Front Struts Mounts

am just about to start to take the front struts out to get at the mounts which are showing signs of rust underneath the rubber seals

i dont think its terminal but they do need treating and sealing up again

any there any recommendations in what to use

i was thinking of first treating it with a standard rust inhibitor/hardener, then coating it all with waxoyl

ta

Hi Charlie

I had this problem with my o/s strut mounting and attempts to stick the rubber back down failed, probably because the rubber had become oil contaminated. The solution I used was to cut off the loose rubber (it's only purpose is to protect the upper surface of the steel dome) and then derust, prime and satin black paint the exposed metal. I did it just prior to the MOT test and the tester made no adverse comment. Cutting this rubber back also removes the possibility of water being wicked up between the rubber and metal dome due to capillary action and the rust continuing unseen. I'm now trying to pin down the cause of water getting to the strut top area, ideally the foam seal on the bonnet rear edge should prevent water ingress, but appears to be ineffective.

Regards

Ken

I know this sounds crude, but all I have ever done with strut tops is to soak them with clean engine oil, just squirt it round with an oil can, the oil creeps into all the recesses and prevents further rusting. I have seen no really adverse effect on the rubber. I use the same treatment for protecting the sills and other hollow parts. I squirt some into the sills through a screw hole until I can see it running out, once a year is enough. Its cheap, easy and hardly takes any time at all.

Peter.N.

got the first strut out today and again the mount itself doesn t look too bad

although the rubber seal has perished

but the first thing ive got to ask is, how do you separate the plate which the sphere screws in to, above the mount, from the top of the strut

ive had a quick play but didnt want to get too brutal just in case i was missing something

will get the other strut out tomorrow and give them a good going over to make sure that alls ok

and then decide what to do

ta

You don't (can't) separate the plate from the mount. It is not this part that gives the trouble - unless it is totally corroded away - it is the bonding between the metal cone and the rubber inside the cone. It usually fails due to failure to replace the suspension spheres, so leaving the rubber to take the shocks and strain (which it is not designed to do)

I re-read your message and it appears that you have not yet removed the large nut on the top of the suspension shaft. It is under the plastic cover on top of the mount - unless someone has already removed it The shaft itself is tapered so needs just minimal force to shift it after the nut is taken off.

Hi Charlie,

I can't say this is a recommendation as such because I've not actually tried it yet - but in the thread "Waxoyling" in this section of the forum - I've set out earlier this afternoon what I'm proposing to do for the same problem. Perhaps this is a better topic to discuss it under - so here's the information again:

Having recently bought 2 new strut tops for one of my cars I'm now convinced the Bilt Hamber products can be used to preserve / restore these expensive components - provided they're not too badly rusted through off course. The rubber bonding on the underside of the tops on my other car are just starting to part company and so far there's no sign of rust on the upper surface. I'm going to experiment with the tops I take off first (and think it may still be possible to save them) and then have a go at the healthy tops on the other car. I can't bear just standing by and watching these things getting eaten away! Here's the plan:

Remove tops and degrease with Surfex HD.
Mix 10% solution of Bilt Hamber Deox-C (using hot water).
Soak the tops for 24 hours (perhaps keeping solution warm) & rinse thoroughly.
Dry with compressed air.
Further dry with hot air gun.
Inspect!
Re-bond rubber to metal with engineering grade epoxy adhesive.
Apply Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 anti-corrosion wax - including crevices etc using nozzle.
Refit to car.
Coat underside again with Dynax S50 - and leave to dry.
Overpaint underside with flexible underseal.

I'll be using the wax & underseal paint on the new strut tops too of course - and may have to re-coat with wax / underseal every so often.

None of the products mentioned will harm the rubber and the Deox-C will bring the parts back to bright metal.

I've been really impressed with all the Bilt Hamber products I've used (on the recommendation of techmanagain).

I'll let you know how it goes (with some photos) and if it works I'll create a "How To" - unless of course you beat me to it.

Roy

This post has been edited by mackay1 on January 28, 2008 06:36 pm

Note that you do not have to take the strut out to remove just the top.

Raise the car & support it.
Depressurise, then undo the sphere, pipe and the top nut (that holds the strut in place. Pull the gaiter down and then tap the exposed strut end with a soft mallet and it'll pop down under the wheel arch. You may want to secure it so it doesn't pull outward and yank the driveshaft gaiters and tear them, and likewise the leak-back hose.

Now undo the 4 nuts holding the top to the inner wing and there she is

Refitting is straightforward too - you may want to use a jack to lift the hub to make raising the strut into the top a little easier - just don't raise the car in the process and make it fall off it's supports

regards
Dave

no i didnt know, but since i was giving the two corners a good over then its no big deal, but ta


sooo on my to do list is the brake pads, drop links

and now the front mounts

errrr i didnt have to cause it was loose

after i got the tapered bit of the strut out it was clear that one was knackered

i was thinking at first that the upper bits of the one mount didnt look too bad but looking inside the edge looks too far gone to save

and on the one i took out this morning the rubber underneath has come away completely

so new mounts for a series two please

and me next question is

wheres the best/cheapest place to get replacements from

ta

I would have though it would be second hand or stealers only.

There are different sizes of struts, so you have to get the correct ones. I think there are complicated rules about what combinations you can and can't use. There are some threads about it somewhere - someone will probably be along soon with a link.

The tops for the larger struts used on the 2.5 are very pricey from the stealers.

cit want £318 plus vat each

so thats out!!

has anyone tried the swedish repair kit

http://web.telia.com/~u43116231/index2.htm

Hi Charlie

somebody else here was looking for those -think it was David Hallworth- and found some spares shops sell second hands for about £50 each -you'll have to make some phonecalls I guess, unless somebody provides a specific lead-. But important thing is they *are* available.

The swedish kit is only good when YOUR rubbers are good. It only provides the metal part of the top, you use the old rubber. Now, yours are knackerd from what I read, so this kit is no use for you...

cheers
George

Hi Charlie

I looked at the Nylander strut head repair kits, must be some 3 years ago now. I was very interested and thought they were good enough to try except that in my case I wanted to do one side of the cars. I decided that doing just one side would look very odd and potentially cause issues with the MOT examination as the system is not approved in this country. At the time I needed to do the drivers side on 3 cars and the Nylander kit only comes as a pair to do both sides of one car. I priced a set then at about £100 delivered to this country. To install the repair head you clean up the existing strut head and apply rubber windscreen sealant to bond the old head to the repair half shells. As the windscreen adhesive bonds rubber and is considered to form part of the structural integrity of the car body I see no reason why it should not be use to repair a torn rubber strut head.
In the event I just cleaned off two of my defective strut heads and treated with Black Hammerite paint. The third one, which was the most rusted I left untreated. That car was scrapped last week and I kept the strut head so that I can investigate the extent of rusting when I get the time.

Regards

XMexc

This post has been edited by xmexclusive on January 31, 2008 06:53 pm

jorgy,

the lower rubber has come off its mount but it all looks in one piece, so im hoping its reusable with the nylander repair kit,

but im going to cut the rusting mount off to have a better look as i fooled myself before to the real state of this part

soooooo i think this might be the way forward, its affordable and looks sturdy enough to resist both rust and stress

unless someone tells me otherwise?????????

thanks again

Aaaa, ok, thought I had read it was torn apart itself. In this case contact the guy...yesterday, as he can be slow in responding -he responded in about 3 weeks tim eto my email, a year ago-.

cheers
G