Spring and top cup removal and refitting



Now this next bit is very important. To remove a spring you will need to compress it as the top nut is under tension. For this you will need a spring compressor. The ideal spring compressor is a floor standing hydraulic one but the more cheaper common one is a manual one like this which is what im going to use.

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Springs, even broken ones, hold a ridiculous amount of energy so please make sure your spring compressor is up to the job!!! if it breaks the spring will fire off in any direction with devastating consequences so please pay attention to what your doing. So clamp your compressors on an start winding them in a bit at a time. Try to keep the turned equal to the other side so it winds down evenly. Once the spring has compressed enough so the spring is slack remove the washer spacer and you can now remove the top strut nut. Just like at the start you'll need to hold the centre with an allen key whilst undoing the nut (19mm i believe).

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With this out of the way you can remove the top cup and the lower bearing rubber that sits on the top of the spring. The bearing sits in between the top cup and the lower bearing rubber. If your renewing the bearing like i am then just prise the old one out of the top cup and push the new one in.

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Now lift off the old Spring and remove the shock from your vice and clamp the lower coil in place. Using the same method as before just undo the spring compressors bit by bit taking your time until they are slack and the spring is decompressed. Now you have to compress your new spring in the same way, by clamping the lower most coil in the vice and refitting the compressors again being very careful that they are on securely. Its a bit fiddley and may take a few goes to get right. Once you are happy (and only when you are happy!!) remove the compressed spring form the vice and place (do not throw!) the whole lot on the floor pout the way and re-secure the shock in the vice then fit the new spring over the top making sure the end of the coil is up against the stop on the shock base then fit the lower bearing rubber on the top of the spring making sure that that is also up against its stop then on goes the top cup. Now this next bit must be done correctly. The top cup bearing has a little tab sticking out of it that must align with the cutout on the lower bearing rubber. If this is not done then the strut wont fit properly when you come to refit it to the car.

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With all this lined up you can begin to fit the nut back 19mm nut back on the top. Wind it in as far as it goes then don't forget the washer spacer that goes on top. Then start to wind your spring compressors out making sure the ends of the coils are still seated in their rightful spots untill the compressors become slack and now you can breath :D If you've done it right then the top cup and lower bearing rubber tabs should be facing the you if you are looking at the shock as fitted to the car and the tapper of the top cup is tappering towards you as below......

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