trailpimp33

How difficult is it to change out the strut cartridge on the early cars? I have an 83' and the front struts are pretty dead and I need to change them out. The local multi repair shop wants 130.00 to pull the old ones off the car and put in new ones (that I supply).

krystar

i think if u have the normal struts, they're pretty easy.

i supposedly have the "sport" struts... so i think i gotta get a whole strut replacement

Don 944 LA

Legoland951 did mine about 13 minutes a side.
jack it up high
unbolt sway bar
remove @ top of strut
pull down, just barely clears edge of wheelwell

tifosiman

If that includes an alignment it is a good deal.

PorscheDoc

Haha, normally it is pretty easy. Other times after the top is removed, the inserts are still stuck, and you have to pull them out with something bigger (note, it still didn't come out, and actually pulled the dumpster around).

Jay W

Legoland was able to change out the cartridges inside the struts and reinstall the same struts in 13 minutes? Or was 13 minutes the time it took to remove the whole strut and replace it with a new one? The early cars have struts that disassemble and you just replace the center section. When I did it on struts with cartridges inside it took me an hour just to disassemble the struts, replace the cartridges and put the struts back together. Then about 30 minutes to put the struts in the car.

Don 944 LA

nope 13 minutes total a side, we timed it.
It was the 2nd car of mine that we did it to.

Tom R.

bottom line, if you have jay do it you are getting a bargain, if lego does it in half an hour from start to finish you are paying him $260 an hour which if you divide by the normal billing rate of 7 the tech is getting $37 an hour.

is the tech worth $75k a year? If yes, then you are OK. If it takes him twice as long as lego could do it, the tech is getting $37.5 a year.

or you can do it yourself.

trailpimp33

What is the process? My question is, is it such a PIA that paying the 130 bucks is worth it or is it just really easy with a few selected tools. I have never replaced cartridges before so I have no idea of what is involved.

KuHL 951

There are a few threads here doing this just like Legoland says and it works great, is safer than spring compressors, and takes about 1/10 the time of removing the strut. It works excellent on the early cars but an impact wrench is usually needed for that strut nut. You do it by using the weight of the car to compress the spring and you don't need to use spring compressors or get it re-aligned.

These links should help:

Strut 1

Strut 2

Voith

wesmc3

yeah, that was great fun. I spent 5 hours trying to pull those out. That truck has LSD on BOTH ends, and low range. I thought about setting the cruise and jumping out to take that pic with all 4 tires smoking and the dumpster sliding, but what if the chain broke?

The $40.00 FleaBay set I bought after giving up on these literally fell apart.

Tom R.

for some reason i cannot explain, i have this feeling, this feeling that this will become another yummybud thread. only bud is a student with a part time job who needs his car so as not to take a bus.

Mike C.

It's pretty easy provided your car hasn't spent time on salted roads. Rusted nut & bolts can slow things down, way down...

KuHL 951

LOL and add pics of a hex shaped bruise on a forehead or a missing finger tip. If he was quoted $130 labor and he provides the inserts he should go for it. Buy some KYB gas inserts at $39/each and he has a new front suspension for $210 plus he gets to keep his fingers! Whip me, beat me...make me do those struts