SkyWriter Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 I had suspension work done 3-4 months ago. I had ipd anti-sway bars and Bilstein HD's installed front and rear. everything was nice until a week or so ago, and one of the strut tower mounts popped! the bolt mount now sits an inch above it's parent mount. now the second one is letting go. I waited a long time for the Bilsteins; they had to build them up for me, it was a long time. so, the question is: did they build them wrong? or is this what i should expect for stiff struts on rotten daily driver roads (the passenger side went first, where the road is rougher). can i switch to adjustable Koni's and expect to be able to keep my mounts in good shape. please save the inevitable Bilsteins suck comments, i have heard them and they don't solve a several thousand dollar question for me to swap the Bilsteins for another type of shock/strut. I haven't looked at the rear mounts yet but nows the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyWriter Posted January 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 ok, another question then, with stock struts do they exert upward force on the mount? i can push the blown mount bolt back down by hand. i expect some of this tension is the culprit; not as much as the constant potholes, and road patches. if i put Eiback pro-kit springs on, this above mentioned force just gets worse as the spring evidently lowers the chassis 1.2 inch or so. this would seem to exacerbate the issue. has no one busted a mount due to this? the Koni struts look like a pain to modifiy the lower coilover seating. anyone suggest a comparable strut?or did i just have a bad strut tower mount? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 You have an S80? How many miles? When upgrading to Bilstein HD's did you replace your strut mounts, spring mounts? If you were running stock springs with the HD's I would not blame the problem on the struts but just wear and tear - try to avoid potholes.I've been running bilstein HD's with EST lowering springs for over a year and here in Montreal the roads are like a war zone. I howerever replaced all mounts and so far havent had had problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyROTech Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 i think its just wear and tear aggrivated by stiffer setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyWriter Posted January 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 thanks for the feedback guys, i've been really puzzled about this setup breakdown, i'm sure the mounts weren't replaced. the car is a 2001 104k miles. i needed a level set from others with experience. sounds like i'm still in the groove. there is a thread in performance on having Bilsteins custom cut. i'll check out that avenue for my lowered springs i'm having installed. guess i'll have to get a spring compressor and get myself dirty on this one cause i really want to keep the Bilsteins; i like them a lot.thanks!John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTM2U Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 thanks for the feedback guys, i've been really puzzled about this setup breakdown, i'm sure the mounts weren't replaced. the car is a 2001 104k miles. i needed a level set from others with experience. sounds like i'm still in the groove. there is a thread in performance on having Bilsteins custom cut. i'll check out that avenue for my lowered springs i'm having installed. guess i'll have to get a spring compressor and get myself dirty on this one cause i really want to keep the Bilsteins; i like them a lot.thanks!John I don't pretend to know exactly what your problem is. I have seen shock towers get so badly rusted that they tear them out even with standard equipment but you make no mention of rust. If I were to go with an aftermarket shock I would only want something that could be adjusted easily. I don't do this stuff any more so have no idea who has the "hot" setup. If these use a standard installation then with 2 jacks and jackstands you can do this without a spring compressor. I wrote about this in another post elsewhere, remove the shock bolt in the center. Loosen the three bolts by several turns, put a floor jack under the ball joint or as far out as possible. Jack the car up 3"-6" after the tire clears, remove the wheel place jackstand under solid part of subframe. Remove the three nuts or bolts at the top and let the jack down. The whole strut will drop down and the spring will be free, you can now remove the shock and or the complete strut. Going back together requires 1 or 2 hose clamps to go on the shock rod, you will extend the rod to max and hold it in place with the hose clamps then put spring and spring hat on. If you are lucky you put the shock nut on with your fingers, if not you will have to jack the assembly back up, feed the 3 studs through the holes put nuts on with fingers. You can now use big screwdrivers to pry on the hose clamps to lift the shock rod through the hole and put the big nut back on. Remove the hose clamps, jack the car up to remove the jack stand and tighten everything. Put the wheel back on let it down and you are done. It took longer to write than to do the job on one side. I much prefer this to spring compressors which I consider killers for I've seen too many come off even in the hands of a professional.. You might have swaybar issues which require jacking both sides up so both wheels will drop enough to clear the wheel arch. You may have to disconnect swaybar, just use common sense and proper shop practices. Don't nick the paint on the wheel arch. This has never failed on any strut suspension I've done. Cheers, GTM2U . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyWriter Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 GTM2U: thanks for the detail work there is nothing structurally wrong with the frame and mount metal, only the rubber part tore loose. the whole spring compressor time eek's me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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