Positioning of front springs into struts. Help needed.

[scrounga]

Hi, I have checked the forums and can't find an answer so here I am. All the info says that changing the front springs is very straight forward and so it is except, does anyone know how the top plate relates to the bottom plate (the one welded to the strut). Unlike the previous models the VE seems to need to have the top plate located in a specific location/ rotation compared to the bottom plate. The service manual states to "Make sure that the coil spring is correctly positioned to the front strut assembly" and as the top of the spring fits into the top plate then the plate/ spring assembly must be rotated corectly.
I have noticed that the top plate has an arrow in the shape of a "W" notched onto one side but I don't know how this lines up with the bottom plate. This has come about because I fitted a lowered (40mm) front coils but found the front end had some odd clunks and sounds when going over bumps so I decided to put the standards back in. When I removed the struts I noticed that the top rubber bearing bush seemed to be sitting crookedly or cocked a bit to one side and on removal I could see that the bush has been bent compared to the one on the other side and the yellow bearing cap had some marks and a crack in it although the bearing still runs smooth. It seems that the top plate actually sets the bearing at an angle and not flat on top of the spring which means the top plate must go on a particular way??? I took the precaution of taking a couple of pics of the struts when I first removed them, just in case, and I thought I had reassembled the strut in exactly the same way as it came apart. Is there something obvious I'm missing?
Any help would be gratefully recieved as at the moment I just guessing.
Thanks heaps.

 

[greenacc]

Mate when i did it the easiest way was to line up the ends of the spring in the top and bottom plates as there is a notch in both plates and marks on the rubber insulater . Not sure if that helps ? The top hat could be offset to angle the strut correctly, probably the right way is the position that angles the strut in towards the engine the most

 

[greenacc]

post those pics too that would help

 

[The Yeti]

On my Pontiac G8 (VE) I have replaced the front suspension setup several times. You have to match up the top plates notches, that W you pointed out, with the endlink mounting bracket on the strut. Align those perfectly and you are good to go. The way the spring sits in between will be pretty obvious at that point and just tighten everything up.

 

[scrounga]

Hey thanks guys nice to get some helpful info. Yeti you are spot on as I eventually found out how things line up and the W does indeed line up with the endlink bracket. The instruction I eventually found said "Install the upper spring seat (6). Ensure the double notch in the upper flange of the upper spring seat is on the inboard side of the strut assembly". I happened to stumble across this on the LS1GTO.com site and is for the VZ. Same same so it seems. I have everything back to original and all seems well again. The springs may not be progresive rate and so may have bottomed out. The boss said I should just take it to the shop, tell them how low and pay them the money to sort it out. I can't argue with that especially when she can't understand why I would want to lower it in the first place yet happy for me to get it done anyway. It's an Omega with 18's on it. Nuff said? Oh and anyone putting standard rear springs back in be warned it's a real pain in the neck.
Cheers all.

 

[steak]

if your strut tops gone, check how many k/m on the clock
once over 100,000k/m the Monroe oil are shot, so if you can it put some new Monroe gt reflex or better brand
never go for brand below Monroe in price, as there a lot of made usa, and china made one out there.
there Monroe reflex gas is big improvement over the Monroe oils made Holden unit.
don't go for cheap usa brand as there below Holden oil unit and not valved right for commodore.
stay with Australia made mackay rubber, as Holden is getting there strut tops from china from company called Accor

 

[steak]

On my Pontiac G8 (VE) I have replaced the front suspension setup several times. You have to match up the top plates notches, that W you pointed out, with the endlink mounting bracket on the strut. Align those perfectly and you are good to go. The way the spring sits in between will be pretty obvious at that point and just tighten everything up.

Hi Mate

is the endlink mounting bracket on the strut, is that where sway link bolts up. I didn't understand or was that endlink was where back the of strut bracket bolt up to stub axle

 

[Jackv8]

Hi Mate

is the endlink mounting bracket on the strut, is that where sway link bolts up. I didn't understand or was that endlink was where back the of strut bracket bolt up to stub axle

Yea that's what he means the bracket on the strut that the sway bar link connects to.