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[VR-VS] How to replace the front struts.

Brett_jjj

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Chock the rear wheels. Loosen the front roadwheel nuts and jack up the front of the car and support it on chassis stands. Remove the front wheels.


Remove the swaybar link nuts,washers and bushes from the link,keeping them all in the order of removal.Once the link is removed from the car,its best to reassemble the link parts back on the link in proper order,so they dont get lost or mixed up,and can be replaced in their original position.. If you are going to remove the lower control arm or radius rod as well as the strut,loosen the rear Z bar or radius rod nut thats located at the rear of the lower control arm.I used a 30mm socket on this nut.Also loosen the front radius rod nut.

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Remove the two bolts from the brake caliper and remove the brake caliper from the brake disc.Tie the caliper up with tie wire so that the rubber brake hose is not taking the weight of the caliper.Also remove the brake hose from the strut by turning it until the "flats" line up with eachother,then it just pushes out of the bracket on the strut.
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On ABS models,remove the ABS sensor wire by squeezing the rubber grommet and easing it from the bracket.

Place a jack or block of wood etc beneath the lower control arm to support the weight of the suspension unit once its undone.Whilst holding the piston rod stationary with a ring spanner,undo the nut on top of the strut and remove the nut,and locating washer.
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At this point you can either remove the strut and the lower contol arm both together,or just the strut can be removed without the lower control arm being removed.If you want to remove the strut without the lower contol arm,then loosen and remove the two lower strut bolts and nuts that retain the suspension unit to the steering knuckle pictured below.Lower the jack that is under the lower control arm,and manoeuvre the strut from the car
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If you want to remove the lower control arm as well as the strut-
Remove the rear z bar or radius rod nut at the rear of the lower control arm.
Remove the pinchbolt that holds the lower control arm to the steering knuckle,once its removed,just lever the contol arm/ball joint, out of the knuckle with a large screwdriver or similar.The pinchbolt is pictured below,the pic shows how to lever out the lower arm/balljoint from the steering knuckle once the pinchbolt has been removed.
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You can remove the front radius rod nut and washer,remove the lower control arm pivot bolt,and lower the jack that was supporting the control arm.Its best to have someone to help you at this point as the strut asembly will drop down with the jack.Remove the jack,and the control arm,the radius rod and the strut can all be manoeuvred from the vehicle at the same time.

Disassembling the strut-
Start by cutting the tie cable that secures the strut boot to the top spring seat.I got someone to hold the strut upright, whilst I installed spring compressors and compressed the spring.
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Once the spring is compressed enough to take the springs tension off the top spring seat,you can remove the nut that holds the top strut mounting etc to the strut piston rod.You will need to hold the strut piston rod whilst this nut is removed. I used two ring spanners,one to hold the strut pistopn from turning,and the other larger one to undo the nut.

Once the nut is removed,you can then remove the top strut mounting,the bearing,and the top spring seat.Then remove the compressed spring from the strut and cut the lower tie cable thats holding the rubber boot to the bottom of the strut.Remove the rubber boot.Remove the spring compressors.
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If you are replacing all the parts inside the strut ,then the only thing you need to remove from the old strut is the top spring mount.. Remove and clean up the mount and sit them aside.(or any other parts you are going to reuse).

The bearing in the yellow and white plastic bearing race which is located under the top strut mount,can sometimes fall apart when the top strut mount is lifted from the strut,and the ball bearings usually go everywhere when this happens.Ive had this happen a couple of times now,it usually happens when the bearing is stuffed and needs replacing..You can get the two halves of the plastic beaing race,put the ball bearings back in it and grease it up.But its probably best to replace the bearing altogether.

