German Engineering Suspension GB

[PNWDan]

^^^^^^ Thats what I have to do then - put the 3 on the bottom. Its going to be tough since I already stripped the top of the Billy iX strut insert - that was some soft metal! Whats the fastest and easiest way to transfer the washers to the bottom? Would it be just unbolting the three 13mm nuts on top and undoing the one 19mm strut insert nut and try to pull the plate off from there? Or would I also need to unbolt the lollipop to lower the housing more?

Jack up the car and jack stand it.
Remove wheel.
Place jack under suspension and jack up suspension.
Leave the plate attached to the strut tower.
Unbolt sway bar and top nut on strut insert, lower jack.

the tube, spring, strut, and top hat will drop.

reach up and slip extra washers over strut shaft.

reverse assembly...

BTW, how did you strip the strut shaft? The nut should be softer than the hardened shaft.

[graphikg]

I stripped not the threads... But the alan wrench female on the very top of the shaft to put the alan wrench in to hold the insert in place to tighten the nut.

[PNWDan]

I stripped not the threads... But the alan wrench female on the very top of the shaft to put the alan wrench in to hold the insert in place to tighten the nut.

Never seen that happen either.

[Harry's E30]

i stripped both lol no joke

[graphikg]

Yeah - stripped so easily actually! Harry, what do you do now to install/uninstall that 19mm nut. I am sure I can do it with an impact but I just dont want that to be my only avenue.

Here is the video of the looseness... http://youtu.be/kVLbgCBgses

[PNWDan]

Shit that thing is loose. That sounds like the strut inside the tube since I assume the 19mm nut is tight. Do you have the gland nut tight and or is it the proper nut? Something is definitely wrong.

[PNWDan]

i stripped both lol no joke

Are you guys drawing the suspension up using the nut? By that I mean do you load the suspension with a jack and get the strut shaft through the hole before trying to tighten it? I've never even come close to stripping that allen hole out.

[noE30]

Once I reinstalled my setup after making longer spacers for my shortened housings (long story) I bolted the entire assembly together prior to bolting it to the top mounts. By that I mean, I installed the collars, springs, dust boots, IE top hat , one spacer on the bottom, and one spacer on top. I also made sure that when tightening the top nut of the shock, the IE top hat and camber plate were perfectly even, or totally flat on each other.
I know some one posted up above that the top hat and the bottom of the camber plate don't sit perfectly flat when installed, I disregarded this advice and installed them perfectly level with each other. I noticed if you mount every thing to the car and then tighten the top nut It will in fact cause the top hat and camber plate to not sit evenly on each other. When installed out of the car you can hold them in place so they are even, at that point lift up the shock assembly and bolt to the car.

Sorry for the long reply but basically what I'm trying to say is that^ is how I installed mine, with two spacers total (one top one bottom) and I have no issues with popping or any looseness. I will let you guys know if anything comes up.

[PNWDan]

When installed out of the car you can hold them in place so they are even, at that point lift up the shock assembly and bolt to the car.

Again I will point out that the geometry of the suspension is not static. Even if you install everything together in a straight line and then bolt it in the car, the parts then shift and will constantly shift as the suspension moves through it's range. If this was not the case there would be no need for the spherical bearing in the plates. There is no way possible for the top hat and thrust bearings to seat on the bottom of the plate if installed as designed.

[graphikg]

Shit that thing is loose. That sounds like the strut inside the tube since I assume the 19mm nut is tight. Do you have the gland nut tight and or is it the proper nut? Something is definitely wrong.

I might need to check the gland nut since it didnt necessarily tighten down with much ease. I am going to take the front apart again and try again. Any suggestions on bypassing the stripped alan wrench part? I have already gone to LA from San Jose, then several times to SF and Santa Rosa with it installed and loose the way it is and havent encountered problems. but gotta make adjustments regardless.

[ADCD875]

I am still working with this suspension. Car has no engine in it yet, so its a slow process. Meanwhile, I tried to put these front coilovers together and discovered that the original Bilstein dust boots are too large for these springs. They had to be squeezed in. Do I need to get some "slimmer" dust boots or these are how these supposed to fit?

See the pics:

[NC318e30]

Yeah those aren't going to work. I'm just not running any. What you need is the boots that he had with the group buy. Good luck!

[ADCD875]

Yeah those aren't going to work. I'm just not running any. What you need is the boots that he had with the group buy. Good luck!

Thanks,
Anyone know a resource for those boots? Bilstein part numbers etc?

[noE30]

Thanks,
Anyone know a resource for those boots? Bilstein part numbers etc?

Nigel can get them for you.

[dave.a.cote]

PNWDan, your explanation seems to make the most sense of any that I have read. Basically you are saying the best you can do is put the spring forces through the thrust bearings and the strut forces have to go through the spherical bearing unless the system is redesigned, right?

On my car, I am running Koni SA's and I am trying to install these coil overs with the IE race plates. The ID of the thrust bearing and the upper spring hat that is significantly larger than the OD of the strut shaft on my setup. I shouldn't have the problem of the top hat not seating square on the backing plate but I am worried about the thrust bearing shifting out of place when the suspension is unloaded. Do you have any recommendation on how I can stop that?