Later this year I will get around to having front struts rebuilt by Koni, but I need to find a source for the special tool 9186 or an operational equivalent. Any help is appreciated.

 

What is 9186 supposed to do? There's a tool for anything available somewhere...

 

9186 is for top strut nut removal - per Clark's Garage instructions.

 

we dont need no stinking tools...use channel locks

 

or an impact wrench.

 

An oxygen sensor crowsfoot is an operational equivalent, I have used it to replace both my O2 sensors AND the struts on both my cars, to include the Konis I just mounted on my 951...

 

9186 is the tool to remove the cartridge.

Here is the pelican write up with 9186 pictured:

http://www.tech-session.com/kb/index.php?article=47

 

Thanks! That should be much simpler to find. IIRC, pelican and others have that available for a reasonable price. Right now, this weekend is all about installing new end links and bushings for the front sway bar, as well as a new radiator and expansion tank.

 

Are you sure you're not after a gland nut type of tool for disassembling the strut cartidge, rather than a tool for removing the strut from the strut tower? The paragon write-up talks about using a pipe wrench -- that's a substitute for the gland nut tool, not the other...

 

Oh, yeah just use an O2 sensor wrench. The nut is 22mm and I believe that is 7/8". They are available at any autozone or pep boys.

Alternatively, you can buy a 22mm offset wrench. I bought a double box-end offset wrench, 19mm and 22mm, comes in handy. But the O2 sensor wrench actually works better.

A crescent wrench can sometimes work but I don't think a pipe wrench would work...

 

Too late for the OP, but it may be useful for others (like myself) doing this job so I'll pipe up.

The 9186 tool is used to remove the top cap of the strut assembly so you can replace the cartridge. It's much bigger than 22mm. A large pipe wrench seems to be the most common replacement tool. Advice is to wrap the cap in duct tape before using the pipe wrench so you don't mess it up.

The 22mm nut is on top of the strut under a plastic cap. It's a bear to get off unless you have exactly the right sort of offset wrench to counter hold it while you turn the cartridge piston using a (I think) 6mm hex socket. I own a 22mm offset wrench that doesn't fit far enough into the cap to engage the nut. I ended up using a 22mm socket held in a set of large vice grips, then passing the hex key through the socket to engage the top of the piston. Not ideal but it worked.

 

Never had a problem using a deep 22mm socket turned with a wrench combined with a long 6mm hex held with a ratchet.

 

Oxygen sensor socket makes it a breeze.

 

Best wrenches I have ever bought.. Stahlwille pattern 20 deep offset..
Porsche calls for these in the FSM for some 911 timing belt too..
During engineering, American cars are designed to be maintained by snap-On tools, German cars are designed to be maintained by Stahlwille..

I get my Stahlwille from these guys http://www.tbs-aachen.de/Stahlwille_...3736_49695.htm

Highly recommend their deep pattern 20's and combo pattern 14's

"You I do have catalogs, each is 290 pages with 4 pages of just BMW tools. What you need to understand is that BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, VW & Audi were all designed to be assembeled and repaired using Stahlwille and Hazet tools. Have you ever tried to remove the fan from the waterpump on a 325i? If you have then you know that your Snap-On 32mm wrench is just too wide to fit between the housing and the fan assembly - Stahlwille fits. I could go on for pages, the fact is this, BMW's were designed with these tools in mind. Stahlwille tools exceed the quality of Snap-On (I still have a few), the wrench Open Ends are 50% as thick as S-O, the Box ends are 50% thinner, the jaws and boxes fit European metric fasteners more tightly and require less clearance and what is even more amazing is that they are about 1/3 the cost of Snap-On and carry the same warranty. Look my 7-19mm stanard length wrench set is $128.49, the same set from Snap-On is $369.00."

"Lastly: Stahlwille VS others for German Cars.
Simple logic and obvious to those who spin wrenches every day. In any country when a vehicle is designed the clearances or space around the nuts and bolts are determined by the tools which will be used to remove and replace them (R&R), now and then exceptions are made and a special tool is required which the manufacturer then asks a tool maker to produce. In Germany the tools used to decide the clearances are Stahlwille and Hazet tools as they are the High end tools of Germany. Compare a Stahlwille 14mm wrench with a Snap-On or give me a call and I will show you. The Stahlwille box end is about 1/2 the depth of the Snap-On and the Jaws on the Stahlwille are about 1/2 the thickness but slightly wider in the "hips". The angle of both the box end and the jaws in relation to the handle are also different.

I was first introduced to Stahlwille when working on Porsches, the shop foreman had a set imported from Germany, each time I could not fit a socket on a nut because the socket was a little too long or slightly too fat, he would hand me a Stahlwille and it would fit like a glove. Face it they designed the vehicle around these tools, not around Snap-On tools.

Now Stahlwille will make all sorts of claims as to why thier tools are better, so will MAC, Snap-On, and everyone else, this should not interest you at all because what you want is the right tool for the job. If you work on a BMW you should use the tool the vehicle was designed around and designed to be repaired with, if you are working on a Dodge truck, use Snap-On"
http://www.bmwpugetsound.com/vbb/thr...e-tools.11709/

 

"Never had a problem using a deep 22mm socket turned with a wrench combined with a long 6mm hex held with a ratchet."

Nice set up, hadn't thought of that one. How are you reaching through the wrench/socket with the allen key? A socket cap wouldn't work?

I agree with Spencer on the O2 sensor socket. That's what I ended up using on the second one. Works like a charm.