13 replies to this topic

[Terry Haines]

OK, this subject Re front strut swaps,has been covered before but I will restate the main issue owners have with strut replacement.
The front spring/strut assy's has TWO nuts to consider in a swap. NUT ONE is the one you see with the hood up.This one holds the whole strut/spring assy tight up into the inner fender.It clamps down on the metal/rubber cup . NUT TWO is the one UNDER the cup that holds the spring compressed.This is a SPECIAL FORD NUT and MUST NOT be thrown away on a strut swap.It is thinner than NUT ONE. Most all owners fit the nuts in the WRONG PLACE when they swap struts.Example , the new nut you get with a strut is NUT ONE..and MUST NOT be used in NUT TWO location..It is too thick/tall and will hold off the cup, be it a stock cup or a camber kit cup, too high and it WILL NOT GRIP THE INNER FENDER and will cause the strut NOT TO BE CLAMPED AND RATTLE IN THE FENDER.
This is a common fault with DIY owners. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION to YOUR NUTS when you swap struts..Pics below explain more...

 topstrutnut.jpg   455.8K   96 downloads  lowerstrutnut.jpg   595.68K   110 downloads



..If you doubt what I say...MEASURE YOUR NUTS!!!

[Aussie Ford]

Thanks for this info Terry,
A while back when I was looking at an SVT I was thinking about getting it had this problem, among others. I didn't know why it was the way it was but I knew it wasn't correct. Now the fellow selling it was a mechanic so I figured if he couldn't get this right maybe the other stuff he had done wasn't right either. He didn't think much of some of my comments about items that weren't right, this area was one of them. Since I wasn't a mechanic what could I possibly know about anything....... He'd never heard of some guy named "Terry Haines" probably just some fly by night shady wrench bender...... This fellow REALLY knew what he was doing ...... But with you in my back pocket I gave him a bit of an education, not that he paid any attention to it, and then moved on.... I almost feel bad for whoever bought that car.

AF

[Terry Haines]

...it's a common error of owners who swap out struts/springs.Have to say around 50% of cars that have come thru the shop had had a DIY or even shop swap struts and had a front suspension knock due to this nut issue.Those I told about it were quite upset I pointed out the error..again, pay attention when you work on your car and UNDERSTAND ....HOW the strut assy mounts on the fender..Real 'rocket science' eh!!

[jeffmknight]

Terry Haines, on Oct 2 2008, 07:31 AM, said:

...it's a common error of owners who swap out struts/springs.Have to say around 50% of cars that have come thru the shop had had a DIY or even shop swap struts and had a front suspension knock due to this nut issue.Those I told about it were quite upset I pointed out the error..again, pay attention when you work on your car and UNDERSTAND ....HOW the strut assy mounts on the fender..Real 'rocket science' eh!!

I recently discovered split-type lockwashers under the main (Ford) nuts on mine. The washers had literally tried to 'split' and were only half pinched between the nut and top spring-plate! This bent the load-bearing rubber-and-metal puck thing and also blew out the bearings.

What genius thought you could place the entire load of the front of the car on some split washers???
Well glad that's out of the way! No more knocking.

[TRicker]

over time the strut mounts will sandwich a little bit and the cup will bottom out on the nut, even with the correct ones underneath. but yeah. i throw away the nuts that come with replacement struts and get new ford ones (unless using new ford struts, which should have the correct nuts included)

its pretty obvious which is which, one has a nylock end and one doesn't. nylock is for the top :)

LOL at anyone that manages to mess this up!

[pithon987]

ok so pics not sure if im right this is the one on top  IMG_0169.JPG   317.91K   8 downloads



and this next pic is the one on bottom?  IMG_0171.JPG   309.79K   7 downloads

[Terry Haines]

...from the look of the pics you are correct.The lower nut which holds the spring etc is the thinner of the two...

[SilverBulletCSVT]

TRicker, on May 30 2009, 06:39 PM, said:

its pretty obvious which is which, one has a nylock end and one doesn't. nylock is for the top :)

LOL at anyone that manages to mess this up!

If obvious I doubt if 50% of the people and shops also would get it wrong. Think of it this way, the top nut is removed and kept in engine bay with top plate. Strut/spring assembly removed and moved to the floor to replace strut. New strut has a new nut so are you thinking of under the hood at that time or just replacing parts in front of you. Of course parts in front of you only and you'll use the new nut not thinking or knowing otherwise.

Now if somebody reads Terry's post here and still mixes them up then a LOL is warranted.

Also maybe a long shot but couldn't these nuts be swapped back from under the hood? Wouldn't an unjacked car keep enough pressure on strut/spring assembly to allow nut to be removed and replaced. Then top plate re-installed and final nut tightened.

[Terry Haines]

....couldn't these nuts be swapped back from under the hood?


I would advise against it,chance of being able to get the top spring seat 100% down and locked are slim..Need spring compressors to unload the top mount etc...

[ccoach]

Turns out I have one of these situations - the right strut basically just hanging there.

Ford dealer doesn't have the nuts - have to order them at $8 each.

Can I use a short hardened nut (m12 x 1.25)?

How tall are the correct nuts?

Scott

[Terry Haines]

Use the correct Ford nut for this,it has a built in flat washer etc..

[ccoach]

Thanks Terry... Off to another dealer or the junkyard :)

[Terry Haines]

Caution..if you remove the lower nut,that is the one that holds the spring compressed.

[ccoach]

ccoach, on 22 November 2010 - 09:36 AM, said:

Turns out I have one of these situations - the right strut basically just hanging there.

Ford dealer doesn't have the nuts - have to order them at $8 each.

Can I use a short hardened nut (m12 x 1.25)?

How tall are the correct nuts?

Scott

The nuts are .465 inches tall.

They also are identical to the top retainer nut EXCEPT for the nylon portion. In other words - if you grind off the nylon insert section, you would have the same nut as the lower retainer nut

Also, no Ford dealer had these in stock in Michigan - 1 day ordering to get. And they cost $8 each.

Either plan ahead or go to plan B (junkyard) or plan C and improvise your own.

One last finding - as theorized above, it was possible to remove both of the nuts with the spring/strut still in the car. That's what I did at the junkyard, and the strut never moved.

Scott