Thread: RM + AGX install problems

Hi guys,

I picked up a set of Road Magnets and KYB AGX struts for my 94 LE. The fronts went on easily, but I've run into a problem getting the springs to fit properly on the rear struts.

The problem is that the rear springs are loose after assembling the strut, enough that they can be rocked back and forth by hand. I tried swapping the rear springs, in case the springs were side-specific, but no dice.

Here's how the spring is sitting on the left rear strut:




Also, when assembled, the angle of the strut thread coming through the suspension mount won't center.




The springs came unmarked from RM, but after talking with them, they seem to be pretty sure that they are the correct springs for my B13. The fronts have over 8 coils, and the rears a little over 7.5.

Am I doing something really brain dead wrong here? This is my first shot at suspension work, so I could be doing something dumb.

Thanks!

EDIT: My images aren't coming through; the forum seems to be editing my URL for some reason. I'm uploading them elsewhere...

Try Tiny pic.com

Yeah, the RM springs sit at a weird angle *uncompressed*, but they will be fine once you get them on the car. I ended up using a spring compressor on one side to pull the spring into alignment with the shaft, then squashing the tophats down with my knee to get the topnut started on the shaft.

Oh, and one more thing: tightening that topnut down all the way will be a gigantic pain on the rears. You can either hit it with an impact gun forever and hope it eventually tightens down enough, or use a 9mm wrench to hold the shaft and a 75-degree deep offset wrench to turn the nut. Do this *before* you put them on the car.

I didn't have any of these issues with mine.


Best advice ever. Will save your life.



gimlet, make sure you have the correct rear top hat on the correct side. They are specific to each side. Arrow on spring hat pointing outboard, L and R correctly oriented (L to driver's side and R to passenger's side):

It almost looks like you have the wrong spring on the rear. Like the spring hat is turned 90 degrees or something... *shrug*

There is something else to note. As seen best in this picture, the strut shaft doesn't sit in the middle of the spring once everything is assembled. It is heavily tilted to one side. In your picture it looks like you're trying to force the shaft to go up the center of the spring when that's not how it should be.

Why is this specific to the rear struts? Would this advice also apply to the front?

This info should be put in ShawnB's thread asap. I've been trying to figure out forever how to tighten up those rear struts. Thanks for the info man.

This is really easy guys. Simply get a 1 to 2 inch piece of rubber hose and cut it along its height not its circumference. Slide that piece of hose over the rod shaft of the strut and grab on that hose with some pliers. That will hold the rod shaft from spinning while you tighten the nut down with an impact wrench.

Guys,

Thanks for all the replies. I believe I did one strut at a time, but I will verify the suspension mounts/top hats are for the correct side when I get home this evening. That would explain an awful lot.

When mounted in the car, the springs are still loose, so it doesn't seem to be a compression issue. That's actually how I realized that I had a problem: got a nice clunk backing out of the driveway...

I'm not trying to get the strut rod to go through the center of the spring, but to fit through the top hat correctly. Again, this would make sense if the top hats are switched, of if I somehow received the wrong springs.

I honestly haven't had any problems getting the top nut to tighten while using an impact wrench. This is the first project that I've used air tools on (borrowed my dad's big compressor), and they are awesome!

Tom

The hose thing might speed things up some with the impact gun, so it's worth a shot.

For some reason, the topnut for the front struts will tighten down fine with a regular deepwell 17mm socket; you don't even need an impact gun for it.

For the rears, I ended up using a 9mm open-end wrench on the flats at the top of the shaft, and a 17mm 75-degree deep offset wrench to tighten the nut. That offset wrench is a fairly rare piece (most offsets are only 45 degrees, which is nowhere near steep enough to get into that tophat), so I bought the Stahlwille 20/8 set. These are baller$auce German wrenches going for something like $150 thanks to the crappy dollar/Euro exchange rate, but when you do need them you'll be glad to have them.