Hey gang, anyone out there? So quiet lately...

Just got through re-doing the front suspension on the wagon. Had a stiff spot in the steering for the past year, then the last month or so clunking and creeping, so figured my strut mount bearings were toast.

Upon pulling the passenger side apart, the strut bearing fell into pieces, so I was correct there. The upper mounts were also pretty wrecked though, so I ordered new bearings and mounts. Fitted IPD lowering coils while I was at it, and figured I was all done.

Nope, clunking even worse now, what the puck?

Dis-assembling the suspension for the second time, I found I had play in the shock/strut insert itself. Bilstein HD. Guess I need new shocks too, sigh.

When I pulled the shock boots up, I was greeted with an amazing display of rust around the shock retaining collar. After much penetrating fluid, hammering, swearing, etc, I got both shocks replaced and I'm back on the road, long week.

It seems any moisture getting past the boot (likely at the top) collected down at the bottom around the clamp and rusted the collar. Is there a better way to keep moisture out of there? Should I put a weep hole at the bottom of the boot to keep things drained?

Anyone want a pair of front bilsteins for 7/9 series? Both fully pressurized, one with lateral play that may be rebuildable?

How do the new units feel? You got the Sachs/Boge Turbo-Gas, correct?

Yes, turbogas. A helluva lot better than the stiff HD with one binding. I think the ride is pretty comfy too, better than HDs and stock springs. I know Dale was thinking of going back to stock springs, it may be the poly bushings- I noticed on your 780 alot more "road feel" in the chassis, which was kind of annoying to me.

Been thinking about dumping the HD's in the 745 and going turbo gas as well, love the handling on the open road but the around town jarring is getting old.

Dang, if I'd have known that I may have bought your old ones off of you just to save me the effort of pulling both of mine! Not that I could have waited, one car family and end of motorcycle season and all...

The HDs and stock springs were *just* bearable to me. I'm happier with the lowering coils and turbogas though.

hmmm, yes too bad, I'd have to check for sure but they only have ~ 40K km on them. I didn't think you could run lowering springs with anything but Bils or Koni's, although I vaguely remember reading about someone running your new setup?

Edit: Do the lowering springs spring rate match up any better to the HD's ride wise, and would revalving the rears (most of the jarring) help?

Bump.

I've tried to respond to this three times now.

As springs get stiffer, they need less compression dampening compared to the rebound, among other traits. I've had stock springs, cut stock springs, IPD springs, and modified Crown Vic springs on the front of my 740 and as I've gone up in spring stiffness I've been less impressed by the shock.

If you stiffen the rear you might introduce pitching, as the rear of the car starts to respond with close to the same stiffness/frequency as the front. '98-'05 Nissan Frontier 2x4 rear shocks are almost identical to the rears of a 740, you can try out the dozen or so versions of that if you like? Doetch-Tech makes 4 different progressive stiffnesses of shock in that size, for $40-50 each.

Thanks Matt, I am thinking from your comments in the Bertone thread that I am also interested in how the lowering springs/Boge Turbo Gas perform for Athal and Dale. If I keep this car that's a likely path for me, I want something that handles well but without the rough ride.

The clunk came back, the very next day....

Ok, not the very next day, but I've noticed a gat dang clunk from the front right suspension again. Today I pulled the wheel and sure enough, the strut cartridge is wiggling in the housing. F**K. Well, I pulled the dust boot up, and the retaining collar has loosened off. Snug it up, and everything seems ok.

I put some anti-seize on the threads to help after these fail, hopefully at least another 100k like the bilsteins. Was that a bad idea?

I've been wondering if this is what I hear in the 242? I also have a clunk (albeit a little one) when I stop and it isn't the caliper or anything else I could see. I haven't tried the strut, I thought it was the sway bar endlinks. You did put the spacer in the bottom of the tube right (is there a spacer on the 7/9 series?).

Craig, I've had some end-link clunking before on my 244 that was coming from the bottom where they mount to the control arm. They just weren't tight enough. Making sure the strut insert collar nuts are tight are definitely a possibility though.

Sh*t, I do remember reading something about a spacer (when switching from Boge to Bilstein), though I can't remember if I took anything out when I put the Billy's in 5 years ago, or if they weren't there at all. Everything SEEMS to fit fine, just worked loose, but now you've got me wondering...

I've only heard about the spacer being used in 240s... But I can't say for sure.

Sorry - not trying to open a can of worms, it just seems weird that a strut would come loose in a tube. They should be in there tighter than a Scots wallet. As for my own clunk...I've got the Triangle Kids end links with the spherical bearing for end links. I may have to ditch them in the spring. Sort of like my Aspirator shifter...good idea, not great execution (just had to replace the wiring harness for this as cars are not computers).