Need help! Strut bolt not going up all the way!

[Jerezblack.m3]

Can anyone help me figure this out? Lol

[romero1990]

Looks like you did not have enough compression there. It is recommended to remove the mount+strut altogether and assemble it first. It is also easier to torque down the strut to mount this way. Then mount the whole thing up to strut holder with the 3 big bolts/nuts.


I say loose the top mount and assemble mount+strut so you can see them fitting together properly.

(also hard to tell if the spring is sitted on the strut mount correctly from top)



You can get spring compression tool loaner for free from O'Reilly. My set is down at friends house otherwise I can lend them to you.

(I am going to swap my suspension out for Bilstein, read a ton of DIYs and figured the best way is remove the whole thing.)


TIS FYI.
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...struts/GXjIo5b

[amrazM]

Your strut is prob blown and the shaft isn't pushing all the way out.

[Pig Farmer]

I’ve dealt with this in the past. In my case, using a jack to push the strut upward was causing the strut to move off center and not line up with the top hat. Try rotating the strut slightly back and forth until it lines up with the hole. Just be careful if there’s any load placed on the spring.

[randrews15]

Are you trying to use the weight of the car to compress the strut into the hat? I've heard of people doing it this way but never have myself. I purchased a set of spring compressors fro ECS for like $45 and I've gotten my money's worth out of them. I've done three cars with the compressors and always assemble them before putting them back into the car. I suggest looking at TIS to also see if you're missing a step as well. Just my two cents...

[Pig Farmer]

Originally Posted by randrews15

Are you trying to use the weight of the car to compress the strut into the hat? I've heard of people doing it this way but never have myself. I purchased a set of spring compressors fro ECS for like $45 and I've gotten my money's worth out of them. I've done three cars with the compressors and always assemble them before putting them back into the car. I suggest looking at TIS to also see if you're missing a step as well. Just my two cents...

Boy I hope he’s not attempting to compress the spring with a jack. I really just think the strut shaft is not lined up. The top of the strut shaft is machined to a narrower diameter then threaded. There’s a hard edge that will catch the hard edge of the top hat. From the video, you can see that the rotor is turned a bit, and the threaded shaft (looking from the top) is not lined up. Just a bit of wiggling will get it to line up.

[Bubbles]

How many miles on the struts? My old struts would not extend beyond 2/3. New struts will pop back up.

[Jerezblack.m3]

Originally Posted by Pig Farmer

Boy I hope he’s not attempting to compress the spring with a jack. I really just think the strut shaft is not lined up. The top of the strut shaft is machined to a narrower diameter then threaded. There’s a hard edge that will catch the hard edge of the top hat. From the video, you can see that the rotor is turned a bit, and the threaded shaft (looking from the top) is not lined up. Just a bit of wiggling will get it to line up.

i actually used the jack to raise the strut and i raised it so much that the whole car raised. i think i messed up. i honestly think its not lining up properly.

Originally Posted by amrazM

Your strut is prob blown and the shaft isn't pushing all the way out.

the strut goes back when i push it down so i dont think its blown.

Originally Posted by Bubbles

How many miles on the struts? My old struts would not extend beyond 2/3. New struts will pop back up.

51k

[Jerezblack.m3]

Originally Posted by romero1990

Looks like you did not have enough compression there. It is recommended to remove the mount+strut altogether and assemble it first. It is also easier to torque down the strut to mount this way. Then mount the whole thing up to strut holder with the 3 big bolts/nuts.


I say loose the top mount and assemble mount+strut so you can see them fitting together properly.

(also hard to tell if the spring is sitted on the strut mount correctly from top)



You can get spring compression tool loaner for free from O'Reilly. My set is down at friends house otherwise I can lend them to you.

(I am going to swap my suspension out for Bilstein, read a ton of DIYs and figured the best way is remove the whole thing.)


TIS FYI.
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...struts/GXjIo5b

i was really hoping i dont have to but im gonna have to i guess :/

[romero1990]

It's most important part for driving dynamics. Just gotta do it right man. Like someone up there said, it might just be misaligned. The strut mount base is the almost exact diameter to the spring, which might be the devil here.

Tis calls for replacing the self locking nut on top of strut. You can probably get away with no this time. (put some loctite blue should help)

[Jerezblack.m3]

So i think i found my problem that you guys might be able to solve


I got the e36 m3 bumpstop and did i put it correctly?




EDIT: i tried flipping the bumpstop and still the same

[romero1990]

eibach lowered spring? maybe try to pull in the strut to see if it extends. (also read somewhere that eibach + OE strut need mod on both sides?)

[Jerezblack.m3]

Originally Posted by romero1990

eibach lowered spring? maybe try to pull in the strut to see if it extends. (also read somewhere that eibach + OE strut need mod on both sides?)

I found the problem!

View post on imgur.com

Its that metal top hat i forgot. I put it under the bumpstop! Smh i wasted 4-5 hours trying to put it in!

View post on imgur.com

[romero1990]

Ha awesome! Glad you found the issue. You made it a stop-bump