When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Ok now it makes sense. That spring hat is wrong for your strut, it shouldn't be loose like that, it should stay firmly and securely at the top of the strut. It actually should sit on the top of the strut rod and not move, the rod has a cut-out area where it should sit and then when you tighten the top nut down it forces the hat against the bearing and doesn't move up or down, it simply rotates with the strut top bearing. You need different spring hats for your struts.
Here is the passenger side. You see it is much tighter in place. Let me know what you think. I plan on dropping it out tomorrow when I get home from work
The bushing on the threaded rod of the shock is what keeps your shock aligned in the top bearing and the top of the hat rests on the " ball " part of the camber plate !
Should be tight ... no play like in your installation ...
Like Phil says the hat should be tight, though it will rotate. The method of securing the hat varies depending on the camber plates but in all cases the hat sits on the shoulder of the threaded rod or is held firm there by a bushing. Give ground control a call they should have the correct hats for your application. On my stock mounts it sits on the shoulder, this picture explains:
The ground control type hats that I have seen (I think Lindsey also had a version like this) used with their camber plates has a Timken type roller bearing. This type is not captured by the step in the strut rod, but rides on a somewhat spherical bearing surface on the bottom of the camber plate. This shows in Wildcat's pics above.
I have also seen other traditional top spring hats that are bored to the strut rod OD, so they can slide up and down the rod, unless held up by the bump stop. I'm not a fan of these styles, and I have always used the fixed/captured top hats - but I have 3 different sets of floating top hats that I picked up with suspension setups over the years.
...I have 3 different sets of floating top hats that I picked up with suspension setups over the years...
The ones on my 996 are floating hats, I have camber plates with spherical bearings on that car. Maybe that's what floating hats were designed for, as the spherical bearings obviously have some side to side movement causing the hats to ride slightly up and down the rod.
What i showed in the pictures is what came off my SP2 race car before i switched to a set of remote MCS ,they are the specific Ground Control Konis for a 944 application, as they came from Ground Control !
Guess every brand is different as my MCS installation is not the same as the Konis ...
...Guess every brand is different as my MCS installation is not the same as the Konis ...
Yes I'm sure that is the case. The kind of spring hats you use most likely depend on the type of camber plates you have fitted, regardless of the strut.
So I'm not certain of the advise to give the op. My hats are obviously different to his, mine are the stock ground control kit with factory mounts and mine don't slide down the strut rod. The op obviously has something that's not right, maybe someone else can chirp in to clarify. GL
Guys, thanks for all the discussion. I'm going to call ground control and see what they think. They weren't open when I called his morning. I'm hoping that I can replace the top hat/bushing and it will ride tight again. Will update later. Thanks again,
cameron
Ok, I talked to jay at ground control this afternoon. He thinks I just need to grease the washer on top of the hat and it should allow the spring to turn freely. Said that it happens a lot after rain racing. Before last weekend, I ran Roebling and it was absolutely pouring. Maybe it washed the grease out of the top of the struts... anyone know, do I need to drop the strut out of the car? Jay seemed to think I didn't need to disassemble anything, just clean and grease.
Thanks guys. Here is the pic of what he sent me
Well, I think that's all it was... just put a little bearing grease on the rod and bearing and the bearing stuck to the top of the strut and the hat is snug like the other side. I cleaned with a dry rag and applied grease to the rod, inside the hat and the bearing. The popping is gone, I'll take it around the block tomorrow and see if it's ok for road Atlanta this weekend
thanks for all the advice here guys. This is one of my first posts and I got a lot of great tips and input. I'm sure I'll be back on often asking more
02-20-2017, 08:31 PM
