Strut problem - need some advice, please

[TR7Aaron]

Hey all,
I started putting some roller strut bearings on my car this evening and finished the drivers side but I'm still having one of the same problems I had before I started - the strut rod has about 1/4" play and moves up and down as the car bounces, and knocks loudly.
A little background...
It did this knocking before I started. The strut assembly came apart OK (Jclays tip about using a spacer between the ball joint nut and the bottom of the strut to force out the ball joint worked BEAUTIFULLY) and I found that the rubber bumpstop inside the rubber bellows (gaiter?) is all rotted, so that will need to be replaced in the near future. Above this rubber bumpstop was a plastic split ring - is this normal? The exploded view instructions provided with the bearing kit does not show this.
However, the directions do show the following, from bottom to top: plastic stepped strut bearing, rubber washer, steel washer, cone shaped steel piece, rest of strut top.
My strut did not have a rubber washer but had TWO steel washers, both heavily corroded as well as a heavily corroded bottom of the cone shaped piece. I sanded off the bottom of the cone shaped piece to get a somewhat flat surface (it still has a lot of pitting). I reassembled it per the directions omitting the two steel washers, replacing the plastic strut bearing with the one in the kit along with their two steel washers and the bearing itself. Reassembled the strut (getting the opening of the bellows over the split plastic ring and the bumpstop through the coils of the spring was quite a challenge) and installed it.
I used an impact wrench to tighten the top nut on the strut rod. The nut is TIGHT. When I bounce the car by hand, you can see the strut rod top (with the nut on it) move up and down about 1/4" and it makes a knocking noise.
The exploded view directions show two different nut configurations at the top - a nut with a washer beneath it or a castellated nut with a cotter pin. Mine has neither - just a self locking nut.
I might add that this car does have cam plates and on the passenger side (which doesn't knock) the strut rod top is even with the top of the nut. The side I worked on (driver's side) the threaded strut rod sticks up about 3/8th's of an inch past the top of the nut.
Any ideas?
..and again, thanks in advance.

Aaron
1976 TR7 FHC (an ongoing project)

[saabfast]

Have you checked your components against the exploded view in the Rimmers catalogue?
http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/rimmer/tr7/suspendfront
The online one does not seem to show the needle roller kit but it is listed in the paper catalogue. Their kit replaces UKC9395, ULC2034 and UKC329. Most are similar.

Alan
Saab 9000 Stg 1
Saab 9000 2.3 FPT Auto
'81 TR7 DHC

[Marko]

it looks like some kind of washer is missing from below , since the shock thread is sticking above ,

disassemble the other side and check what is missing

pictures would be helpful

[busheytrader]

Aaron,

Are your shox in good enough condition considering the other corrosion you've found there? There's no better time to replace them than this.

Adam



TR7 V8 DHC Jaguar Solent Blue. 9.35cr Range Rover V8, Holley 390cfm, JWR Dual Port, 214 Cam, Lumention, Tubular Manifolds, Single Pipe Exh, 3.08 Rear, 200lb Spax & PolyBushes, Anti- Dive, Granada Vented Discs & Calipers, Braided Hoses, 4 Speed Rear Cylinders, Uprated Master Cylinder & Servo, AT 5 Spokes and Cruise Lights. No Door Stickers. Mine since July 1986, V8 from 1991

[john 215]

Hi,
What sort of condition are your springs and are they standard or lowered [?]
I assume the shocks move up and down freely when no spring on.
I have Gaz adjustable inserts on mine and had to rework upper spring pan, the hole had to enlarge an 'nats'
As Marko say's picture would be helpful.
Cheers John

LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!
1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6,ON THE ROAD NOW KICKING AR5E !!!!

[TR7Aaron]

The exploded view instructions provided to me seem to be about the same as the Rimmers catalog version. I'm sorry about no pictures - I will get some today.
I did replace parts UKC9395, ULC2043 and UKC329 except that my strut had no ULC2043 but had two of the UKC9395.
If you'll look at the top of the diagram, you'll see the two variations of top nuts I mentioned, except the Rimmers one shows my version - just a nut - no washer. The diagram I was provided had a castellated nut with cotter pin as a variation.
The shock does move freely and does have some resistance to it. The car only has 46xxx miles on it and the PO did change to these struts. I believe the front springs are stock but the rears are lowered. The car doesn't exhibit and 'bad shocks' qualities when I drive it. The corrosion seems to be concentrated in the washers area.
I must say that the strut now turns MUCH MUCH easier (before the tie rod end is connected, naturally) than it did before.

