Guide To Strut Top Removal.

[mcmoonter]

Can anyone desciribe a straight forward procedure to remove a pair of strut tops from a '96 XM

Thanks Peter

[lez]

turn of engine and then move suspension lever up/down a few times waiting at each end for a minute to de-pressurise system

raise car onto axel stands under front subframe to leave wheels hanging down not touching the floor

slacken hydraulic pipes to strut tops and allow any pressure to leak out, have a cloth or 6 ready

remove pipes and spheres

unscrew big nut on top of sphere mount/strut top until level with top of thread, cover with a lunmp of wood, let at it with a hammer......

when free remove nut, remove 4 strut top support nuts, remove strut top

not the right way, but quick enough when at the scrap yard

This post has been edited by lez on December 15, 2008 03:34 pm

[Peter.N.]

Hi Peter

Jack the appropriate side of the car up, depressurise the hydraulics, all you need to do is to put the suspension on its lowest setting, remove the sphere, disconnect and remove the hydraulic pipe, undo the strut securing nut and drop the strut clear, remove the three nuts securing the strut top to the inner wing and remove. I don't think I have forgotton anything, I'm sure someone will say if I have. Reassembly is a reversal of the above - as they say.

Note. Make sure your replacement strut top has the same sized hole as the original.

Peter.N.

[Peter.N.]

You obviously type faster than me Lez

Sorry: 4 nuts!

[xmexclusive]

My only addition to the excellent description by Les is that I would also loosen the sphere first while the 4 strut head nuts are tight. The sphere can then be unscrewed by hand when you are ready to take the strut head out of the chassis mounting hole.

John

[xmexclusive]

Hi Peter

I see that I am even slower than you.

John

[citroenxm]

my addition is Dont just wait for the suspension to goto bottom setting UNDO THE REGULATOR SCREW 12mm nut... you will STILL have pressure in the struts and there for end up being like a green frog if you dont release it. Leave the engine running for about 2 mins THEN open the bleed screw to release the pressure!

Paul

[mcmoonter]

Thanks folks.

I managed to find someone breaking a car, these instructions should help him to get them off. OO er matron. Should see the mothership through another MOT and I can finally get the set the Noz lent me back to him.

Thanks again

Peter

[Andmcit]

Very late in proceedings here but can cut/paste a description of a Xantia strut top swap
here where the piccies should help paint a clearer picture as the Xantia and Xm principle
is the same - YES John, the Xm design IS better though!!

Oh dear - failed strut top on my parked Activa earlier this year.



The sphere bracket crown was as rotten as a peach on close scrutiny where
I tugged all the rubberised covering off the underside, yet to look at it without
actual prodding it all 'looked fine'. The giveaway had I taken the trouble to be
more thorough was the paint lifting on the topside ledge which flaked away in
big swathes to reveal a less than happy more regularly found bobbly rusty surface.

This is the car as I managed to leave it outside my work with the system
fully depressurised - the bonnet is scrap but is still managing to just about
stop the weather getting into the engine bay.



As has been mentioned earlier, in a nutshell you basically have to remove
everything connected to the 'sphere mounting bracket' or strut top; the fluid feed
pipe and it's clip/bracket, the main corner sphere and then you need to undo the
big nut on the crown that holds the end of the strut's inner ram against a taper
inside the strut top.



sphere wrench from GSF:



The big nut of the top is usually very tight; here the whole strut head
swung around and round as it'd totally broken/separated off the wheelarch
- I had to put the sphere back on hand tight to brace it against the
surrounding engine bay fitments:





The next bit is my dodge to knock the inner piston downwards into the
main body - I've learned the hard way in the past that the thread on it's
end can be burred over if you're not careful hitting it as there's not much
to see or hold the nut - I usually have another identical nut to take up the
depth of a socket that I can then give a short sharp tap against - here I
used a small adapter from the socket set - the allan key head in the piston
end allows the nut to be threaded off if it catches and just turns:



You then need a long bar with a slim diameter to compress the inner piston
downwards into the main strut body which will eject a fair bit of fluid about
the place and you could keep the main hydraulic feed connected until after this stage:



The broken head was loose to simply lift out here though it would normally
be connected to the donut/collar attached to the wheelarch if it's still in one piece
- chance would be a fine thing...

you can see here the top face of the LHM covered bump stop:



- part 2 below!!

[Andmcit]

and this is that inner bump stop:



Then the totally mullared collar/donut is undone:



and dropped down the main strut leg:



and fished off. I've been very nasty to it tugging it about before it got
removed and the lower rubber has hidden a multitude of sins behind it's
smooth rustfree outside surface...

A totally rusted lump of rubbish - no wonder it collapsed!

My dodge that is a 'bit hairy', is to have the car supported by a big trolley
jack (additional blocks/timber is additionally used to hold the bodywork up
with both wheels off the floor and the wheel of the corner in question is left
on - I've found it's easier to get a purchase on the whole strut leg and
move it about to get the right orientation

BUT YOU MUST WATCH THAT YOU DON'T PULL THE DRIVESHAFT
OUT OF THE GEARBOX OR SPLIT ITS TRI-AXE KNUCKLE ON THE
INBOARD END!!

For this particular side of the car, I had the car with a slight left lock on it
to help prevent this happening so easily although it doesn't look very nice:





I then fitted the newer gaiter bellows before I forgot (guess how I found
it's IMPORTANT TO DO THIS BEFORE BEING DISTRACTED BY
EXAMINING THE OLD KNACKERED STRUT in the past...) :roll:

Old and new:





The new strut top has a noticeable bump on it's forward facing edge which
must allow easy identification of it's presence on prospective new Xantia
purchases:



Rightho - the assembly!!

I'm determined that this one will be around as long as I can keep the car,
so lashings of clear acrylic based sealant applied:



Part 3 below!!?

[Andmcit]

Top of the strut has been swung out to allow access for the old/new sphere
mounting bracket:


Now fit the lovely new strut top and FIT THE BUMP STOP - remember this:



it's a fiddle but you need to fit it inside the strut top head from underneath!!

DO NOT FORGET TO FIT IT!!

I HAVE IN THE PAST AND NEARLY DID AGAIN TODAY!!
Yep, it'll all need to be dismantled to fit the offending item AGAIN...

only handy if you need the practice!!

Now with the wheel aligned right by leaning against it, I can orientate the
strut and grip the inner strut and feed it upwards into the sphere mounting
bracket - it's a bit slippery with LHM so you may need a bit of paper towel
to get a grip on it.



you will find with a bit of jiggery pokery and patience that you can feed the
inner piston up through the head to protrude enough to feed the nut onto
it's thread!!

I could now almost just reshow the removal pics and pretend they're
fastening it all but you get the general idea!! Take your time and reattach
the remaining pipes etc and the jobs a good'un!!

EDIT - use loctite/threadloc on the big nut on the strut top to maintain
a secure fastening/seal - there are two o rings on the taper and this is the
only way to guarantee no leakage!!

I'm not saying this is the definitive method, just the way I find it works
for me!!






Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on December 15, 2008 08:01 pm

[DerekW]

How do we move this complete thread to the Self Help Files before it gets lost?