So i just replaced my struts, and the right side went on perfectly, it is also the first time i have done struts on my own. But anyway the right one, took off old shock/strut and mounted new strut put it back in and done..easy.

But left one turned out differently, i had no problems removing old strut & assembly, unscrewing the shock from the strut, replacing, but when i tried putting it back in it to the car it would not fit into the strut-cup that holds the strut (which lays right above drive axle) (the strut cup was unscrewed ofcourse). after 3 hours of massive efforts of trying to get it in there, after re-assembling the strut/shock assembly (to make sure its ok) i finally got it in when i twiched/turned the car's axle and somehow finally popped in.

it seemed like the strut was too long, or extended too far out (just a little bit too far) but i bought the same strut for the other side, and it was ok--went in w/ no problems.


anyway while car was lifted i took pics of how it looked--check below.







What i know is that the metal rod (whatever its called ) is not supposed to touch the suspension, of course when i drop the car to ground its ok, but it should not be touching while the car is jacked up --should it??? the other wheel did not seem to be touching. what's your take on this guys

I replaced the shocks because they needed to be replaced, i had started to see some cuffing going on but also i have a clunk clunk noise going on when i drive on rather smooth pavement that has small irregularities, like little wavy, that's when i here a cluck sound, i thought that the shocks were @ fault, then I read on the board here and a old topic/post where someone had the same problem. changing shocks did not help him, (he never answered how he fixed the problem) and neither did it help me changing the shocks, the noise is still there? Does anyone have a clue what i'm talking, or has had the same problem?

 

i dunno but the fork looks like its backwards. maybe its the pic. i just finished doing my suspension today on my 5th gen. if you are still hearing that clunk in your front end after replacing the shocks, look at your front swaybar. the endlinks might be worn out.

 

I agree. I'm pretty sure you have the fork backwards (whatever that part is called, where the bottom of the strut fits).

 

what the last 2 people said ....

 

That would also explain why it seems too long. I think there's a little tab on the shock which fits into the split line of the fork. If the fork were backwards, that little tab would prevent the shock from going all the way into the fork.

 

Yah, your fork is on backwars ( the part that connects to the lower control arm

 

also, when you turn do the brakes cut out for a minute? i put my forks on backwards before and therefore when i made a turn it squeezed my brake line and then cut my brakes for a couple seconds...they're backwards.

 

i am most certain my fork is not backwards because it has a hole for a screw and the strut has a little dent where the screw should fit, the screw is in. if the fork were backwards the screw would not go through. so that is not a answer.

but what about the clucking sound

 

You can install it backwards. I've done it myself once when I wasn't paying attention. Even tsouyporta said he installed his backwards once.

Every one of us agree that most likely the problem is that the fork is backwards, but you dismiss all of our replies as "wrong" without even looking at it again. I don't know what else to tell you.

 

Oh i'm sure i could manage to install it backwards. I dont say you necessarily are wrong. but what makes me confused about installing it backwards is that the fact the strut has a little dent in it that you have to align w/ the hole of the fork, and if i would have installed it backards the holes would not have aligned---?

Except that observation---could very likely be installed backwards. I will go double check tomorrow.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Terabass &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... I will go double check tomorrow. </TD></TR></TABLE>Look specifically for the little tab that goes into the split line of the fork. Most of the way around the shock, there's a shoulder. That shoulder seats against the top of the fork, and the skinny little tab sticking down has to go where the fork is split for tightening.

There's a nice picture of it in the Helm book, but I don't have a scanned page to show...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Terabass &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Except that observation---could very likely be installed backwards. I will go double check tomorrow. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That's all we ask...

 

It's also possible he hasnt wiggled it all the way through the fork, so it's kinda angled funny, I took out that bottom bolt on the fork that holds it on, wiggled it into place on the strut and then bolted that back down, by your pics it doesn't look as if the strut went all the way through the fork

 

i hope you studied your manual before attempting to to replace your struts, but if the damper fork is on backwards the bolt that holds it would be facing you as oppose if you installed it properly the bolt would be on the opposite side.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jmumblez2001 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i hope you studied your manual before attempting to to replace your struts, but if the damper fork is on backwards the bolt that holds it would be facing you as oppose if you installed it properly the bolt would be on the opposite side.</TD></TR></TABLE>


the bolts are facing the engine. away from me

 

backwards...

 

so if the bolt is not facing you, evidently you installed it properly. only advice i can give is to take it apart or take a good look before taking it apart to see what went wrong, also check to see if you installed the strut wrong. the damper fork could be bent (i doubt it) or posibbly your steering knuckle is bent.

 

i took the strut/shock assembly apart 2 times, compressing the springs and unscrewing top, ten putting everything together, to make sure it's ok.. i did that because i believed put the strut together wrong, also w/ doing that i installed the strut of total of 3 times, maybe the damper fork is bent, or something else is bent that i cannot clearly notice. but i got the car aligned yesterday and it drives straight and they did not say anything so who knows... ? ..ergh. these cars these days!

 

ok YAH the strut has the notch that gets into the notch in the fork, but the WHOLE strut assembly is backwards, as in, take the 3 nuts out from the top of the strut under the hood,

Disconnect the bolt from the lower control arm, and turn the whole thing around, so the rounded part is facing the rear of the car

 

Oh i know what notch you are talking about, but i believe you are confusing the scraped paint w/ the notch. That is actually scraped paint. Next time i will use the Canon 20D to get you some quality pics. I cannot turn the whole strut assembly backwards as i have 5 screws on the top that need to be screwed in--two of them go to some sort-of stabilizer rod that extends under the windshield. and 3 just mount the strut assembly. so it's physicall yimpossible to put it the wrong way. As the holes would not align up.

 

Fix your pics so we can see what you got going there

 

Hi,

I was just wondering if you solved the problem you were having with the clunk clunk noise that you posted back in January? I was doing some research as I have the same exact noise as you and changed struts, shocks, and bearings and ran across your post, and was wondering if you ever found out what it was? If you could let me know, I would forever be grateful!

 

I just got it fixed, it is the transaxle. The transaxle bearings are loose, so you will have to get a new transaxle or rebuild the old one..

The strut problem is actually the control arm was bent -- so put new control arm / fork and now no problem , strut is still ok too

 

The control arm was simply bent, got new control arm and now i have no problems,