Front suspension gaiter replacement

[cable]

Hi

I need to replace my front suspension gaiters. Is there a best way to do this? Also, what mastic or setting putty do I need to use when I attach the suspension arms back to the top mounts? All views/help gratefully received.

Many thanks

[Greenstag]

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Hello Cable

If you're referring to the gaiters that cover your suspension struts then you're looking at removing the whole strut assembly.

Its a car on axle stands job

It involves using spring compressorsto compress the coil springs andwithdraw the assembly from the car. You will then need to partly dismantle the assembly to remove and refit thegaiters.

Some manuals recommend a product called Plastiseal to reseal the top of the strut but I am sure there are others available. Basically I would have thoughtany flexible rubber-bitumen based product would do.

My advice would be to get yourself aworkshop manual and see if you think you can do it. Its not hard but be warned suspension springs are lethal if you don't use the proper tool to compress them.... believe me I know!!

I'm sure there's members out there who could give you more advise than me but good luck

David

[mad cyclist]

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as greenstag says be careful of the springs, another alternative is replace the whole legs they are available, if your rubber is knakered how bad are the absorbers?

rgds Nick

[NickA]

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I'm doing mine at the moment, shoddy aftermarket gaiters were only replaced 8 years ago and they've split already


Removal's not too difficult, I took the whole front suspension out as a single unitas I'm cleaning and painting it while it's off the car, but the strut itself is only3 nuts at the top and 4 boltsatthe bottom. Be careful you don't loose the small shims on the top lower front bolt. Then it's one (large) nut holding the top mount on. There's quite of lot of tension, if that's the right term, in the front springs. If you want to completely uncompress the springs for painting, you'll needquite a long pair of compressors or uncompress the spring in stages withtwo sets.

When I first did this job 8 years ago it was quite an expensive overhaul. New inserts, springs, top mounts, special washers etc. Thankfully so far it's only been the gaiters, new poly spring seats and some paint.

I use DumDum on the top mount to seal against the suspensionturret.

I'm bored with work so here's a few pictures

Before



and after



Plus I thought I'd re-paint under the wheel arches while the suspension was off

[seaside bill]

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Mine were done with DumDum also - it's good stuff.

[Andy Rundell]

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mad cyclist wrote:

as greenstag says be careful of the springs, another alternative is replace the whole legs they are available, if your rubber is knakered how bad are the absorbers?

rgds Nick

Nick - who sells the entire assembly ? i may be interested in that if it is spring/strut/bearing/bushes all in one unit, i wasn't aware you could still get them

cheers....Andy

[NickA]

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Chris Witor does them with a Roller top mount, I'm sure he'd do a standard mount if you asked. It's less spring though.

http://www.chriswitor.com/Chris_Wito...Price_List.pdf

If I re-do mine I'm fitting these:
http://www.chriswitor.com/Chris_Wito...ing_Struts.pdf
The other Nick

[Andy Rundell]

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Thanks Nick - i wasn't aware of the roller-bearing option either - i'll keep Chris in mind !

[grahamb]

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A good idea - this is one of the jobs I have done myself and I thought that there had to be a better engineered solution. I found the big nut on the strut a bit tricky to get-off but apart from that an easy job!