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ive got to have my shocks out to change my topmounts. do you really have to do what the haynes manual says or is there an easier way? ive gotta have all the brakes off anyway caus im putting my g40 brakes on. but the haynes sound complicated.
any ideas
cheers
james

It's not complicated, but it's lengthy first time you do it.
Keep a good note of exactly how it all fits together - I didn't and ended up refitting my top mounts upside down, which means taking everything apart again this weekend to refit them.
One thing you will need is a deep set 18mm spanner (not a standard spanner or a socket..) - don't even think about trying to use anything else to unbolt/tighten the top mount, it won't work, trust me I tried...

yeh, i got the top nut off and tried to just drop the suspension down to get the mount off, caus i did it on my dads car but the shock wouldn't go down far enough. but i gotta have the brakes off so i may as well get it all done and probably some new bilstein front shocks from ecp.
cheers groovy carrot

To remove the front suspension strut you need to do the following:

Loosen driveshaft nut (30mm) requires a long breaker bar.

Remove brake caliper, also you can take the carrier and disc off to make it lighter.

Remove the track rod end form the strut, this can be a pain at times.

Loosen the top mount nut.

Pop the bottom ball joint from the bottom of the strut, requires plenty of releasing fluid and a long levering bar.

Undo the top nut and the strut will drop out.

The more often you do this job, the easier it becomes and you find little tricks to help you.

the worst bit is when nuts & bolts are seized up. I snapped the end of an anti-roll bar once because the nut was seized on. had to get a new (well, 2nd hand) ARB.

It's a good idea to give the nuts & ball joint a squirt in WD40 the night before you plan on doing the work to try to free stuff up.

you will need a ball joint seperator to remove the steering arm track rod end from the strut. Ideally this type:



as this type:



can easily rip the rubber boot off the track rod end meaning you'd have to buy & fit a new one.

As people said, the first time you do it, it takes a bit of time but after that it's pretty easy to do.

Apply copper grease to the nuts & bolts & next time you need to remove the strut it'll be very easy.

How hard is the back one to do?

...As I plan on at least trying to lower the car between me and my dad in the summer.

backs are pretty easy to do. jack both sides of the car up at the back & do both rear struts at the same so you can drop the axle right down.

hayesey wrote:backs are pretty easy to do. jack both sides of the car up at the back & do both rear struts at the same so you can drop the axle right down.

Thanks Paul.

hayesey: the worst bit is when nuts & bolts are seized up. I snapped the end of an anti-roll bar once because the nut was seized on. had to get a new

i couldnt agree more, al the bolts were seized & had 2 buy sum new bits.

hayesay: backs are pretty easy to do. jack both sides of the car up at the back & do both rear struts at the same so you can drop the axle right down

yeh the back is pretty easy, i done it wrong 1st time, long complicated story, so stripped it back off & done it again the rite way this time in super quick time.

Yeah, that's a point, it's a good idea to soak all the nuts and bolts you can see in releasing fluid the night before you tackle it. Also, if you think a bolt is going to be sticky, try to get it undone first time (short, quick, firm stroke just to release it), saves trying again and again and wearing the bolt head down.

The bottom ball joint actually tends to be ok if you just remove the bolt, then stand on the arm and bounce on it. Tends to just fall out reasonably easily.

cheers for the advice, il give it a go and see how it goes.
cheers
james

is it not just easier to undo the steering arms at the steering rack end? thats what I did when scrapping the old GT anyway. no ball joint separators for me! just one easy to get at nut and bolt for each side...

depends on space in garage and engine bay... plus they can be a sod to get back on to rack too!

My latest bit of advise for shock absorber replacement is this: don't do it on the driveway when it's snowing. I'm bloody freezing No more knocking noises though

I've had a nightmare with some spare struts i have from breaking 'Don Polio'.

I've spent all today messing around trying to get the driveshafts out of the hubs! Some of you will say... 'thats not complicated!'

Well, indeed it is when you have everything off of the car in one big lump of components!

Strut's are complete with top mounts, springs, discs, calipers, wheel bearings, control arms & even... driveshafts! b****x!

I had mega fun trying to grip hold of the driveshaft in a vice (which i managed to destroy & snapped a huge piece of casting off!?). The vice got taken striaght back to Machine Mart & i was refunded my coin back:-D

In the end, i decided to take my chances & ask a local Kwik Fit type place if i took them there, would they be so kind as to 'crack em off' for me.
The guys said yeah, slip me a fiver & no worries. So i bundled them into my sisters car & went back.
All they used was a windy gun (with mega torque i might add) & off they popped! I was so pissed off i had been wasting time on buying a vice for my workmate, when this was the cheapest most reliable sollution! LoL.

So, now the driveshafts are off... tomorrow i will continue to strip the rest of the parts down to every last nut & bolt!

I'm wating to use tetraseal on the strut housings & generally restore & renew all the components associated with the front end.

Also, got some JOM lowering top mounts that i want to install aswwell;-)

The point of all this to me is... the front shock housings are fitted with G-Max shox & im wanting to transfer them to Don Polio the 2nd, HAH (AKA Silver CL).

I will try & post some piccies up if the weather permits & i dont get my digital camera covered in s**t at the same time!