Technical Punto front shocks.

[ronnies]

Hi,
My daughters punto needs a front shock (Mcphesron strut).
Her car is a 51 plate. Could anyone tell me what age range of puntos have the same type. I'm looking for a second hand part.

Cheers

 

[Dave Boulton]

Just about to do this job, armed with my trusty (and inaccurate) Haynes manual. Would not think of bothering with secondhand. Any local motor factor (Unipart, Halfords, etc) should be able to supply a pair of struts for less than £90 if you shop around. Mine is a turbo diesel, which has the gas filled struts so is most expensive. Prices have varied from £44 each and a little cheaper, but Halfords also want to sell me a fitting kit.
You will need spring compressors and a good tool set and some mechanical sympathy.
Couple of things to bear in mind. Haynes says replace the securing bolts once you have undone them (may be the fitting kit referred to by Halfords). One end is 17m and the other 16, and they are tight and good sockets and ring spanners will be required as the nuts are shallow and easily rounded. Also the bolts seize in the hub. I used heat to slacken 3, so replacement is a good idea.You will have to hit the end to free them, ruining the bolts. You will need to disconnect the steering arm to rotate the hub enough to hit them freely. Fingers crossed, as I am doing this next week

 

[Luke M]

firstly i would never go for second hand with this sort of part! too much relies on it and you dont know what hell its been through.

also Haynes and other places recommend you replace suspension in pairs on the axle. so if you do the front left, do the right too!

 

[Dave Boulton]

Done one of the struts (would have done both if what was in the box had matched the number on the outside).
Very straightforward if you use a secondhand McPherson strut assembly, but the 2 bolts are extremely difficult to remove and I was glad I had spent £5 on their replacement.
If you use a new shock absorber it is still only ½ hour more or so, but you will need a good quality "Allen key" to fit your socket set so you can remove the old unit. Worth while loosening the nut a fraction of a turn (but no more) while the thing is still bolted to the wing, as this makes it easy to hold.

Check the top bearing. Mine was OK, but the FIAT dealer tells me "they sell a few"

 

[TONY55S]

Just about to do this job, armed with my trusty (and inaccurate) Haynes manual. Would not think of bothering with secondhand. Any local motor factor (Unipart, Halfords, etc) should be able to supply a pair of struts for less than £90 if you shop around. Mine is a turbo diesel, which has the gas filled struts so is most expensive. Prices have varied from £44 each and a little cheaper, but Halfords also want to sell me a fitting kit.
You will need spring compressors and a good tool set and some mechanical sympathy.
Couple of things to bear in mind. Haynes says replace the securing bolts once you have undone them (may be the fitting kit referred to by Halfords). One end is 17m and the other 16, and they are tight and good sockets and ring spanners will be required as the nuts are shallow and easily rounded. Also the bolts seize in the hub. I used heat to slacken 3, so replacement is a good idea.You will have to hit the end to free them, ruining the bolts. You will need to disconnect the steering arm to rotate the hub enough to hit them freely. Fingers crossed, as I am doing this next week

Hi,i changed the front struts in my 2000 reg punto 1.2 last weekend,what a
HORRIBLE job,i bought the spring compressors,but still found it vertually impossible to force the strut back up into place,i wrestled for 6 hours with one,eventually used a car jack to get it up ,it was so hard,kept slipping,its a nite mare,i will NEVER attemp this job again,will pay the 50 pounds for mechanic to do it,i am very handy at cars,but never want to see front struts ever again,the rear shocks are simple,NO BIG SPRING TO TRY AND COMPRESS

 

[TONY55S]

Done one of the struts (would have done both if what was in the box had matched the number on the outside).
Very straightforward if you use a secondhand McPherson strut assembly, but the 2 bolts are extremely difficult to remove and I was glad I had spent £5 on their replacement.
If you use a new shock absorber it is still only ½ hour more or so, but you will need a good quality "Allen key" to fit your socket set so you can remove the old unit. Worth while loosening the nut a fraction of a turn (but no more) while the thing is still bolted to the wing, as this makes it easy to hold.

Check the top bearing. Mine was OK, but the FIAT dealer tells me "they sell a few"

i did this job of fitting front struts to 2000 reg punto,NEVER AGAIN,i used spring compressors and it took me 6 hours to fit one strut,its a HORRIBLE job,not worth the hours,take my advice,take it to garage,they will fit 2 struts for 50 pounds,the rear shocks are simple to fit,no BIG HEAVY MAD SPRING TO TRY AND COMPRESS,and when you do,it just stretches out at the ends,making it impossible to fit,NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fingers99]

Hi,
My daughters punto needs a front shock (Mcphesron strut).
Her car is a 51 plate. Could anyone tell me what age range of puntos have the same type. I'm looking for a second hand part.

Cheers

You are crazy. Shocks are buggered by about 50k miles. Replacing one is dangerous. How much do you hate your daughter?

About £60 from Halfords.

 

[bredsticz]

It's not dangerous to replace if you know what you're doing and do you two realise this thread is over 4 years old?
They are a pain to get back into place though

 

[olgit]

It's not dangerous to replace if you know what you're doing and do you two realise this thread is over 4 years old?
They are a pain to get back into place though

ya gotta laugh a 4 year old thread