Assembling the new struts-

Stand the new strut upright pull the piston fully out of the strut,then push it back home again fiully,give it about 10 full strokes,this will get any air and slack spots out of the strut from when its been lying on its side..Fit the new strut boot over the new struts piston rod,making sure its up the right way,and using a new suitably sized plastic zip tie,tie the boot to the bottom of the strut as shown in the pic and trim the excess zip tie.
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Compress the spring thats to be refitted to the strut.Slide on the bump stop over the strut piston rod.Sit the compressed spring on the new strut so that its end is located properly in the correct place on the lower spring seat.Fit the top spring seat so that the top end of the spring is located in the proper locating place in the seat.
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Fit the first dished washer,concave side facing downwards,then fit the strut top mounting over the piston rod ,making sure the plastic strut bearing is seated in the strut mount with the coloured side (yellow side) facing downwards,or facing the top spring seat.Then fit the upper dished washer with the concave side facing up,then the top strut nut.Once the nut is tightened up,double check that the spring is sitting right in its seat at each end then,once you are satisfied that its all correctly seated, you can remove the spring compressors.You can then tie the top of the strut boot to the top spring seat with a suitable sizes zip tie.Trim off the excess tie. Torque up the top nut to specs.
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Renewing the ball joints on the front lower control arms-
Using a chisel and hammer,split the collet on the rivet that holds the ball joint to the lower control arm.Once the collet is split enough, it should pretty much fall off, Once the collet is off, Just tap the rivet out of the hole. Once all three are removed, the ball joint will pretty much just fall off.
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If you are replacing the inner pivot bush and the radius rod bush at this time, then you will have to have the old bushes pressed out, and the new bushes pressed back in again at a workshop. This is the good thing about nolothane brand bushes, Once they have been fitted, they can just be removed or refitted by hand.
Its also a good time to give the control arms a coat of paint to make then look half decent and to help protect them from corrosion etc. I just used cheap cans of black spray paint.

Be sure to check the bolts and nuts that come with your replacement ball joints. I had one lot of ball joints supplied to me with the wrong bolts, which then resulted in them snapping, and causing the car to hit a gutter. The brand name I had trouble with was Roadsafe. I could only purchase this brand of ball joint again, and even this time the bolts were different from box to box. One lot were 12mm and one were 13mm. At least they were both high tensile this time. So be sure to check them carefully. Make sure when installing the new ball joint, that you have access to an accurate tension/torque wrench to tighten the ball joint bolts to the proper specs. Note: the new ball joint bolts are fitted, so the nuts go on top and the head of the bolt is underneath facing the ground.

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If you are using nolathane brand bushes, make sure they are greased up well and refit the lower control arm pivot bush to the control arm. Also grease and fit the radius rod bushes to the control arm.
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Reinstalling the suspension components -
Install the radius rod into the lower control arm and install the radius rod front inner bush and washer, manoeuvre both the control arm and the radius rod into position. Install the pivot bolt and nut loosely. Check up under the front guard where the strut's top mount sits, ,make sure its all clean etc. The strut can now be manoueuvred into position, this requires two people. One to hold the strut in place and one to refit the strut locating washer and top nut.
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Install the steering knuckle/hub assembly to the strut with the two bolts and nuts. Dont tighten these fully at this stage. Push the lower arm/ball joint up into the pinch bolt clamp on the steering knuckle, it may need tapping in with a rubber mallet. Once it's in, install the pinchbolt and nut , tighten to specs. Whilst getting someone to push the bottom of the strut inwards towards the engine, tighten the two strut to steering knuckle bolts. These bolts and nuts tighten in three stages. For the first stage, tighten them to 85Nm. For the second stage, tighten them to 100Nm, and for the final stage, tighten them an extra 90 degrees, or a quarter of a turn.

Install the rear radius rod bolt and washer in the lower control arm. But do not fully tighten it at this stage. Also refit the radius rod front outer bush, washer and nut. But do not fullly tighten it either at this stage.

Reinstall the swaybar link keeping the bushes in the correct order. Reinstall the brake disc. I use anti seizing compound on the centre hub, so the disc doesnt get corroded or rusted onto the hub, this can be a big problem, if the disc hasnt been removed from the hub for a long time.
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Cheap6

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Very comprehensive.

Seems right other than the first image (from a Gregory's?) where the sway bar link washers are upside down. They are correct in your last photo.

The two pinch bolts connecting the knuckle to the strut for each side are single use only (torque to yield). They are almost certainly OK to reuse before having a wheel alignment done (where they may need to be replaced). If you can't trust the place that the wheel alignment is to be done to fit the new bolts correctly, keep the new bolts, have trhe car aligned, then fit the new bolts, one at a time, yourself. It may help to mark the suspension to ensure that it doesn't move from aligned position and get it abck if it does move.
 

Not_An_Abba_Fan

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Very comprehensive.

Seems right other than the first image (from a Gregory's?) where the sway bar link washers are upside down. They are correct in your last photo.

The first photo is of the pre VR as the pin goes down to the control arm, in which case they are correct. They only go the other way on the VR on as the pin goes to the strut and it leans over as you turn.

Now that the first pic has been changed, this post is kind of irrelevent.
 
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Brett_jjj

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Yeah mate,the top pick is from a haynes manual by the look of it,but I got it from online somewhere.I just posted it up to give people an idea what the swaybar link sorta looks like,as I didnt get a photo of it..Even though it is slightly different from VR/VS swaybar link setups,it still similar,so I just decidied to use it.I might just get a pic of the proper ones later on and fix it up so it doesnt confuse anyone.
The gregorys mentions that there are the torque to yeild bolts on the struts,and they should be replaced ,as should the lower control arm pivot bolt nut and the locating washer nut on the top of the strut, also the nut that goes on the radius rod at the control arm,and also the pinchbolt nut should all be repalced too.I didnt bother replacing any of them as they were all still in excellent condition,I just locktited them all.Which I forgot to mention before too..
 
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Cheap6

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I am happy reusing the nuts, provided that they are installed using the Loctite or similar. There is, as I understand it, no mechanical reason to discard these parts just that the threadlocking compound only works for the first installation. Acting as a lubricant, using liquid thread locking compound does affect the fastener tension for a given torque, and the different locking compounds alter the torque differently, but I don't think it is super critical here.

The bolts I do replace. Torque to yield means the bolts are permanently stretched when tensioned correctly. I'm sure that there are plenty of VR- running around on bolts that haven't been replaced nor tensioned correctly and you may get away without replacing them a couple of times. That is why, particularly when the previous history of a car is unknown, I think it's a good idea to replace them, as they are supposed to be.
 

Brett_jjj

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So much for the how to.I dont know what the hell has happened ,sorry guys.
 

Brett_jjj

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Well I think Ive got it all back together.I dont know how to save a draught,so I have posted it up for now.Its not complete again yet,but I will fix up the rest tomorrow,(if its still here).If it goes again this time,Im not gonna bother putting it together.(Idiots!).
 

Brett_jjj

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As well as doing the front end stuff,Ive also fitted new rear tyres,I got the new front tyres the other week when the alignmwent was done,I also got new rear shocks to match the new front struts,so I fitted them too..I ended up getting the monroe gt sports rear shocks,which suits the lower FE2 rear springs I have.The springs are only the standard FE2 height,but they kept falling out whenever the rear end was jacked up,so hopefully these new shocks will stop this from happening.I havent jacked it up yet to see if they stay there.They have certainly made a big difference to how it handles etc.I didnt realise the standard shocks were so unsuitable for the lower FE2 springs,they made it pretty bad.I just didnt realise it until I fitted the new ones.Ive nearly got the car where I want it as far as its handling goes,for what I can afford,anyway.I want to fit adjustable swaybars later on,I want it set up so its more neutral to oversteering,not understeering like the factory sets them.
Also I should mention that holden dont make the genuine rear springs any more,only the front springs..My rear FE2's are pretty old and im gonna replace them too,Im just gonna fit kings KHRL-20HD+ rear springs instead of new FE2's which are NLA.I just gotta wait for these king springs to get here now.I hope they are a good replacement for the FE2's,as I didnt know really what to do or what brand spring to get.I used to use lovells in my fords and holdens years ago,they were a good spring,but I couldnt find many lovells brand cheap on ebay,unlike the kings ones,which are everywhere on ebay,everyones got them for sale.I also read they have a lifetime warranty,thats a pretty bloody good warranty..
 
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Unreal right up Brett. Thanks. Should be same for VY?
 

Brett_jjj

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Unreal right up Brett. Thanks. Should be same for VY?

Thanks mate.Im pretty sure the later models have a very similar setup,Ive read on here somewhere that on the later models, the ball joint on the lower control arm is pressed in instead of using the rivets etc like the VR/VS setup.But thats no problem really,its just a matter of taking the whole control arm to a workshop and getting them to press out the old balljoint and then press in a new ball joint,its only a 10 minute job to press these out/in, so it shouldnt cost much.
 
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