Is there a trick to getting the gland nut on the strut housing tight? I've been using a pipe wrench and tightening as much as I can, but when I flip the strut housing over with the KYB strut installed it will leak fluid.

I am replacing old KYB struts that had no fluid in the strut housing and failed. The FSM mentions an oil seal, but I thought you didn't need an oil seal for the KYB struts.

Any help would be appreciated! This is on a 1983 GS

 

Just did mine on an 85. I tipped one of mine over and it got the nut a bit damp, but it’s as tight as I can get it. It’s always going to be upright, hopefully, if you’re driving it right! Plus the boot covers it, so I am not too concerned about it.

if you’re getting a stream of oil, then you’ve got something else going on.

hopefully others will chime in, if I am totally off base.

 

Its an insert, why would you have any fluid in the strut housing at all? I know some folks say you need fluid in the strut housing even for inserts but I have never done that and my KYBs lasted many years with no issues. I recently upgraded to KONI adjustables too.

 

After reading through KYBs website, they say not to add anything to the housing, so I guess I am good. Just wanted to double check!

I just did some Koni inserts on my MR2, and those instructions definitely say to add fluid to the housing. I was also getting some leaking when I did those, but tightening seemed to help.

Anyways, thank you for the reassurance that it will be fine.

 

Some folks add extra oil in the struct housing for extra cooling. It won't hurt anything.

 

Back when wet struts were common, when installing an insert it was common knowledge to leave some oil in the housing to better conduct heat.

 

I had a pair of struts (can't remember the brand), and they suggested adding coolant (ethylene glycol) in the cavity between the insert and the housing. This is an option to consider, since the thermal conductivity of ethylene glycol, even without adding water, is higher than that of any common oil.

 

Oil will in theory prevent rust. Coolant has additives to prevent corrosion that deplete over time. Coolant is mostly ethylene glycol and water, both of which are highly corrosive.

Every now and then you hear a story about how some genius middle-manager in charge of a fleet of equipment decided to buy pure ethylene glycol instead of Coolant, and the complete wreckage it does to the engines after it is used.

In a racing environment, I can see using coolant, as you are probably going to be in there on a regular basis for maintenenance, revalving, and such, so the negatives are outweighed by the positives in that circumstance. I wouldn't use it anywhere you didn't expect to pull it apart again a few times a year.