I finished replacing all 4 of my struts/shocks and springs (along w/ spring seats). I went with the Billstein and TME setup. The strange thing is that when i did the front's, the new billstein struts did not have an ABS cable bracket. The struts i removed did have a slotted bracket that the cable slid into and locked, but nothing on the new ones. There seemed to be a couple rivet holes in the new billsteins but no bracket.

Right now i've got the cable loosely zip-tied to the front sway bar link, but don't like this solution for the long term. Does anyone have experience w/ installing new struts on the fronts? Did they have a mounting bracket for the cable, or is there something that needed to be rigged up with it?

The other strange thing was that the strut mount seemed to have some play in it when installed to the strut assembly. No play once it's installed in the vehicle (that i can tell), but it was free to wobble back and forth even after tightening down the entire sturt/spring seat/fitting/strut mount, assembly. I didnt' notice having a washer between the bump stop and spring seat, so i was wondering if this might contribute to it. Does this sound normal? I was hoping to get away w/o buying anew strut mount, but if it will help this, i'm not totally against it.

During the work, i also realized that i'm going to need to replace the Sway bar links, and tie rod ends since they seem to be shot. So I'll likely be doing some more work in the coming week.

 

You might have to make a bracket and screw it into the rivet holes.

The upper strut mount will have a slight but of play in it due to the bearing.

 

I had the wheels off yesterday and was looking at some things on the front struts. Since i've changed them i've noticed it seems a lot louder from the front. A lot of clunking type noises over bumps. I'm sure some of this is due to the sway bar links which both seem to be completely shot and will be replaced later this week. Do you think the play in the strut mount, or lack of a washer between the bump stop/spring seat could be contributing to this?

I also noticed that i was able to rotate the front springs when the front end was up in the air. I could spin them a little bit by hand (probably 30 degrees or so), which didn't seem to be a good condition, but i have no idea if this is normal or not. Any thoughts?

Thanks again for the help!

 

If you have lowering springs then that MIGHT be normal.If the struts are for normal suspension and you have lowering springs then you will have a little bit of slop in it when you are up in the air.

I would replace the swaybar links first and then go from there.