I just ordered the new steel strut mounts from spohn.

Can someone tell me what is involved in changing strut mounts? Anything i should specifically worry about? Instructions and pictures would be nice.

 

You'll need a front end alignment after swapping them and you'll probably need an air wrench to loosen the strut bolt. Take it to a front end shop and it shouldn't cost much more than a standard alignment for the whole thing. Give em a call first and ask.

It's really easy if you can get the bolt loose but it's going to the shop anyway...

 

Well, the struts have only been on for about 50 miles anyhow.

I figured, id do the new strut mounts before i get it aligned, as im going to be doing the balljoints, idler arm, tie-rods and centerlink at the same time.

Is it as simple as unbolting the top strut bolt and the old mount and bolting the new stuff on? Better to do with the suspension loaded, or the front end up in the air?

Any other tips?

 

It is pretty simple and you can swap them while the strut/spindle is loose from the a-arm when you do the ball joints. As long as you can get the nut loose, it'll be the easiest part of the job.

I would recommend when you get it aligned you have the shop check the torque on the strut mount nut.

Also check out coleman racing for the solid adjuster sleeves if you're replacing inner and outer tie-rods. About 25$ shipped (vs. 50 plus for the hotchkiss piece, although it's prettier). Don't forget a good coat of primer/paint on your new tie-rods and centerlink. They'll rust up quick and look like the old ones before you know it.

 

I already scored a set of billet adjuster sleeves on ebay, they'll be going on as well.

thanks for the tip on painting them, i might go spray a quick coat or 2 on them right now.

 

How do you get the strut off the strut mount?

 

You need to use 2 wrenches or 1 wrench and vice grips. Kinda like when you swap out the rear shocks, you need one wrench or vice grip to hold the top of the rod (to prevent it from spinning) and another wrench to turn the bolt itself. Its easiest to do when the mounts are still attached to the car. I did it with the car in the air and suspension unloaded, wasnt hard at all. I'll admit it did take me time to figgure it out, I was using a socket and I didnt know the strut rod was rotating, I thought it was the longest threaded bolt in the world (LOL!). What was hard for me was tightening it back to the proper torque rating (I think its like 20 ft/lbs for the 3 strut mount bolts and 50 or 70 ft/lbs for the top strut bolt). Since I have a socket style torque wrench I couldnt measure the top strut bolt. I had to hand tighten it to what I thought was close (based on tightening a different bolt to the right spec). When I swapped out mine I used a water marker to outline the position of the old mount on the strut tower as well as white-out to mark the placement of the 3 bolts on the old mount (was tossing the old mounts so no matter). Then I measured the marks and when reinstalling the new billet mount I lined it up with the marker outline and placed each bolt of the strut mount at the same distance. When all was completed it was pretty close to the same alignment but its going to the alignment shop anyway since I also changed out the springs and changed the ride height.

 

If you use vise grips try some tape between the teeth and the strut rod, it may reduce the teeth marks. You can hand torque the nut back on, just remember to ask the alignment shop to hit it with the air wrench.

 

I wouldnt recommend hand tightening that nut and then driving to the alignment shop. Maybe I'm just a wuss ...

 

Didn't mean to imply hand tightening, just tightening with a regular wrench instead of a torque wrench. Sorry for any confusion.

 

O my bad I read that wrong, srry. Yup I hand torqued mine.