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I tried the vicegrip method but I couldn’t get the top shock nut to budge... In fact, the shock rod was still spinning even with the vicegrips tightened as far I could. I’m wondering if my vicegrip is too small and does not tighten enough? Could I attempt using my dremmel to create two flat spots on the shock rod to fit a wrench on, or am I likely to pierce through the shock and leak out the fluid? Is the shock rod hollow?
If I can’t get it out tomorrow, I will have to buy a pair of new shocks and use an angle grinder to cut off the shock mount.
Not being able to free the spring and old mount from that shock has been the most frustrating thing ever. I have never had a problem with it before, but it seems the damn thing is too stripped. Does anyone knows if it's safe to use the dremmel to make two flat areas that would allow me to use a wrench to hold the shock rod in place? Would the shock absorber be inoperable if I did that (btw, it's a CATs shock). It seems like a very solid piece that did not bend at all with the vicegrips.
Last edited by giandanielxk8; May 5, 2021 at 06:48 PM.
Gain, the top 1 inch or so below the bell never gets into the seal of the shock. Clap the crap out of it with fresh jams on as big a vise grip as you can.
Ok, last resort. You have a Dremmel, put as many side cuts on the nut and down as far as you can get. put a small chisel in a couple of the slits and using a big hammer, wrack the heck out of it.
In other words, Spit the nut in half and it will loose the tightness. Just using a chisel will do it, but care must be taken to hit away from the threads.
Can't get a nut splitter in there, good tool to have.
Gian, scratch that if you think you will mess it up.
Looks like you have enough room for the 9/16 Crrowfoot wrench, I think that is the size. Get that on the nut and if you can, golden. 3/8 shaft crowfoot getss in some small places and have had to grind a bit off the edges. Doesn't hurt a thing, still using lots of them.
OK, now Dremmel a slot in the top of the shock wide enough for a large blade screwdriver. That should give you the torque to get that nut off.
Great news! One of my neighbors, a true hero of a man, lent me a bigger visegrip, it is twice the size of what I was working with. With that and an old bike tire tube that I wrapped around the shock rod, I was able to remove the top shock nut.
It should all be smooth sailing from here. I think I will be able to finish by tomorrow night. I will just leave the parts ready to be mounted this night.
Thanks Gian, good news and thank the gentlemen next door for all of us.
Glad to know you are going to rest, strange how the let down of getting something apart just makes you want to relax.
Do they have local Pubs there? Be hard not to have one.
Thanks Gian, good news and thank the gentlemen next door for all of us.
Glad to know you are going to rest, strange how the let down of getting something apart just makes you want to relax.
Do they have local Pubs there? Be hard not to have one.
Yeah, we do, although with COVID, I would rather stay at home. I got one of the shock mounts fitted (on the problematic shock to boot!) and torqued down.
The part you sent me is of much better quality compared to the Welsh part. No doubt about it. The center bush is much more solid, and as can be seen in the pictures, the shock rod is perfectly centered. I think that will hold up very well.
One caveat, when I was about to install the second mount, one of the rivets popped off... I’m assumining either it was weak or some error on my part. No worries. I will rivet it shut again tomorrow.
Wayne, what size rivet do I need? I know a store that can sell them individually instead of in bulk for pennies on the dollar.
Gian, the mounts look terrific and sorry about the rivet. It's a 1/8 inch with a like washer on the bottom. Just clap it down with the vise grip to install.
Lets hope it works as good as it looks.
Great job.
Gian, the mounts look terrific, and sorry about the rivet. It's a 1/8 inch with a like washer on the bottom. Just clap it down with the vise grip to install.
Let's hope it works as well as it looks.
Great job.
Thanks, Wayne! I will get it today after I'm done in the clinic. I think I will have the car ready for alignment by the end of the day. I am optimistic about your engineering. Your shock mounts are already better if they outlast the Welsh mounts after one year on PR roads. I think that if they survive more than 1 year on these roads, they could outlast the car. The real benchmark I think is the OEM mount, which usually lasts about 10 years even in these roads.
By the way, the neighbor who lent me the vise-grips commented on the Welsh mount. He said it looked like if I had bought it via Wish (a chinese online store), and that your mounts seem much more robust.
Last edited by giandanielxk8; May 6, 2021 at 05:20 AM.
