Shock collar loose

[E30saurusRex]

So I've recently noticed a clunk from the left front when going over bumps sometimes. I found that the shock collar unscrewed itself... The PO put h&r sports and billstein sports in himself and I'm thinking maybe he didn't get it tight enough (bentley manual says 96ftlbs)

Could this have caused any damage driving with it out? Also is there anything special I need to know before tightening it back down? I wish I had one of those tools for them that's in a C shape with the two teeth... I guess I'll just muscle up with some channel locks.

[Van Westervelt]

Monkey wrenches are your friend for this. aka pipe wrench

Depends on how long its been like that. If you were to try and remove your strut right now, the spring will decompress fully, making it a bit of a dangerous task. Strut mount and strut insert could be easily damaged.

[E30saurusRex]

Edit: Woops I didn't realize that a shock insert doesn't mount at the bottom... So the shock collar holds down the shock tube/housing itself huh?

So I can't just jack up that corner, push the shock housing down, and tighten down the collar?

[JRKOUPE]

collar

over the yrs Ive seen alot of tracked cars getting the gland nut loose over time. Mine back off a bit every now and then.

You cant jack car up......and then w/ a second jack compress the tire wheel combo enough, to help you get the g nut to start to re thread?..

[Van Westervelt]

Edit: Woops I didn't realize that a shock insert doesn't mount at the bottom... So the shock collar holds down the shock tube/housing itself huh?

So I can't just jack up that corner, push the shock housing down, and tighten down the collar?

If you can get in there, sure. Will it work, likely so if you can get enough muscle on it. Channel locks would be hard to get 96 ft lbs of torque on there before slipping. Is that the safest way? no.

That collar is all thats holding the shock and strut mount etc above it to the strut tube below.

[Philo]

Removing the housing is the easiest and safest way to tighten the collar. I use a large table vice and a giant pair of channel locks to tighten my collars down.

[E30saurusRex]

You cant jack car up......and then w/ a second jack compress the tire wheel combo enough, to help you get the g nut to start to re thread?..

That's exactly what I was going to do. I don't think there's any danger regarding the spring because I believe the gland nut (now I know it's called that, thanks) hasn't come out all the way.


Does anything limit the travel of the suspension other than the gland nut? ie would it completely fall apart when I jack it up if the gland nut has come all the way out?

[Van Westervelt]

No, you would have to unbolt things still. If it is all the way undone, the spring will take up most of the slack until you max out your control arms etc on the bottom of the strut.

[E30saurusRex]

No, you would have to unbolt things still. If it is all the way undone, the spring will take up most of the slack until you max out your control arms etc on the bottom of the strut.

Cool that's what I thought. Well alright then, looks like I'm golden. Now if it would just stop raining :(


BTW thanks everyone! This is my first time asking for help on here, I've been on bimmerforums for a while but man, you guys responded quickly here and were very helpful. I'll be spending more time around these parts :D

[Hellabad]

Cool that's what I thought. Well alright then, looks like I'm golden. Now if it would just stop raining :(


BTW thanks everyone! This is my first time asking for help on here, I've been on bimmerforums for a while but man, you guys responded quickly here and were very helpful. I'll be spending more time around these parts :D

The Bilsteins were originally supplied with a tool to tighten them. Unfortunately, the Bilstein tool is not as good as Big Ol American Channelocks.

The channelocks CAN be used WITHOUT removing the strut, or even removing the tire. Jack the car up just enough, assure yourself the giant nut is only loose and not unscrewed, and then tighten it to 140N/m which is basically as tight as you can get it. (Push away from you with your left hand)

If you have Knipex pliers, which are like Channelocks, they are better.

The reason you have a hard time getting an answer on bimmerforums is because knowledgeable people get tired of having their ass ripped for posting.

[E30saurusRex]

The reason you have a hard time getting an answer on bimmerforums is because knowledgeable people get tired of having their ass ripped for posting.

Haha I hear ya

[JRKOUPE]

e30

THIS is the place for e 30 love....



and if you knew who HELLABAD was, youd be even more impressed.

(e30tech is good as well)