TacoBill

Yikes! Sorry about that!

Arrow points OUTWARDS.

34124231user

Thanks. I took a SWAG and installed them with the arrows facing out. I'm so glad to hear they are in there the right way. I will need a panhard rod- my rear end is out about 1/2". I did everything alone and with no air tools. What a workout! Compressing and decompressing those springs with a ratchet wrench really added to the install time. Your write-up helped me out a lot- thanks!

On a side note- why is it possible to install the upper strut mount in different positions? Is it to adjust castor/camber angle?

LordBritish

Nice writeup TacoBell.

I'm always amazed how some people manage to figure this stuff out.

Are you a mechanic ? It seems you have knowledge, tools and skills beyond most people.

89Trooper

Not sure why the arrow is supposed to point out or why it can be installed several ways, but it isn't to adjust caster/camber angles. To do that, the strut itself has to be leaned forward or aft (as Bill would say) to adjust caster... and inward or outward to adjust camber.

It's actually better not to use air tools. The vibration can separate the bearing assembly and all the ball bearings could fall out and go all over the place (as some have found out). We did my buddies and I noticed the bearing assembly was separated. We carefully took it apart, made sure all the bearings were in place, and snapped it back together.

Bill's like me. We do a lot of reading and research before taking on a project no matter what it is... simple or hard. That's how we gain our knowledge. We also like to do everything ourselves because of what I mentioned above. Would a shop have noticed the bearing assembly separating? Maybe... maybe not. They may have put it back together with some of the ball bearings out of place.

Bill and I check everything, double check everything, and triple check everything... we are on the verge of insanity. But at least it's done correctly!

TacoBill

Yup! Forward, Aft, Inboard, and Outboard are directional reference words we use in the aircraft business (as well as 3 point coordinate systems, but that's another thing...).


At least we HOPE SO! Seriously, most all of the mods that Tom and I have done don't require the skill of a Master Mechanic, just common sense, patience, and some mechanical aptitude is all you need (a good set of tools always helps too!).


LordB must be hungry!
I'm TacoBill,and no, I'm not connected with that food chain, it's that my other vehicle is a Tacoma.
Not really a mechanic (only to my car), but an aircraft inspector by trade (this is where all the double and triple checking comes in).


How did you determine it was off a 1/2"? Did you employ a string and plumb bob? Were you on a level surface?

Glad you installed the arrow in the right direction! Dare I ask if you transferred the coil isolators off from the OEM coils?

89Trooper

You're the only lucky one, Bell, that by lowering the car, the rear end actually corrected itself!

Most others (like me) end up being about 1/4" off, so we have to move the axle 1/8" over to correct it. 1/2" does seem like a bit much. In fact, I haven't gotten an adjustable panhard bar, yet, because it's so hard to tell it is off unless you use the string and plumb bob, but I think you would be able to see 1/2".

TacoBill

That's Mr. Bell to you buddy!

Yes, I was one of the lucky ones that had a crooked **** from the factory!

34124231user

Yes, I transferred the coil isolators from the stock coils.

I did not use the plumb bob method- I placed a large carpenter's square ("L") on each tire, and ran it up to the fender lip. My left wheel is 3/8" closer to the fender than the right rear wheel, on level concrete.

* While sweeping out my garage today, I found a single ball bearing, about 1 1/2 times the size of a BB, on my floor. I swear I never had the assemblies separate on me. Either the ball bearing was there in my garage before the install (unlikely), or a single ball bearing fell out- how likely would that be? How many ball bearings are there in the unit? Will this never end????

TacoBill

3/8" isn't that bad, unless you're running wide tires that are close to the edge of the fender lip, then it's more obvious.

I believe Tom tooks some pics of the bearing cap when he had it apart. Since I didn't take mine apart, maybe Tom can chime in here for some help.

89Trooper

I took mine apart to make sure they were all in place (after seeing my buddy's fall apart from the air tools). They were all in place, but I cleaned them and really packed them good with synthetic grease. When I get home I'll look for my pictures so you can see what they look like apart.

89Trooper

Here are the pics.

