i just replaced my struts with oem motorcraft. i had done other cars where the arrow always pointed in. now im getting conflicted info. i installed arrow in , everything went in just fine , steering is good and straight even though i havent had it alighned yet. i am running 18" tire with bullitt deep dishes. do i have to go back in and flip them around? i should have payed attention to the ones that came out , but that ship has sailed, looking for a difinitive on this. ive watched videos and done searches.
and is it possible to just unbolt from the top , lower down and spin the top bearing without undoing the whole knuckle and endlink?

 

You're talking about the strut mounts, and the arrow/notch goes out in factory format, not in. (see point 9.) So yeah, you got it backwards, but that's ok. It's a relatively minor camber adjustment you've made. People do spin the mounts arrow/notch in to try to correct the negative camber that happens when you lower the car, trying to move the wheel 'tops' outward, as they tilt inward due to the lowering and suspension geometrics. And while it'll ride like that, it may eat tires, may not, I dunno, if you haven't lowered the car.

Camber (and caster) is mechanically set in these cars, there's ordinarily no adjustment stock. To adjust the camber beyond the flip method, you'd get tower mount plates OR camber bolts, which work just fine. And note about the camber bolts: If you need 'em, don't let them tell you they can't put them in without drilling, they go *right* in the top knucle bolt, not a problem. They're either just not used to them, or are being lazy/don't wanna mess with it. They're really not hard at all to do, did them myself, then got her aligned no problem. I even had an angle tool that I stuck on the rotor of the brakes that helped me get very close!

Anyway. Probably more than you wanted/needed to know about that. Sorry.

Bottom line: Probably doesn't hurt much, but it may eat the tires on the outer edge if you haven't lowered the car a tad more. Do rotations and it'll probably be not noticeable, but if it were me, it'd eat at me as I tried to go to sleep and dangit, I'd be out there at 3am fixing it. But I'm weird, don't do that, that's silly.

You do it at 2am, of course.

And yes... you can just spin them without removing the entire strut... I think... maybe... you'll find out I'm sure... Might have to loosen the top strut bolt to get it flop down enough, but that probably will be it?

Hope that helps anyway, good luck!

 

yeah , it would eat at me too. gonna spin em as these are oem spec and not dropped. but.... can i get away with lowering them out from the fender enough without undoing all the lower stuff? in theory i would just have to get it far enough down so the studs clear to spin 180. just never tied it...

 

I didn't know you were on! I edited the thing to reflect this, but yeah... not terribly sure, to be honest. A lowered car, maybe, the spring'll be compressed/short enough, but you'll just have to go in there and find out. I'm thinking maybe you can take off the top knuckle bolt and it'll all drop enough then... maybe... Just be careful of the brake line and wheel speed sensor wire.

 

ok quick update... YES i was able to undo the top strut nuts and lower the wheel enough to turn the top bearing so the orientation is now correct - arrows out. no need to unbolt anything else and no strain on the lines.

 

Glad ya got it figured out!

 

what are you guys talking about the arrows out on the struts....i just replaced mine and im not sure if i did them right now

 

there are arrows on the top

 

oh man....i better check that tomorrow...what happens if its the other way

 

thank you

 

Some folks turn the strut mount arrows 180 degrees in the opposite direction for lowered applications. It helps provide a bit more camber to keep within OEM alignment specs. For normal height applications, regular orientation is recommended.

 

this is easily misunderstood, so just to clarify: flipping them around does provide a bit more POSITIVE camber, just like you said . . . meaning, less negative camber . . . often when people say "more camber" they really mean "more negative camber" which is usually beneficial for extreme cornering, like on a road track

when you lower the car, it introduces more negative camber; which is generally good for cornering but can be bad for tire wear; flipping the mount reduces that negative camber

 

Yes, your absolutely right, as it was improper wording on my part. Therefore, I stand corrected lol. Anyhow, after lowering my car's suspension, it was recommended to flip the strut mounts around in order to reduce the amount of negative camber which did in fact help with getting the alignment back within OEM recommended specs.

 

not really a "correction" ; more like "heading off likely misinterpretation" LOL

 

Got that right and couldn't agree more