Bmr Front Spring Fail

[Semi]

I'll be the first to admit I am a lousy wrench. Two weekends ago I couldn't even get a single nut loose.

So went at it again this weekend. Brother in law came over to assist and took over right about the time I was compressing the first spring.

Rather than assist he just took over which is why I forgot to cut the bump stop on the left side spring.

I didn't test drive it till today and heard the clunk... clunk clunk...:frusty:

Started thinking about where the fail was and I'm hoping it's as simple as sliding down the boot on the left side.

Now if you look at the video here
[ame]

at 7:57 you see the top strut bolt mount? When I push down on the hood that's where the play is. The strut top nut goes up and down. Now logically speaking part of me is saying it's because I forgot to cut the left side bump stop but ...

Another part of me is thinking this car is still massively heavy, why wouldn't it just be lopsided?

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[jabrax]

if its your front spring, make sure your top strut nut is torqued to spec

 

[jbailer]

The 2 things I would look at are around the 5:40 mark in the video. Although Bill doesn't show it or mention it well, 2 common problems are not aligning the spring pigtails to the seats correctly and not tightening the strut rod nut (the one in the middle) properly. My bet is the strut rod nut. Everything will seem fine until you have the weight of the car on it. Maybe the spring wasn't compressed enough when assembling? Another thing not done in the video is you should hold the strut rod to prevent turning to properly torque the strut rod nut to 76 lb ft. Depending on what strut either a wrench or hex to hold the strut rod, don't hold the rod itself. Also possible when assembling the strut, the seat on the top wasn't aligned well and maybe there was a slight gap to the bearing when fastened. It only takes a slight gap. I'm sure the spring is fine though.

 

[Semi]

Ok, I thought maybe just tightening the top strut bolt would work but I'm missing something. It just spins, take a look. Do they turn in opposite directions to tighten down?



[ame]

Next weekend will be 3x more different with the control arm bearing but I want to learn, tired of paying.

 

[jbailer]

Your video says it's private, can't see it but yes, the strut rod will turn that's what I mentioned in my previous post. Depending on which strut it is, there will be a way to hold the rod on the end, either a wrench or something. Don't make the mistake of trying to grab the strut rod with pliers or something to hold it, you'll destroy the strut.

 

[dubster99]

Use an impact gun to tighten the top strut bolt. Problem solved.

 

[jbailer]

Use an impact gun to tighten the top strut bolt. Problem solved.

From the sound of it, I don't think he will have an impact gun.

 

[Semi]

From the sound of it, I don't think he will have an impact gun.

Actually thanks to both of you an electric impact gun did the trick. Next weekend we knock out the wheel hope thanks guys.

 

[jbailer]

Congrats! It's always nice to get those behind you.

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