Changing Front Suspension

[Bonzai 2]

can somone give me a quick rundown of how to go about swaping front shocks and springs please, including and timesaving hints and tips, odd tools required, or any measures to prevent/rectify any possible problems

 

ta muchly

 

 

for the benefit of forum searches: change changing swap replace replacing front suspension shocks shock absorber spring coil

[Wurzel 16]

Well a quick search will highlight most of the problems you'll encounter.

 

Buy some new pinch bolt when the wishbone ball joint goes into the hub.

 

Lump hammer is required to knock the hub off the bottom of the strut. Remove the caliper first and hang it up with string so as not to put tension on the rubber brake hose.

 

If fitting the wishbones, don't tighten the mounting bolts up until the weight of the car is on the suspension leg and at it's 'normal' angle. It puts less stress on the wishbone bushes.

 

You'll need a ring spanner to get the top nut off the strut though and hold the shaft with an allen key. I use a ring spanner with a deep reach angle on it. You MUST compress the spring using compressors BEFORE undoing this nut though. Even with the cars weight off the strut, the spring is still under a fair amount of pressure.

 

If it's just the shocks and springs though, you'll have them done in a couple of hours

 

When fitting the new shocks, make sure the little locating spigot welded to the strut tube, engages in the pinch gap on the hub fully (look at the old one prior to taking it off). If it doesn't line up properly and misses the slot, it won't engage fully no matter how hard you thump it. Clean up the mating surfaces of the hub and the strut and apply a little copper grease incase you ever have to remove them again. The new paint on the strut often makes them a little awkward to seat fully home. You must make sure they do though as your ride heights will be different for each front wheel.

 

That's all I can think off, someone else have a go

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

In addition to what Wurzel says;

If you frequent a scrapyard look for an old wheel bolt from a pug & file the opposite sides of the threads flat so it can fit into the slot on the hub, then crank it through 90' to spread the hub & the strut should come out (& go back in easier).

 

Be careful when doing the passenger side strut as its easy to dislodge the driveshaft just enough to drain the gearbox oil so be prepared with a can to catch any shoudl this happen rather than spilling it on the road / drive / garage floor.

 

Graham.

[Bonzai 2]

ok cheers for responses guys.

 

so far i have done this:

slackened the 3 top mount nuts

took wheel off

took caliper off (im swapping to braided hoses anyway)

undone the pinch bolt although not removed it

undone the nut holding the anti-roll bar link to the strut

 

and now im stuck trying to spread the hub. ive tried a few spanners in the gap but cant get the leverage and my crowbar is too big to manouvre in the wheel arch. i like the wheel bolt idea but i dont see that there is enough space to turn it through 90 degrees with a ratchet. when i got home i remembered that maybe teh standard 205 wheelbrace may do the job so ill try that tomoro. other than that im a bit stuck, may need to make or modify something in work

[pugpete1108 62 1 Cars]

ok cheers for responses guys.

 

so far i have done this:

slackened the 3 top mount nuts

took wheel off

took caliper off (im swapping to braided hoses anyway)

undone the pinch bolt although not removed it

undone the nut holding the anti-roll bar link to the strut

 

and now im stuck trying to spread the hub. ive tried a few spanners in the gap but cant get the leverage and my crowbar is too big to manouvre in the wheel arch. i like the wheel bolt idea but i dont see that there is enough space to turn it through 90 degrees with a ratchet. when i got home i remembered that maybe teh standard 205 wheelbrace may do the job so ill try that tomoro. other than that im a bit stuck, may need to make or modify something in work

 

just whack it with a big hammer it will come off , give it a good clean up and it will go back together easily

[tagy 1]

have you tried hitting the top of the hub with a big hammer? mine were pretty tough to get out, but as I was replacing them anyway I just whacked them with a hammer.

[TEKNOPUG 3]

You need an allen key ideally - put it in square and then push down so it turns and thus spreads the hub. Easier with two people really. Then give it a few whacks. Same method when refitting them. This time though use a jack to push the hub up and compress the spring. Use the allen key to spread the hub and the compression of the spring will push it home. Leave the top mounts undone so you have some play to move the strut into the right place. Also, use a jack under the hub on the N/S to stop it dropping too far and pulling the driveshaft out of teh 'box and spilling oil everywhere. Never bothered removing the calipers as I have braided lines.

 

Let us know if you get stuck - I've done this sooo many times on my car now that I've learnt pretty much all the tricks from trial and error.

 

Make sure that you put all the strut components together in the right order....it's been known for some numpties to get it wrong in the past.....lol

[Bonzai 2]

cheers guys. ive got an hour or 2 pencilled in in the morning to try and finish off the drivers side (dependant on weather) then start on the near side on tuesday after work. will report back

[stealth_pug 0]

Sorry if this is too late but i was doing this last week and had the same problem with seperating them. Spent about 3-4 hours trying on both sides then found a way which took literally seconds.....

bottle jack

 

If you havent already got 1 its a cheap investment... With 2 small blocks of wood, place one on top and one underneath to spread the force so it doesnt damage the parts. Put the bottom piece of wood on top of the hub and the top of the jack and piece of wood under the lower spring support and raise the jack so its wedged between the two then when you keep raising the jack it will lower the hub and the strut comes out. If this doesn't make sense then il try and demonstrate and put a picture up. It really is a piece of piss and would have saved me so much time

[tom_m 0]

an 8mm sump plug key rotated 45 degrees drops the hubs of mine every time! no faffing necessary!

