rconnon

Hey guys,

Some of you may have read the post about the stripped allen key hole that MikeJ and I were dealing with in my PSS9 kit - see here: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...=pss9+stripped

we're 99% sure the bearing in the shock mount flange on the drivers side mount is causing the clunking at low speeds.. I have the replacement parts for both sides and was thinking of waiting until after the summer to replace them since we'll need to find an alternative way around removing the strut due to the stripped allen key fitting and it will probably result in the car being off the road for at least a week.

I'm wondering if it's a safety issue to be driving the car? what are the chances of the mount failing? it's more of an annoyance than anything.. hearing and feeling the thunk when the mount moves - the car feels stable at speed and in corners.. i just dont want to damage anything else driving the car with the worn part..


Thanks,
Rob.

AOW162435

Rob,
By design, the bearing is captured from both sides, correct? I have a spare 964 bearing plate in my shop and could look at it, but my thinking is that the annoyance may simply increase with time (as the play increases). But it should not result in catostrophic failure.

Andreas

rconnon

Thanks Andreas, i'm sure it's captured from both sides - after all that makes the most sense.. if it wasn't i'd be worried.. i can take a peak at the replacements i have to verify.

just wanted to make sure i would not be damaging anything else by driving it.

cheers,

Mike J

Hey Rob,

I have some time coming up, you want to come over later this week/next week and we take another whack at it (no pun intended). I just installed a set of PSS-9's so the setup is fresh in my mind.

Cheers,

Mike

Garth S

Attached is a pic of a top mount that has seen better days .... they may make noise, but are highly unlikely to fail.

BTW, back to the messed up allan head on the strut ... I've had some success with 'liquid steel' in repairing such things recently. CarQuest/NAPA/... sell a $5 roll of the stuff, which is a two component epoxy putty. Slice a piece off, knead, and stuff into the clean cavity around the allan key .... it will set up in minutes.
As far as removing the locknut , I just finished replacing Boges with Konis on a S4 ... and used an impact wrench on the old shocks: with care, the nut can be adequately loosened for final removal with hand tools before the piston rod spins.
The newly made allan key slot will do for reassembly .... or with this new skill, you could branch out into dentistry

Mike J

Hi Garth,

Excellent idea, I had not thought of that. I will give that a try. Do you think a product like JB Weld will also work? The hole in Rob's case is pretty round so there might not be enough grip to make a difference..it might be a matter of forming notches with a cutting bit and then using the JB weld.

I was also going to try a rubber strap on the shock shaft and then use the impact gun...being very carefull of course.

Cheers,

Mike

Garth S

Hey Mike,
I think that the JB will also work; however, it is far more fluid once mixed than the Epoxy Putty ( correct name @ CarQuest). The latter is stiffer than glazers putty, hardens in 3 min, and is machinable in an hour.
Using a burr, etc as you mention to rough up othe cavity for better adhesion/mechanical grip is the better idea .... and will have Dentists admiring your work.

If one is really crafty with the Dremel, one could cut 5 vertical slots to fit a torx bit. If that didn't work, then consider the hole 'roughed up', and move on to the epoxy approach.

rconnon

Thanks Garth, Those are great ideas.

I'll make sure to document the procedure used with pictures!

rconnon

So MikeJ is a GOD.

He was nice enough to pick up some tools to assist in the removal of the strut, consisting of
a few strap type devices used to remove oil filters..

Here is the procedure we used.

1) lowered the spring ride height adjusters to create some slack in the springs, we made sure to mark the measurements and also do a thread count to not mess with the corner balance settings..

2) cleaned the exposed strut shaft and wiped clean to remove any grease or dirt.

3) Wrapped the shaft with a piece of rubber that was very tacky - from a rubber mat.

4) wrapped the rubber strap of the oil filter clamp around the rubber.

5) used an impact gun to get the nut off while i held the shaft in place with the custom tool..

TO give you an idea of how tight the nut was, with the impact gun on the highest torque setting it took about 15+ seconds of load to remove the nut.. and the nut was smoking hot from all the friction.. so it's an understatement to say the nut was slightly over torqued by the guy who installed the kit. .

Once we got the nut off we loosened the shock mount flange, to get the flange out without removing the lower strut support and messing the alignment settings we had to use a vinyl tie down and wrap it around the top of the shock to compress the strut to get it out of the fitting.. (this was a pain in the ***) we finally got it out, replaced the flange and put it back together... Tightening the nut we used the same procedure, with some tinkering we got enough of a hold to torque it down to spec

After tightening all the bolts and moving to the other side to replace the passenger side flange we realized we forgot to add the rubber seal.. so we had to take it apart again and get the flange out to add the seal.. atleast we didnt need to remove that main strut nut again!!!

Anyways the second side went off without a hitch and the clunking is gone. it looks like the bearing was worn pretty bad.. the front end feels way tighter - it's honestly like a new car!!!

So thanks to all who responded with all the great ideas!!! you have saved a great deal of frustration - listening to that clunk drove me nuts..

And a HUGE thanks to Dr J !!!! - once again he's come to the rescue!

Rob.

Pan58

rconnon,
Hey glad to hear you got that thing off. good solution for the removal.

rconnon

Ya me too - it was getting quite annoying. and even though it's not a real hazard.. it sure doesn't make for a lot of confidence driving the car at speed and hard into turns when you can feel the clunking through the steering wheel / dead pedal at lower speeds.

Rob.

Mike J

I would say there are guys on the list who are truely the experts....I am just a guy tinkering in my garage who refuses to give up...

Its funny though, you have to be in the mood sometimes to tackle these types of jobs. The first time Rob came over I was not in the mood and we did not get the problem solved. The second time I was in the mood and, although it took a few hours, we had victory! The nut was a combination of being too tight (which might have lead to the bearing failure to begin with) and problems with the Bilstien supplied nyloc nuts which are really hard to turn. I t hink the nylon got buggered up somehow. We replaced the nuts anyways. Good morning's work and satisfying when something goes right (fnally!).

Cheers,

Mike