idriftnaked707 Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 (edited) I'm installing some tokicos on my brothers car and i understand that for the front struts you need to drop the straight strut into the old strut housing, well i did and when i try and thread on the big nut that holds the strut down from the top, it has a gap about 1/4 inch from the nut and the thread inside the housing, im thinking maybe theres an old piece of cartridge still in the housing, so i tried heating the housing to maybe loosen anything in there and then tapping the sides with a small hammer and nothing. now my question is am i missing anything here? what am i doing wrong? sorry for the brief description (im working on the car still) thanks again guys Edited March 20, 2008 by idriftnaked707 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrooveHolmes Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I'm installing some tokicos on my brothers car and i understand that for the front you need to drop the straight strut into the old strut housing, well i did and when i try and thread on the big nut that holds it down from the top it has a gap about 1/4 nut and the thread inside the housing, im thinking maybe theres an old piece of cartridge still in there so i tried heating the housing to maybe loosen anything in there and then tapping the sides with a small hammer and nothing. now my question is am i missing anything here? what am i doing wrong? sorry for the brief description (im working on the car still) thanks again guys Is there a silver spacer on the bottom of the tokico replacement strut? If so, This spacer needs to be trimmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idriftnaked707 Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 wow thanks for the super fast reply! thank you very much. it does actually have a silver spacer, what do you recommend i use to trim it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 The flatty and wide body struts are different lenghts, you either have to cut or shim to get them right. they used to all come too short so you dropped some fender washers in the bottom for spacers. Seems now they make them too long. Is this a flatty or wide body car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idriftnaked707 Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 its a widebody, i actually figured out the fronts for now sorry groove i misunderstood you when you said trim the spacer, i thought you meant shave the spacer. i just heated it and twisted it off with some lock jaws. im going to do the rears in the morning, is there anything i should take note on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 those are straight forward, pull the old, put in the new. Jack up the whole rear so you can push the hubs down to get teh strut free of the hub. If one wheel is on teh ground, teh sway bar will keep you from flexing the hub down far enough. You'll need a large flat blade screw driver and a hammer to spread the hub open to get the strut out, drive it in like a wedge. It will make sence when you see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrooveHolmes Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 i did mean shave it. when i pulled the entire spacer off mine, it was loose in the strut housing. i shaved a little off to make it snug with the cap on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idriftnaked707 Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 thanks chad, thanks for the sway bar tip, now ill be able to know what im going to do. groove i thought you meant shave as in shave the diameter of the spacer, until i saw the spacer then i knew that you meant to hack some length off of it, sorry i put mine in without the spacer and just tightend the nut down all the way and got minimal to no play, guess maybe mine are a tad bit different maybe i guess thanks again for the info guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indiana Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 don't forget to remove the bolt from the back completely from the hub that mashes together because there is a recess dent in the bottom of the strut that bolt slides in and you won't get it to push up, you'll see it on your new strut and that goes in the back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idriftnaked707 Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 thank you indiana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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