Suspension question

[Cory_Langford at bcit.ca (Cory Langford)]

I am not sure on what procedure is suggested, but every strut insert I have
every used needed the cap on top.

The only thing I can say about the alignment, is if the strut cart is not
exactly the same size as the strut body (usually not as you have some oil,
or other cooling method there) if the strut insert were to actually pull up
a little and back down again, it could sit differently in the strut hosing
and affect your camber.  Variable camber is not that great of an idea :)

I have never seen a strut assembly with out the cap on it, so I am not sure
of others run it this way and it works fine.  My first thought on it were,
that as the car does lift the front end, and come down again, if the strut
insert is able to move, are you damaging the bottom of the strut insert,
and could you end up with a leaking/blown strut insert because of it?


Cory


"T. Reed" <tereed2@gmail.com> wrote on 17/04/2007 01:32:21 PM:

> Hey guys...
>
> I put some new Pirellis on the 16v last Friday and my last set of tires
was
> wearing funny so I took it in for an alignment today. I went to a
reputable
> shop that was recommended by a friend and is known for aligning vehicles
> with custom suspension. The car has H&R springs and Bilstein sport
inserts
> which have been on there for 6 or 7 years, so my memory of the
installation
> has faded somewhat.
>
> After they put it on the lift and looked at it for a couple minutes, the
guy
> waved me over and pointed to my struts, saying that I needed new struts
in
> the front. He grabbed the strut tube and banged it around on the insert,
> saying that that looseness was why my tires were wearing unevenly. I
didn't
> understand what he was saying at first because I thought he was telling
me
> that something was actually broken on the passenger side only. It turns
out
> that the nut "cap" that retains the insert in the tube was missing. On
both
> sides, he said. I was surprised because I was pretty sure I had put those
> back on and I didn't see any way that they could just "fall off" since
they
> were captive on the shock. Nevertheless, he said he didn't want to align
it
> until that got fixed.
>
> He waived the diagnostic fee and I left. After I got to work I started
> thinking about it and now I am remembering that the cap did not fit and
that
> it was "standard procedure" for installing Bilsteins to leave it out?
>
> If I remember right, the piston diameter of the shock was much larger
than
> stock, so the cap would not come close to fitting over it. I drew a
picture
> and concluded that as long as the shock is always under compression, it
> doesn't have to be forcibly attached at the bottom. But, isn't it
possible
> that the shock would not be under compression (say, if the front of the
> vehicle was briefly airborne) and thus the insert would slam in to the
> bottom of the tube?
>
> What can I do about this (if anything)? Any thoughts?
>
> To me, the looseness he pointed out should have no effect on the
alignment.
> The wheel bearing assembly is held in place in the horizontal plane by
the
> ball joint and tie rod, and only in the vertical plane by the strut
> assembly. A loose strut assembly could bang around but it shouldn't
affect
> the alignment, right?
>
> -Toby
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