I'll take it apart again today and get some pictures. Thanks, guys.

Update: Here's a picture of the top of the strut and how far the nut is on the shaft...


and here's a short video of the movement I'm getting as I bounce the front end...
http://www.comicscardsandmore.com/TR7/struttop.MPG


Aaron
1976 TR7 FHC (an ongoing project)

[Beans]

Something wrong with the dished washer at the top.
That should be able to move up through the hole.

Looks like the top rubber has seen better days.
Or you overtightenedhe top nut and damaged the rubber ...

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1981 TR7 DHC (now completely dismantled)
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[TR7Aaron]

It has cam plates on it and the dished washer butts up against the bottom of them. The passenger side is the same except that the nut is even with the top of the strut shaft.

Aaron
1976 TR7 FHC (an ongoing project)

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Top of the strut assembly:



Assembly photos of Roller bearing here towards the bottom of the page:

http://web.mac.com/jclaythompson/iWeb/Site/Triumph%20TR-7.html

jclay

[url="http://web.mac.com/jclaythompson/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html"]My Triumph Site[/url], [url="http://web.mac.com/jclaythompson/iWeb/Technical/Intro.html"]Technical Stuff[/url], [url="http://homepage.mac.com/WebObjects/FileSharing.woa/53/wo/HJMTK8gsojtwKleP.1/0.2.1.2.26.31.97.0.35.0.1.1.1?user=jclaythompson&fpath=Triumph_Articles&templatefn=FileSharing4.html"]Download Page[/url]

[john 215]

Hi,
Have you refitted the 'cone' part (UKC 7495) [?] or you have pulled the washer through the top mounting as the washer sits on top the mount-





Cheers John

LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!
1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6,ON THE ROAD NOW KICKING AR5E !!!!

[TR7Aaron]

Update:
I took apart the driver's side again and noticed that there was maybe 3/4" of threads left on the strut shaft that were corroded. I cleaned them up, re-assembled the strut and re-installed it. This time, I took an impact and really tightened down on the top nut. The nut went down several more threads. Success! No more knocking and the strut is very secure.
Disassembled the passenger side and it was just like the Rimmer's diagram. I compared the two struts and found that though they both have been painted black, the strut inserts themselves are different from another. The passenger side was SUPER hard to get apart - the top nut just didn't want to back off and the strut shaft kept spinning. I clamped down three vice grips on the top of the shaft (above the area it could possibly ride into the strut body), wedged them against the workbench, and finally spun it off with my impact.
Installed the new roller bearing, reassembled, and installed it.
The steering is much smoother now but it still takes some muscle to turn at slow speeds. The car rides well with no knocks or unusual noises, however...
It now slowly drifts to the right on the highway, so even though I didn't remove the tie rod ends, I think I'll need to tweak the cam plates a bit to get back my previous perfect tracking.
What it does now that annoys me (it did this before but I blamed the dried up original strut bearings) is that after a turn, it doesn't return to center - you have to manually turn it back which makes driving through some 'S' turns a constant flurry of hand movements. Could this be caused by the cam plates, is this normal, and/or how can I change this?
On both sides, one of the bolts that holds the struts to the top of the strut tower pulled through the upper plate. The one on the passenger side must have done this years ago as it had been replaced with a conventional bolt that had to held still underneath to tighten it. If you examine these bolts you'll see that they are spot welded in place and are square shouldered where they pass through the plate. Not the best of designs...
It looks like my 1980 parts car will be donating it's top strut plates to my '76 in the near future.
To sum it up: I will need to buy new rubber cushions and bellows for my coil springs and probably will get new strut inserts too since having a mis-matched set doesn't appeal to me.
The strut bearings do make for smoother steering but not that much difference in effort required (at least to me). Still, I think their worth the $40.00 or so. I certainly wish there was a way to add on an inexpensive PS set up from a more common car.

Aaron
1976 TR7 FHC (an ongoing project)

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Sounds like you need to grease the rack also.

jclay

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[FI Spyder]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by TR7Aaron</i>


The strut bearings do make for smoother steering but not that much difference in effort required (at least to me). Still, I think their worth the $40.00 or so. I certainly wish there was a way to add on an inexpensive PS set up from a more common car.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

The bearings reduce the friction of the cars weight on the top of the strut. This is only part of the friction your working against when turning the wheel at a stand still. The greater part is the friction of the tire tread on the ground as the tire moves as you turn the wheel. This is not affected by the bearings so this is what you still feel. When the wheels are rotating this friction goes down drastically so steering wheel turn when moving is quite light.

TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra