upper bearing caps on a VH

[fatboy2869]

Hi all

Well i went to get the Blue Bitch road worthed today and it got nocked back on a few things i have the parts comming but i need help on one thing i have a manual i am a little confused on this thing

How do u change the upper bearing caps on a VH it's the one at the top of the shock tower now the book says to do this drop the whole suspension but i want to know is there and easy way to do it with out droping the whole thing as i am doing it by my self

and i need to know sorry by 2mmorw if posable

[synoptica]

Can't do it without yanking your strut out, sorry dude

You'll need spring compressors and a rattle gun to do it. If you're planning on lowering the car, you may as well buy the bits now - because the plates you're removing are what holds the springs in (and the shocks are about 2 mins more work to remove).

It can easily be done in a day if you know what you're doing with a spanner. I did it with no knowledge of suspension at all... though I learned a lot by doing it

[haloeight]

its a prick of a job

you want to drop the whole strut out, including the bearing top

then u want a rattle gun to take the gland nut off the shocker, and the top drops right off, then bin and replace in the same order

as said above if ure changing springs and shocks etc, do it now, otherwise you have to go thru the whole painful process again

its a 1/2-3/4 day job if you are a n00b at it
you need a rattle gun, and a pipe wrench
and a bench vise, so you can grip the shaft of the shock cartridge while you twist off the jesus nut on the top of the strut that retains it, that you need the pipe wrench for, its about 40mm

[synoptica]

I managed to get the 'jesus nut' off without the vice, but I did need the wrench

But I can vouch for the n00b time estimate of 1/2 a day - took me about that

[haloeight]

yeh, some are packed with gunk, once youve had em off once and cleared 20 years of gunk theyre ok. Theyre actually a terrible design, i guess they shot the holden designer that designed them when they brought in the VR, which has a shock design that actually makes sense!