Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Anyone know of any retail chains where I might can find these bolts locally? I know I can order replacements from Spohn for these but I really need them tonight. Got some threads messed up on my strut mount bolts and my a-arm bolts are really rusty, would rather not reuse them if I can find them.

I have not checked at Lowes yet, but I'm worried about the grade at lowes if they even have the right sizes. I don't think they have anything higher than Grade 8, is Grade 8 strong enough for these parts?

If I do end up having to order them from spohn it's going to cost me more for next day air shipping than the bolts cost :(

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

I have found some pretty sturdy, very hard to find bolts at my local Ace Hardware stores. They have by far the best bolt selection of any place I've ever been to that isn't specifically a bolt store (Fastenal, etc). Give them a shot. My local ones have grade 8 and a large variety of Metric 10.9 stuff too.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Thanks, I'll check by Ace. I did stop by a local Fastenal after posting earlier and got some american sized bolts close to the metrics that came off the car. But I'll see if Ace Hardware has something maybe in the exact same size. I'm not sure how much a little play in the A-Arm bolts will matter since the 7/16 bolts I got are just a hair smaller in diameter than the ones that came off the car.

I am confused though as to why metric bolts are on an "American" car lol :) Don't get me wrong, I wish America would convert to the metric system, it's so much nicer and easier to work with imo, but I just would've thought an american built car would've had american sized bolts haha.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Be careful about the LCA bolts. They have a long shank on them to fit in the bushing and they are of a certain thickness, etc. Kind of like how starter bolts are special because they locate the starter on the block. So those you may not be able to safely source locally. But who knows, I've been shocked at some of the stuff I've found at Ace.

The thing I dont know is whether the strut bolts are super duper special bolts or not. I havent had them off in ages, so I cant remember.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Well the shank was the same on the bolts I got as the old ones, and there actually wasn't any play in them once I got them in. So I used the ones I got at Fastenal. I think they will be fine. If I get really worried about it I'll order some of the ones Spohn has and swap them later. They should at least be fine for the immediate future.

As for the strut bolts, they just look like a hefty sized bolt and nut to me. I think the ones I used from fastenal will be fine there too.

What is really funny though, I didn't play around with my old struts after taking them out the other day. Tonight while reinstalling the new ones I played with the old ones some, I could compress and expand them by hand fairly easily lol. I think they were pretty shot, should make a huge difference in my ride quality and handling hehe. The only thing I'm disappointed about in the new ones is the back shocks are adjustable just like the fronts, but they are adjustable in the same place which is under the carpet in the back :(.. That is rather annoying have to pull the carpet up every time I want to adjust them.

It did feel good tonight to see the nice shiny stuff together and installed though :) Just wish I would've had time to paint the A-Arms, maybe I'll pull them back off and do that next week. I'm just on a time crunch to have my car ready by this weekend for an autocross.

http://www.zombiesweb.com/strutspring.jpg

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

If I recall, thirdgen Koni yellows (Mine were on the softest setting in the rear when I got them years ago so I just installed em and never messed with them again) have to be adjusted OFF the car. You have to remove them. Which isnt a super huge deal, they're not hard to get off... but still.

The 4th gen Koni yellows are easier to adjust I believe, but they use a different design of shock. Ours are monotube and theirs are dualtube or something like that, I cant remember, but I did remember everyone implying the thirdgen design was a bit better, even if harder to adjust, if that's any solace to you.

Just wait til you drive around on them. You will be amazed.

Edit: I found this on Frrax, posted by robz71lm7

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Hrm, I don't think they have to be adjusted off car. The adjustment valve is at the very top of the shock / strut that pokes up through and gets bolted in. Don't see any reason to have to remove them from the car to adjust that. Just have to pull up the carpet to get to where they bolt in, in the rear.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Here's the skinny:

http://www.koni-na.com/adjustment.cfm

JamesC

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Hrm, well that looks like a real pain in the butt... why would Koni design it that way ....

Anyway, how hard is it to remove these things and adjust them? I've got a mechanic doing the rear end suspension stuff to my car today because I ran out of time to get it done myself after running into so many problems on the front end (mainly with taking things apart). I told him to set the rear shocks about mid way but if I need to adjust them just wondering how much of a headache it's going to be.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

the rears tend to be a bit stiff, most people that mess with them end up running them full soft for autox, and full soft or one click in for road racing (the faster you're going the stiffer you tend to want the rear suspension.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

I got my bolts at Fastenal. They are the 10.9 metrics and are exacly the same as the ones that I 'cut' out.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

You don't have to remove them from the car. Just unbolt the lower mount, push the button, and spin. Takes longer to jack up the car than anything else.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Which model is the 3rd gen one?

From what I understand, you just jack up the rear, pull up carpet, use Koni adjuster tool, and voila? Why un-bolt the botttom of the shock?

For the fronts: Jack up the front, use tool to adjust top of strut? (pretty sure I can do this through J&M strut mounts)

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

No.

For the fronts all you have to do is use the Koni tool to turn the adjuster. Just open the hood and turn the adjuster. No other tools required. No jacking the car.

For the rears the adjuster is a push button on the shock body. You do not use the Koni tool. You unbolt the bottom of the shock, push the button in with a 1/4" extension and rotate the shock body. You will feel the clicks. You will need to jack up the back of the car to access the button.

If you put in your make, model, year on the Koni site it will give you specific instructions for our stuts/shocks.

http://www.koni-na.com/cat_search.cf...18&submit.y=19

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

That's alot simpler than I thought for the fronts. Cool.

The rears seem a bit more complex. Where is the push button located on the rear shock? And I assume there is no need to pull up the carpet once it's installed to get the adjustment done?

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

When talking about shocks. The best way to discribe changing the compression damping is to say (Harder) or (Softer) When talking about adjusting the rebound it would be (Faster) or (Slower) It's easier to understand that way.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

The push button is on top of the shock body, next to where the piston comes out of the body. Refer to the instructions in the link I provided. It is easy to tell in the pictures. It should take less than 20mins to adjust both rear shocks including jacking up the car. Its really not that hard.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Makes sense. Koni Yellows are rebound adjustable only.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

Yep I see it now on their site. So you jack car, unbolt bottom mount and fully extend shock and then access the button from the top. Awesome.

Re: Strut mount and A-Arm bolts
 

I thought the old style rears had the "compress fully and twist" method of adjustment... I bought mine in about 2002, so they must've changed something.