Front Suspension - Fused Nuts/ Distorted Top Caps

[iksander]

Hi

 

52 2.3 LX. Got a couple of MOT advisories on the trot about excessive play in the front suspension. Trying to get the nuts off the top of the struts but they are fused despite a long bath in penetrator. Also now noticed that the cups themselves seemed to be distorted so that the nuts have sunk. Anyone else had this?  I read elsewhere that some play is normal at the top of the struts, but mine chatters and clunks continually even on a regular road surface.

 

Any tips for freeing off the bolts? Obviously very awkward to get on them directly with heat or a hammer and rounding them would be a disaster.

 

thanks

[bigdave982]

Lots of threds here about play in front suspension

Clunks probaly drop links they dont last long

 

If you do have to remove legs to do the bearings save yourself a lot of greif and time by cutting the cups of with a grinder,drop the whole thing out thru the hole. New cups are only a few quid and u can then do it in a vice

 

Might sound extreme and i did this to repkace a spring anyway but after spending 1.5 hours trying to get the nut off i wished id just cutvit off earlier

[iksander]

Thanks for the tip. Would drop links explain excesive play? When jacked up there is maybe an inch and a half play

[bigdave982]

Front sispension will hang loose/down when jacked up

I belove it is in the testers guidebbok that it is to ne tested with the vehicles weight on wheels

[viperclive]

If your dropping struts I would change top rubber bushes and on completion fill cups with grease to stop corrosion

[Rntaylor]

Had to change both of my top strut mounts/bearings due to MOT fail. Nightmare! Good advice above to cut the cups off rather than try to undo that rusty nut. I cut mine across just above the nut with a hacksaw having removed the trim and wiper mechanism. Made the mistake of trying to undo the lower pinch bolt on the hub carrier, it sheared off. The remains of the bolt prevented the shock sliding out of the carrier, so in the end had to undo the drive shaft, steering joint and lower ball-joint to remove the whole thing. How do you undo that lower pinch bolt without it shearing off? This was all on my MkI.

 

 

Now got a MkII. Offside front spring broke - so here we go again! Having regularly greased the top strut nut I managed to undo it. 7mm hex key and a cut-down spark plug skt with a hex drive helped. Managed to unscrew the broken spring and refit the new one without having to take the strut out. Was a bit tricky and needed the car to be gently lowered onto the strut to compress the spring just enough to refit the top cup. I've taken lots of pictures which I shall post in due course, but would now recommend leaving the strut in to change spring or top mount.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Rntaylor

[seatkid]

I wonder how many incorrect MOT failure there are on this. The Galaxy and some other cars have a floating strut design that drops when the car is raised and the weight is off the suspension. There is a special section in the MOT manual explaining this. MOT testing must NOT be done with the vehicle raised such that the wheels hang - it must be done with full weight on the wheels.

[sparky Paul]

How do you undo that lower pinch bolt without it shearing off?

 

Forewarned by the experiences of other members on here, I undid mine by heating the hub casting up with the burning torch before attempting to remove the bolts. They then came out relatively easily, but were in very poor condition - the part exposed in the pinch gap was probably corroded a third of the way through.