Strut assembly issues. need second opinion.

[Unearth078]

im assuming since the collar is beyond corosion it would be in my best interest to locate new struts?

[Unearth078]

no need to open the first picture.

would 87 struts work with an 88 car...? and i guess is it necessary?

[E30_fiend]

the 87 struts will work just fine but if I were you I would just spray some PB Blaster on that retaining nut and let it sit for a day if you can. Just clean as best you can and try to hammer it off with a hammer and chisel. Its definitely doable.






Taylor

[Unearth078]

its no big deal if theres no collar to put it back on?

cant get the fucking screw to get the rotor off either... i think i kinda just want to replace them

[Hodge]

I guess you have never done this before :)


It can be a serious PITA man, hang in there. It took like an hour and a half to get one off once, with a table vise, and HUGE channel locks. But it eventually came out.

Our E34 was the same way. That collar nut sucks sometimes, but you gotta have it.


EDIT: and yeah, spray the thing with PB Blaster and let it sit for half a day or so. It works too.

[Adrian_Visser]

that's pretty bad , I wouldn't expect a hammer and chisel to do anything to those but peel off the metal. I did a set on my old eta a couple weeks ago put on a used set from a '87 325, which wasn't even as bad as yours and it took a 3 foot pipe wrench and a torch before one would budge.

btw 88 325's and 84 eta's have a smaller strut housing than the rest of the e30's, iirc this doesn't matter if you are replacing with oem hydraulic shocks but if you go to bilstein sport gas shocks they won't fit into the narrower housings at least that's my understanding.

[Unearth078]

yea i havent done this before i guess ill fuck with it tmrw. get the other one off as well. if it dosent work 87is tubes it is

[Hodge]

Yeah save yourself the extra trouble if you can't get it off.

If that's rust, then its probably permanently on there now.

[makaio]

The rotor is easy to remove if you are going to replace. Just put the strut in a vice and wack the rotor with a BFH untill it breaks into pieces, then use vice grips to remove the screw.

[mooseheadm5]

For the screw, look for a hammer driven impact wrench at sears. Works every time.

[dannyg]

I've got a pair of strut housings if you need. Let me know.

[Unearth078]

okay so i had to use the other struts, no big deal. i have them all torques together and assebled however the plate that goes onto the top of the spring is a few mm's above the top. i assume once installed and weighted it will seat itself down.

im using h and r race + bilstein sports.

ps, im pretty sure i stripped the allen key screw the holds the rotor in so i guess they will go to the machine shop before install... ugh

[mooseheadm5]

Just drill the head off of the rotor screw and nail the rotor with a hammer (and a block of wood if you are saving the rotor) This happens all the time and it is easy to take care of

[Unearth078]

wount the threads of the screw still hold the rotor to the hub?

i dont mind drilling it out at all but i dont want to still have any still sticking in the hub.

fuck the rotor, i got drilled and slotted im tryna put on. thinking about trying to shatter the old one... i dont know bout that tho

damn fuckin corrosion

[mooseheadm5]

Once you get the rotor off the screw should come out with a pair of pliers. That is only there to hold the rotor on while the wheel is off anyway. You can run without it or with a little nub sticking out with no problems.