Strut seat bearing sizing discrepancies question

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9mil
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Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:48 am
Location: Atlanta GA - USA

Strut seat bearing sizing discrepancies question

Post by 9mil »

Finally getting around to replacing all the suspension on the 6 and I picked up some e90 drop hats to get it a little lower and after looking at my new top bearing mounts, it appears I’m adding about an inch of height over the ones I’m replacing... they don’t have a part number on them, and appear to not be collapsed- could be smushed I guess. I found some offset camber ones that look similar but these aren’t offset.
I really don’t want to add rideheight with these - am I missing something on the bearings? The old one is still one and it measures 1 inch from bearing top to end of threads on the strut higher than the new one.

TIA for any direction on this before I just put them one and move onto the next problem!
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1987 635CSI 5spd
1984 928S Black/Black 5spd
1988 Lotus Esprit - LS1 swap
1996 VFR750
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Brucey
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Re: Strut seat bearing sizing discrepancies question

Post by Brucey »

probably the old rubbers have simply collapsed over time and the new ones are the correct size.

BTW IMHO E90 top hats are a daft idea that will cock the spring end at a funny angle and may cause it to break. Ghetto methods such as chopping the last turn off the spring are probably preferable to that.

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ron
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Re: Strut seat bearing sizing discrepancies question

Post by ron »

Put your location in your profile as requested by admin.
They are ALWAYS rustier than you thought!!!!!!
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9mil
Posts: 57
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:48 am
Location: Atlanta GA - USA

Re: Strut seat bearing sizing discrepancies question

Post by 9mil »

Thansk- that’s what I was thinking as I can only find 2 part numbers and it’s neither... I put it together and I must say the angle isn’t what I have seen from others warning against it- it fits quite well actually. I have seen the cockeyed mounting angle and it appears this setup isn’t having that issue.

I’ll update my profile- I updated it like 3 years ago along with my sig and it appears that wasn’t saved or lost somehow.

Thanks!
1987 635CSI 5spd
1984 928S Black/Black 5spd
1988 Lotus Esprit - LS1 swap
1996 VFR750
Other stuff not nearly interesting
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Brucey
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Re: Strut seat bearing sizing discrepancies question

Post by Brucey »

you can see the difference in angle with the parts just sat on the bench, in your photo. IIRC the E90 springs are coaxial with the strut and the E24 ones are not; they are deliberately inclined w.r.t. the strut and are also offset to the centre at both ends, more at the bottom than at the top mounting.

BTW you can't easily see just how horrible it is until the suspension is compressed to normal ride height (or more), and once on the car the top mount is hidden, so it isn't obvious.

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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jps635
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Re: Strut seat bearing sizing discrepancies question

Post by jps635 »

After rebuilding suspension and replacing top mounts, things do settle down to a lower height than what you initially get - a good 6mm or so in my case. May take a few months / miles.
Note there are also 9 and 3mm spring perch rubbers which give you further options.
'85 635csi JPS (RA2-66)
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