I tried the vicegrip method but I couldn’t get the top shock nut to budge... In fact, the shock rod was still spinning even with the vicegrips tightened as far I could. I’m wondering if my vicegrip is too small and does not tighten enough? Could I attempt using my dremmel to create two flat spots on the shock rod to fit a wrench on, or am I likely to pierce through the shock and leak out the fluid? Is the shock rod hollow?
If I can’t get it out tomorrow, I will have to buy a pair of new shocks and use an angle grinder to cut off the shock mount.
Not being able to free the spring and old mount from that shock has been the most frustrating thing ever. I have never had a problem with it before, but it seems the damn thing is too stripped. Does anyone knows if it's safe to use the dremmel to make two flat areas that would allow me to use a wrench to hold the shock rod in place? Would the shock absorber be inoperable if I did that (btw, it's a CATs shock). It seems like a very solid piece that did not bend at all with the vicegrips.
giani,
have you thought about very precisely cutting the nut off the shock post with a dremel/multi-tool ?
Great to see the prototype parts finally arrived and kudos to Gian for jumping right into the install, can't wait to start learning how they perform.
PS: I assume it was made clear to Gian that accepting the 'shock mount guinea pig' assignment requires he spends every free moment for the next 90 days searching out the worst of the worst that the PR road network has to offer and repeatedly racing over them at breakneck speed to ensure plenty of performance data is quickly collected........
Last edited by Old Matelots; May 6, 2021 at 06:42 PM.
Great to see the prototype parts finally arrived and kudos to Gian for jumping right into the install, can't wait to start learning how they perform.
PS: I assume it was made clear to Gian that accepting the 'shock mount guinea pig' assignment' requires he spends every free moment for the next 90 days searching out the worst of the worst that the PR road network has to offer and repeatedly racing over them at breakneck speed to ensure plenty of performance data is quickly collected........
Hahaha, I don’t have to go very far to find those bad roads. If I can remember, I will take pictures of some truly atrocious roads that I sometimes commute on.
Re: the install. I was able to source the rivet and then reassemble the strut with Wayne’s mount. If it weren’t for the terrible weather and constant rain today, I could have installed all the suspension components on the car. Hopefully, it’s sunny tomorrow so I don’t risk catching a cold.
Last night when it stopped raining I took some time to fit one of the shocks. Everything went in smoothly. I did not do the other one because it was getting quite late. I took the pictures this morning. Although the parts are fitted, nothing is torqued yet.
Seeing the strut pix Gian has posted over the last few days I was interested to note the positioning of the dust gaiter. I was reminded that during my inspection of several cars while looking for one to buy, and my subsequent meanderings around the Forum and on various XK related You Tube clips, I've seen several different positioning arrangements for the gaiter:-
-Small end of gaiter up against the bottom of the bump stop, large end free floating (flopping) loosely around the shock body.
-Large end of gaiter pushed right up over bump stop cup, covering bump stop, small end riding directly on shock rod (my car as received).
-Small end of gaiter slid up over bottom (smallest) 'node' on the bump stop, large end free floating (flopping) loosely around the shock body.
-One car I saw in person had torn gaiters, both laying loosely over the shock rod, not attached to anything....but the large ends were uppermost.
The illustrations in the parts lists and shop manual seem to show the small end uppermost but that leaves the large end around the shock body, but so loosely as to be worthless at stopping dirt getting up onto the rod. Am I missing something? What is the correct orientation for the gaiters?
I should have come in earlier with the way I do this. The page or diagram of the KYB kit from most of the auto stores shows it the small end down.
No way will it keep dust out.
The best way I have found is to put the bump stop on with large end towards the shock, bellows small hole over the first ring then the large ring goes over the bottom of the bell, space is provided and a zip tie snugged around that area.
That's the most protection against dust you are going to get in that area until the bellows split.
Small end goes up. Workshop manual description is
1. insert the spring assister fully into gaiter
2. Insert the gaiter into upper mounting location.
The insertion is into the small bell projection on the underside of the mount.
There is no connection of gaiter to shock absorber body.
I can't disagree with you Baxtor on what the manual says.
Have a look at what I do and you can see the shaft would be sealed most of the time, unlike the large end fitting loosely over the shock to bang around on the springs.
But that's what makes life interesting, different strokes for different folks.
I must admit that a good squirt of WD40 every oil change at the base of the stem would be a good idea.
