944togo

Took my front struts off my 84 944 to replace the inserts with Koni Yellows. Got the spring off, unscrewed the top off the housing that holds the shock inside and that's where the problem starts. I can't get the shock out of the strut housing. Must be rusted or frozen in there. Used PB Blaster, heated it up, and put a nut on end of the shock and been beating it out with a sledge hammer using a pickle fork on the nut. No luck! I'll try again tomorrow-put more PB Blaster on it to soak overnight. Anyone had this problem or have any other suggestions to get this out?

Thanks
944 to go

GlenL

Are you sure you have inserts? Most (all?) plain 944s didn't get them. There's a procedure to convert them. I think it's on the Paragon website.

tifosiman

Not true. Early 944's up thru 1986MY had replacable inserts. It was changed from 1987-onward. 1986 (and onward) 951's had the non-insert-type struts (which can be converted as you pointed out above).

944togo

Yeah-the later ones did not have the repalceable cartridge, though there's a kit you can get and you have to cut the housing to use it.
Never could get the one side shock out-other side came right out-luckily got a used housing locally from Ian. Made sure to grease them up real good so this doesn't happen again.

944-to-go

GlenL

Well. Learned something. (Also wanted to bump the dudes thread.)

Skip

If you're still trying and for search purposes, here are a couple of things you can do to get a stuck strut insert out.

- drill a hole in the bottom of the casing large to fit something to pound it out with - like a 12mm or larger bolt or a 1/4" ratchet extension.
- use a steel sleeve (pipe) and the top nut to build a captive slide around the strut shaft that you can hold in a bench vise. Then, operate like a slide hammer to release.

Good Luck!