hello. reciently i changed out the struts on my 96 850. i used billstein. can any of you tell me by this pic if i need to toque down the cross shaped bolt any further. i don't rember a gap before the install, but the old shocks were shot. also there is no rattling or bumbing noise. thanks dave.

[IMG]local://upfiles/13251/D72B952EAE864319B617934CBA395949.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/13251/2F5EE9FDBD974AB8BE93B164E8885211.jpg[/IMG]

 

I'm not sure which polt you're referring to, but my first question is did you replace your shock mounts when you replaced those struts? As for torquing any of those bolts (the three holding the mount in place or the one holding the strut to the mount), yes they all have torque specifications.

 

no i did not replace any parts except for the struts. they all looked fine. the part i am refering to is what the haynes manual calls the special washer. the gap is between that and the upper mount. i put a pencil in there to illustrate the gap. click the picture to inlarge

[IMG]local://upfiles/13251/CCBD29F28A874CD68E0D974348624129.jpg[/IMG]

 

hey, i want this question answered cause my car is the same way. since it doesnt seem to move when i pushed down on the front fender the first time i noticed it and it never makes any weird noises when driving, i figured that is normal. it doesnt look normal though =(

 

That looks correct. There is a slight gap.

 

If the nut won't spin it is tight enough.

 

Yes the gap is normal, when you lift the front-end you would see the gap changes. The cross-shaped nut can be tightened with a punch & hammer with a moderate force-that's what I did. The originals were actually finger-tight but did not cause any problem.

I wish you've told us before you've replaced the strut; some parts should have been replaced along with the strut, because some parts in there are known to go south, such as the upper spring seats, bump stops, etc... Oh well, you can always go back and replace those parts when they retire.

I believe the parts you referred to as "special washers" are "top caps", because the special washer is not visible until you take the strut assy off the car.

Anyway, for now there is no concern.


JPN