Some people said not to install it against the way they are recommended to be installed. I have heard about doing it the other way to gain camber back. Still debating. Saw a few threads with people having noise problems.

 

I feel like I'm gonna have a huge problem with getting the 21mm nut off the top. Why can't a socket be used to get it off? Seems the whole assembly can come out without removing it? Excuse the ignorance, suspension is new to me..

I planned on taking them off in one piece and reinstalling the new assemblies already done. However, I need the stock dust boots. Can't find any replacements....Ughh

 

You'll need a socket to do it, but what happens is the shaft spins inside the strut, so you need to figure out a way to get some resistance and break the nut loose.

My FRPP stuff came with replacement jounce bumpers and dust boots for the front. I also bought the jounce bumpers they offer for their kits and swapped those out with the ones on the struts in the box.

 

I bought the FRPP jounce bumpers, just need the boots. If I remove the whole assembly, that 21mm nut still needs to come off right?

Is this why people say an impact gun is best? Because the speed breaks the nut free by not having the shaft spin. Looks like I'm gonna have to borrow an electric one..

 

Just an idea, would it help to try and loosen the nut just a little while the cars still on the ground?

 

That might work, but the shaft might still spin slightly if it's on there good enough.

 

I installed my GT500 strut mounts with the arrows out. The alignment shop said my camber was within tolerance and just my "toe" needed to be adjusted. But I didn't try with the arrows pointed inward first so I have no idea if it helped or not.

I recommended the red loctite on the other thread because of several reasons.

1. Are suspension components something you want even having a chance at coming loose in the future?

2. Most of Ford suspension bolts and nuts are 1 use only or are metal locking nuts. Once that locking compound is penetrated they no longer lock the same. Me personally, I bought all new strut and shock bolts and nuts just in case. The red loctite was used to put the brake calipers back on. If you are going to re-use the bolts and nuts then do what you want but I would want the strongest threadlocker I could buy if it were me.

3. (This is a duplicate to #1 but I did this to illustrate my point) Do you REALLY want any chance of these things coming apart while driving down the road. I'm not a mechanic or suspension expert and I may have gone overboard with the RED Vs the BLUE loctite but I know that I did the best I could to keep anything bad from happening by using it.

 

I have some Loctite (372 I believe) that came with the sway bar kit. I used that on everything and it appears to do the trick. I'd also suggest going back and re-checking torque on all major bolts to be safe. Liike RobDis said, with suspension components, the extra degree of safety goes a long way.

If this keeps going, I'll make it a sticky in the suspension thread for future reference.

 

Please do! Threads like this save us time and money! Everything being discussed here is great info and I've been following it from the start since I'll be doing the same thing next weekend.

 

Rob - I didn't think that was you in another thread. I get your point, as I too am no expert, but guys here said no way.

I got people from all angles telling me be careful for this and that, this is dangerous, the nut is impossible etc. then I hear people saying its all a cake walk. I'm having doubts. especially with no guidelines/instructions to follow for a complete swap out. Ive read 2 writeups that differ quite a bit on how to do things. The front is really worrying me the most with this top nut and which step to do first.

 

It's all good brother! Guys like you and me are just armchair mechanics. We just do the best we can and we gather information from the forums to help us. And we are all just trying to help when we can. You just have to take all the advice given and sort it out the best way you can to make sure you do the job right. I take no offense in someone telling me that I "went too far" with stuff like this. Going too far means extra insurance in my book. Will it make removing my parts harder in the future? Yes. But do I plan on removing them again? NO. Hopefully not anyway. Not for upgrading. That's why I waited till I had shocks and struts vs doing just the springs. So I wouldn't be removing these components in the future. Later down the road I'll bust out the torch for removing if I have to. But after my install I have put almost 1000 miles on the car and have no knocks, bumps, squeaks, or other noises of any kind. I have a nice stiff ride with very little body roll, nose dive, or squat when I launch hard. Mission accomplished in my book!

 

Pull the wheels, loosen everything up on the strut (10mm brake clip, (2) 19mm bolts on lower portion of strut, 17 & 19mm for sway bar endlink). Break the 13mm nuts loose up top and the 21mm on the top of the strut but DO NOT remove. You'll run the risk of hurting yourself if the strut is loose from the spring and it shoots out.

Now, depending on which parts you use (I did all FRPP stuff), you may or may not need a strut spring compressor and you might not need to compress it much. With the FRPP 1" springs and their adjustable struts, I didn't need to compress it much at all to get enough clearance to put the top nut on. Once that is on, torque it down, then re-install in reverse.

The back shocks are a piece of cake, and the springs drop right in. You should have no trouble getting those in in under an hour.

In the end, it's not a tough mechanical job and there's nothing that's tricky to get at, just make sure you take your time. Do one side at a time so you can go back and reference the other side if you're not sure. Keep plenty of beer handy.

Here's TacoBill's spring install for the front, which is a good starting point and reference for all:

https://themustangsource.com/f669/st...9/#post5035435

 

Thanks for that reply! That clears up a bit.

After you say to only loosen up the 21mm nut, what comes after? Lowering the arm down to have the pressure on on spring released? Then flyer the spring is out....


Also how imperative is it to get torque ratings very close? For example, if I need 129 ft/lbs and my Tq wrench only goes to 100. Is it cool to get it too about 100, then crank down on it a little more with a regular wrench? Or am I crazy? Lol

 

How can you torque the top nut? Won't the shaft spin?

 

The top nut is a nylon locking nut. The very top of the shaft has a hex head. So you have to hold that with one wrench while tightening the top nut with another wrench. I didn't use a torque wrench on this since the torque wrench I had wouldn't have worked.

This video shows it being done.

 

Both Koni & Ford have torque specs for that nut. So it's just as tight as you can get it?

 

On the adjustable struts, you may not have a hex head to use as leverage.

 

Good video but you don’t have to remove the brake caliper on either end to swap out.

 

No, but make sure to support it when you go to pull the strut out. I used a bungee cord to take the tension off the brake line.

 

Great video Rob! So pretty much, with non-adjustables, we can actually use the strut shaft itself to loosen the top nut.

Now I see what you guys are talking about with the dust boot. After watching that video it doesn't look hard at all to take the stockers apart and reuse the boot and bump stops.

Good stuff guys! Keep it coming!