Osf Suspension Strut

[bigdaddy]

Hi guys and gals,,,,,while I was having a nosey about the engine bay, I found the osf strut top mount to be about 1/2inch Gap from the metal to the rubber,,,,,,is this correct,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Took a photo to show you, but its not very clear

[bigdaddy]

Ok I removed the wiper motor cover and both sides look almost the same,,,,,,,it looks as if the top rubber mount on the strut is to small for the hole on the inner wing and the strut has pop through,,,,,,,,,

 

could someone post a pic for comparision,,,,cheers

[tiny]

Ive just replaced both strut top mounts and yours look normal! Part of the mount pokes through the hole slightly.

 

Its lateral rather than linear movement you need to check for(side to side rather than up+down)

 

the metalastic style mount has a hollow an each side and between the rubber mount and Chrome rod is a bearing, this was shot in one of mine and giving about 5mm of lateral movement with the wheels on the ground.

 

The copper slip you can see in the top cup of my pic is only there to stop the water that gathers in the cup from rusting the threads on the rod and nut.

 

The dead wasp is just there for scale!

[bigdaddy]

Cheers for that tiny,,,,,,,,,,I did notice the nsf mount moves about more than the osf mount, I assume this is the linear movement you are talk about, did you have to remove the whole strut to change the mount,,,,,cheers

[tiny]

By linear movement i mean straight up and down in the direction of travel for the shock absorber, by lateral I mean from side to side or from left to right in the mounting hole.

 

I had a problem with the NS on mine, the bearing that is underneath the rubber mounting was worn and so was the hole through the middle of the mount. The mounts come as a per side kit (1 bearing and one mount per kit)

 

They can be a pig to change as water gathers in the top cup and rusts the threads/nut/chrome rod.

 

To remove you will need an allen key or In-hex socket (7mm IIRC) this fits in an allen socket on the top of the chrome rod., and a ring spanner (I forget the size) to undo the nut. I recommend a ring spanner (NOT a combination spanner) as the offset allows you to get the spanner down inside the top cup to access the nut.

Failing this a cutdown sparkplug socket with a hex drive on the outside upon which to mount a spanner and an allen key put through the drive hole on the socket to access the strut top mount also works. You will also need to jack the vehicle, remove wheel, loosen brake caliper, remove roll bar drop link and extract the strut from the hub.

 

Now for the bad news!

 

My NS nut was siezed and the allen key socket on top of the shock rounded off so I used a dremmell to partially cut through the nut, then a hammer and chisel to crack it. It would of worked fine if I had been carefull, but being me I wrecked the threads on the shock and ended up replacing them aswell!

 

I replaced the pair of shocks and both strut mount total cost around the

[bigdaddy]

It was side ways movement,, that I meant,,,,,,brain was not working last night,,,,,on full lock the nsf moves about 1 1/2inch,,,,where as the osf moves about 5 to 10mm,,,,I ended up filling the top of the rubber mount with wd40,,,hoping to bet the rust problem,,,lol,,,,,,,

 

there was a knocking from the nsf,,,changed the lower ball joint and the knocking stopped,,,,,,but I now have a wobble/vibration (like when you go over the rumble strips at roundabouts) you can feel it through the steering from about 35 and up and then through the car 45 and up,,when I accelerate slowly its there,,,,,if I accelerate fast its not there,,,,,

 

MM said it maybe the inner CV joint,,,,,,,,,but the mechanic at workcould not find anything wrong with the cv joint

 

the nsf seems to move a lot and the mot man would not have seen the mount unless he removed the cover,,,,,,,,,,

 

not sorted emissions yet,,,,,,,,,,no money,,,,,,believed to be the MAF,,,,,when disconnected it makes no difference to the engine apart from a little hesitation at moving off,,,,,and I loss about 1 to 2 mpg in fuel economy,,,,,I need to find some one to test it? or take it to ford

 

cheers for your help tiny