I ordered a set of struts for my car.the front ones went on just fine.the rear struts are another story...the original struts were oil filled.The replacements are gas charged So I thought no big deal they just fit in where the oil was in with the old ones...Wrong!!!!!!! the dumba$$ that sold tem to me sent me the wrong damn ones.So now my car sits here with the whole damn back wheel torn off and apart and now I have to wait for the parts store to get them in on tuesday.So no frickin car for the next 4 days.Damn am I not a happy camper!!!
But on the chance that I am doing something wrong what could it be?

 

Yeah the rear ones are oil filled. The rears you got should be inserts, and they come with a new collar. Quick question, are they not fitting into the old housing, or will the new collar not thread on?

S

 

Ok on the old set-up you have a big nut on the end held in the o ring and the shaft.The new ones a just an insert that is suposed to slide in where the oil was filled into..right?..well with the new ones the big nut on the end will not go back onto the end of the tube and hold the insert in place.I just think the guy sent me the wrong ones.I wish I had my book here so I had the proper names for these parts cause the big nut on the end has some name that starts with a G and is a strange name.

 

I had a similar problem with mine. If need to be, you can reuse your old ones. I don't see any harm in it because they are essentially the same. For some reason the threading was slightly off, so it make it a PITA putting everything back together. Oh yeah, it's called a Gland Pack IIRC.

S

 

well they don't fit cause there too long the new carts stick out about an 1/8 past the end of the tube that the gland pack threads into.I wish I had pics to show you what I am talking about cause I really do think that they sent me the wrong ones.

 

They do? Now if you look at the gland packs that came with it, do they have a notch out for that? So right now, the problem is, you get the cartridge in, but when you put the gland pack on, it doesn't come close to meeting the threads? If that's the case, yeah they must of given you the wrong ones. What brand struts you using?

S

 

well the new ones didn't come with a new gland pack nut thingy LOL.there suposed to be moroe or gabrial but I am not for sure if they are there are no name brand marks on them.(This is what I get for buying sh** online that I didn't see first to make sure there right) the only thing I have on the struts is the numbers on the tubes which is 734523 but I have the right ones on order from oreilly auto parts for $26 each.Thanks for the input and trying to help me figure it out!

Keith

 

Man too bad you went with gabriels. I was gonna say you can go to sparkplug.com and get a set of KYB's for our cars. That's what I did, and I'm really happy with the result. They are the GR2's, which seem to be pretty popular with 5th gens as well.

S

 

DO NOT put any strut cartridge on your car that is less than a KYB!

I had Monroes (biggest pile of ca-ca I've ever seen, never will I use
Monroe products EVER again), on my car and they were shot in less
than seven months... so I had to replace them all over again... this
time with KYBs... no problems ever since.

Except that the stupid top nut that holds the insert place likes to
work loose about every six months...

Scott

 

well I figured out what the deal was.My retarded *** was trying to use the old gland pack nut.The one I bought didn't come with a new one to fit over the cart.So all this aggrivation for 2 nuts....

 

Scott,

Were you able to tighten the nut all the way down on your KYB's? I'm in the process of replacing mine and the nut didn't thread all the way down like it did on the original oil filled inserts. I'd hate to think that I'd have to take it all apart every six months to tighten the nut down.

 

A shop did mine as I didn't have the time when the struts needed replacing.

That's what I get for trusting some one else with my car!

I keep taking it back and they keep tightening them (they use a big pair
of channel locks on the strut body with a rag to hold it in place as they
tighten the nut once again.

I called the dealer to ask them why the nut keeps loosening, and the dealer
told me to ask the shop if they used loc-tite on the threads of the nut, they
didn't and refuse to take it part to do so...

Scott

 

On mine, I when putting the gland pack back on, I had the housing in a vise, and was using a pipe wrench. I was unable to tighten that thing down all the way, so I went as tight as it could go.

S

 

well I got them done and was that an adventure.I can't belive all the crap you got to take off just to get to the strut towers,but my car rides like new again man is it nice!

 

How much does it end up costing to put new struts on it all the way around? Mine drives like a old cadalliac, probably should with 250K+ on it.

 

I think total cost for mine was under 150 but I got the cheapest struts I could find.But I also did all the work myself.Got the spring compressor from the parts store in town on a deposit lending deal.

 

I spent about $325 for all new struts, strut mounts, boots, spring seats, thrust seats, and top hats. I got KYB GR2's and they rock. I also spent about 160-170 for ST Lowering Springs, $30 for a Ebay FSTB, $129 for an Addco RSB, $50 for my own spring compressor, and about $50 bucks addtional in additional tools so I can do it all myself.

S

 

Awesome guys. Thanks for the info. Maby someday I will do some suspension work, I do all work myself as well, and have a spring compressor, so now I am just missing the $$. Of course I will do it as cheap as humanly possible as well, since it will probably never live long enough to respect high quality replacements, although, these engines really rock!

 

Well keep in mind....if you do it as cheap as possible, you might be doing it again in the future. I've done mine so I don't have to take it apart again...it's a PITA.

S

 

I meant cheap as possible as in autozone replacements or something, not salvage yard parts :-) I am not a fan of re-doing work either, just cant afford performance parts for a car w/ 250K+ on it...

 

yeah doing it a second time would be a PITA the front isn't too bad to do but the back is a bigger pain cause you have to remove every thing out of the back seat area and when they have been in there for 17 years it don't want to come out!!

 

Becareful of the autozone strut products though. They tend to be Monroe's or Gabriels, and they are the biggest pieces of **** I've every seen.

S