[Bonzai 2]

ive just had a thought that maybe i couldnt open the pinch gap up any further because i hadnt removed the bolt. cheers for your suggestions, i hope to make progress as soon as the weather changes

[smighall 1]

an 8mm sump plug key rotated 45 degrees drops the hubs of mine every time! no faffing necessary!

 

Exactly the same for me....makes it sooooo much easier!

[TEKNOPUG 3]

ive just had a thought that maybe i couldnt open the pinch gap up any further because i hadnt removed the bolt. cheers for your suggestions, i hope to make progress as soon as the weather changes

 

 

Hmmmm.....possibly......

[Bonzai 2]

yep it worked. removed the bolt and ther hub opened up sweet as you like. got the strut out but then the wishbone/hub dropped asnd pulled the driveshaft out of the thingamajig exposing all the wossamabobs, whoops.

 

spring compressors on, i was all ready to take off the top mount, but then it all went wrong due to me not having a 21mm spanner. does the coil spring need to be compressed much to get it off?? i'll try and buy the right spanner for the job tomoro anyway

[Pug_101 0]

does the coil spring need to be compressed much to get it off?? i'll try and buy the right spanner for the job tomoro anyway

 

 

yes, Haven't done this on a 205 yet, but normally you would compress the spring untill it is loose inside the damper. I've found not all ring spanners will fit the top nut of a damper so be careful when buying or If you 've got a welder sometimes best to use a socket (21mm) and weld a bar to the outside of it so the allen key can fit in the middle. Sockets tend to have thiner walls and a deeper reach than spanners.

If you have major problems I maybe able to help out sometime over the weekend.

Cheers

[Bonzai 2]

cheers buddy. i plan to go shopping in the morning for a spanner of this type as suggested by wurzel. halfords and machine mart first ports of call.

 

I will once again report back when i (hopefully) make more progress

[Pug_101 0]

cheers buddy. i plan to go shopping in the morning for a spanner of this type as suggested by wurzel. halfords and machine mart first ports of call.

 

I will once again report back when i (hopefully) make more progress

 

Ok mate, might be worth trying "Cromwell" tools for a single spanner and lots more.

3-4 Tollgate Close

Penarth Road

Cardiff

CF11 8TN

UK

 

Tel: 029 2034 5888

Fax: 029 2034 5777

email: cardiff@cromwell.co.uk

 

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

If it is a Pug strut then you will need a 21mm spanner - damn difficult to find. My new Billies came with a 20mm (or was it 22?) anyway, one to watch but 20/22mm spanner is pretty easy to come by.

 

Rob

[TEKNOPUG 3]

You don't need to compress them much to get them off. It's more a case of locking the spring so that it doesn't fly off into your face when you take the top nut off. You'll need to compress them a lot more when you put the unit back together though.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Just finished doing all my last weekend.

 

1) You don't need to compress the spring very much to remove the shock from the car

2) Don't undo the strut piston nut fully until you have the shock off the car, you can then reposition the spring compressors to make it easier to compress the spring fully. You need to compress it until the top of the spring releases from the seat at the top of the shock. If you don't compress the spring enough, lay the shock on it's side and put something large and heavy in the way as even a tiny amount of tension in the spring will force the top mount to fly off when you release the piston nut.

3) If you can, hook your compressors over the bottom seat of the shock rather than hooking each end over seperate coils in the spring, it seems to make it a lot easier to compress the spring.

[TEKNOPUG 3]

Just finished doing all my last weekend.

 

.

3) If you can, hook your compressors over the bottom seat of the shock rather than hooking each end over seperate coils in the spring, it seems to make it a lot easier to compress the spring.

 

 

Other wise you'll only be compressing a few of the coils and it will be very difficult to compress it sufficiently this way

[stealth_pug 0]

To undo the top mount i used a spark plug socket which had a hexagon on the top so i cud use a 20mm spanner. Does need a reasonably long allen key though and a bar to lever the allen key as it only leaves the short end to turn.

[Bonzai 2]

i dismantled my first strut! luckily my neighbour had the exact spanner i needed so ive borrowed that for a couple days. few questions:

 

1. does the bumpstop sit at the top of the piston rod? it doesnt want to go down further due to a slightly thinner portion at the top, but as it is, it looks like it might interfere with the top mounts being compressed down when the nut is tightened

2. the top mount parts are quite rusty + dusty. is it worth cleaning these up and even hammeriting them?

3. on a trial fit of the spring and topmount bits, the spring didnt sit flush on the seat. is this normal? id expect it to push up when the spring is compressed a bit?

 

For referance, the nut on the top of my new GAZ adjustable struts is 22mm

[stealth_pug 0]

Mine didnt fit flush either... i think its to do with the shape of the spring but when i reassembled it it was fine and i've had no problems since re assembling.

I just gave the top mounts a good cleanup with the wirebrush, that seemed to do the trick.

Don't quote me on this but i don't think it matters where the bump stops are as when the weight of the cars go on them it pushes them into the right place. Not sure if thats quite correct but thats what i was told and it makes sense.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Yeah, my spring sat at a strange angle at first too. I removed as much rust as I could from the top mount plates with my Dremmel and painted them with silver hammerite. Took me ages, and then I went and sheared off one of the studs so had to do the whole thing again with a spare plate. Grrrr.