Attachment 9548 Attachment 9549 Attachment 9550 Attachment 9551

The two halves just snap together, so that's why they can easily vibrate apart. There are 42 ball bearing on each side. As you can see, if one is missing it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I would want to make sure the other 41 were in their proper places. When my friend's fell apart, the bearings were all over the place.

So, we took apart each side, put the bearings back in the race one by one, lubed them up good, and snaped the two halves back together. With the synthetic grease, the bearing caps are smoother than they were from the factory.

34124231user

Thanks for the pics. It looks like I may have lost a ball bearing (I had no idea it could come apart so easily). Now I need to check to see if something got messed up.

Thanks for the photos- they helped a lot!

TacoBill

I can't believe it either! When I took my bearing cap off from the strut, it felt pretty solid and had no indication that the cap wanted to seperate.

Like Tom mentioned, if you're -1 bearing in the race, it'll be fine, it's not like the bearings are dependent of each other. I would take it out for a drive and carefully listen/feel the steering wheel from lock to lock and see if you have any noise of any sort coming from those strut caps.

But, if you must take apart your strut caps, you can rest assured that they're all accounted for and put back together correctly. Make the call, it's all up to you.

34124231user

You are going to love this one.....

I go into my garage and start combing the floor..another ball bearing. Then another, then another- 6 total, on my floor.

I run down to the Autozone and rent the spring compressor, again. I take a wild guess as to which strut it might be, and I remove the strut assembly, take it all apart, and pop the bearing holder open. The bearings fall out, so I clean, re-grease, and re-install al the bearings. None are missing. #@!))##?@#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to do the other strut now!!!! I put everything back together and go over to the other side of the car, and joyfully take everything apart. Popped the bearing cap open. Guess what? Every single bearing is in place. I check the bearings I found on my floor against the bearings in the unit- they appear to be exactly the same. I put everything back to together.

I am writing this BEFORE I drink my 5 beers.

This leaves me with 2 possibilities:

1. There are similar bearings somewhere else on my car that fell out. I did install the FRPP X-pipe at the same time. Muffler bearings perhaps?

2. The factory robot/human that assembled my struts dropped 6 ball bearings down into the bottom spring mount , and just left them in there. They fell out when I turned the strut upside-down on my floor.

What do YOU think......?

89Trooper

Now, THAT is strange! At least I bet you feel a lot better about knowing that all the ball bearings are in the assembly.

But, you really didn't need the spring compressor again for the Ultralites. When the nut reaches the end of the stud, there isn't enough energy left in the spring to be dangerous. When putting it back together, just have someone push down on the bearing assembly and you'll be able to get the nut started.

I know... NOW I tell you!

34124231user

None of the ball bearings on the floor had even a hint of grease on them (they were shiny, clean and dry). I should have known it was a blown muffler bearing!

TacoBill

That is wierd!

Maybe they came from your roll-a-way drawers, skateboard wheels, or your shotgun shell reloader?

Anyway, glad your strut bearings are all there and accounted for.

34124231user

I'm back from the alignment shop- I needed the adjustable camber bolts because the camber was out of spec and so was the toe. I would have loved to have taken it in before I did the mod, just to see how lousy the Ford robots really are....

I finally got one pic to upload



Now I just need to find a dealer that can fix the howling in my differential without keeping my car for a whole week

navier

Bill -

Thanks for a great work instruction - I'm doing mine now and benefiting from your post 2 years later

It's going great, although I had an extra step on the rears: the diagonal braces that stiffen the vert need to come out to get the rear end low enough to extract the springs. But the rear's all done now. I will probably have to come back later and add an adjustable Panhard rod since (my luck) the stock axle position was already a bit toward the driver's side and lowing made it worse.

I saw you indicated that the stock black rubber isolators should go on the bottom of the new springs, just below the clear one from Steeda. I didn't see that in the photo in the Steeda instructions - did they confirm to you that it should go back on? I'll call them tomorrow to check, anyway.

Cheers,

Bill (different Bill, different Torch Red GT )

PS - for the archives, I'll post photos of the rear vert braces to this thread once I'm done.

TacoBill

Install directions updated with extra notes and pics in both the front and rear instructions.