheels on.

Then I get the dust cover off the shock. Flatten the lock washer on the shock shaft in the front trunk and loosen the retaining nut. You may want to have a friend to hold the plate under the washer. Then collapse the shock down into the wheel well and tilt the top out of the fender. The cover will slide off.

Swing the strut back into the fender and feed the end of the shaft up through the mount again to hold it steady. That supports the strut while you remove the retaining nut from the strut top. I used a pipe wrench on mine; if you can't get at yours from the outside, you may need to get a specialty tool or fake something up.

Then collapse the shock, swing the top out of the fender, and pull it out of the strut.

You basically do the same stuff to put it together again with the new shock. When you torque the retaining nut at the end of the process, you will want to have someone hold the plate on top of the strut mount so you can get a reasonable torque rating.

--DD

[Joe Ricard]

Yup that is the easiest way.

[RonnieJ]

Thanks a million Dave.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Let me revise that a bit. You don't have to break the lug bolts loose. The reason I leave the wheel on is for leverage to keep the strut still when loosening or tightening the retaining nut that keeps the insert in the strut. I wound up using my feet on the tire and both hands on the wrench, at least for loosening. Without the wheel in place, you have to use the brake rotor and that's not as easy to brace against.

--DD