wstrohm

I replaced a leaking shock absorber (OEM, 96K miles) on our 1994 FD over the last couple of days.

Probably all DIY'ers who own FDs have already learned this the hard way, but seeing a problem in the factory workshop manual, I had to write this for any other first-timers like myself.

On page R-15 of the 1994 manual is a picture titled "Mounting Rubber." This shows orientation of the "Bound Stopper Assembly" with respect to the lower shock absorber mount, as well as the "Mounting Rubber." Because the "Brake Hose Bracket" must be mounted toward the front of the car, the plan view of the "BSA"/"MR" group implies that the front of the car is to the right in the picture.

1) Note that the three mounting studs shown have the single stud to the right. Both the right side and left side shock absorber views are backwards with respect to mountings on my FD. They are 180° reversed from the proper position, i.e. the two studs should actually be on the right, with the single stud on the left.

2) The "Bound Stopper Assembly" will rotate with respect to the shock absorber only when the spring is compressed. Therefore its position must be carefully set before removing the compressor. My first attempt was made by threading a straight curtain rod through the lower mount's bushing and aligning it vertically, then placing a carpenter's square across the two (forward) studs and visually checking for any angle error. This resulted in pretty much an exact match, so I removed the compressor, re-checked, and attempted to mount the shock absorber assembly to the car. No go; there was an excessive angle between the lower mount and its mounting bracket.

3) The manual fails to mention, first that the BSA position is critical, and second, that the picture in the manual is approximate only and may vary with each automobile. In my case, removal of the old shock assembly could not be used as a reference, since the BSA assembly had broken in 3 pieces. The correct angle between the BSA and the lower mount (off from 0° by a significant amount) cost me about 4 compression/decompression cycles to find by trial and error, before both upper and lower portions fit successfully.

If anyone has a better way to do this, please reply. Everything else went well, but I am considering not doing the other (non-leaking) shock replacement, just because of this difficulty.

moconnor

iTrader: (14)

I've replaced or removed my mounts several time now and am not sure that I ever even looked at this page of the FSM.

Looking at the these rubber mounts (mine are out again for some control arm bushing swapping) I cannot see how their orientation matters. The mounts have three dimples on the top and three on the bottom but there are no recessions in either the chassis or the metal shock mount top to mate with them. So I cannot see how aligning them as per the FSM would matter. Perhaps I am missing something.

wstrohm

It's not the "mounting rubber" that matters; its the large "Bound Stopper Assembly" that has the three threaded studs on it. Those studs have to align with the three holes in the body, and when that is done, the lower shock absorber bushing has to slide into its slot on the lower control arm. If the alignment is not perfect, the lower shock bushing will not go into its slot.

moconnor

iTrader: (14)

Oh - I see.

I just attached the lower shock mount to the control arm, compressed the spring again, and rotated the mount into position.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

That is how I wind up having to do it also.

wstrohm

The compressor kit I rented would not fit on the spring under the car... had to work with the spring/shock on the bench.

Sandro

iTrader: (1)

You don't need to decompress/recompress to get the pefect orientation/alignment.

Reassemle the shock/springs with the best orientation you can get. Take the whole assembly and place the three top studs in the three holes in the chassis. Then grab the shock body and turn it as necessary to fine align the bottom of the shock to the control arm. With the OE shocks it take moderate force to do this, just to overcome the friction due the precompressed springs on the top mount and on the bottom perch. By turning the shock body, the shock shaft rotates freely inside the shock by the few degrees required to get the perfect alignment. Make sure the first orientation/alignment you got while putting the shock springs together is approximately good to start with, because excessive rotation of the shock shaft may damage the shock internals.

Obviously, this can be done the other way, by attaching the shock bottom to the control arm first. But in such case you should grab the springs and rotate them to get the studs aligned. If you do so, just make sure the springs remain properly seated. I prefer using the first method but both work.

As for the "mounting rubber" orientation, I too believe it doesn't matter - I don't see how it could.

- Sandro

dhays

iTrader: (1)

I just mounted the top shock mount to the car but didn't tighten the bolts all the way. I then ran a screw driver or maybe a socket extension through the bottom of the shock and twisted until it was lined up correctly. Eyeballing it before assembling the shocks helped a lot. I think I only had to twist two of the shocks to get them to fit, the other two fit fine just from eyeballing it.

The top shock mount doesn't matter, unless you are going to reuse them. When I first took apart the shocks I thought that the top mount was preformed and directional because of the indent of the top of the spring. By reading on the forum I found out they weren't. I just replaced the top mounts. My mounts were in good enough shape, but I figured that new springs and shocks deserved new spring seats and shock mounts.

wstrohm

That was the first thing I tried when the angles were fairly close. My congratulations to the "Incredible Hulks" who are able to turn the shock absorber casing against a decompressed spring; the lower end of the spring is locked into that indentation in the lower spring seat; the upper end is friction-loaded against the lower dry rubber surface of the "Bound Stopper Assembly." To turn the shock casing relative to the three threaded studs, the spring has to rotate; and that puppy wasn't going anywhere, at least not for me.

I think that if the top of the spring had been milled flat, as on many other cars, it "might" have been possible to turn the casing (and spring) on the car. But with that free spring end digging into the "Bound Stopper Assembly" rubber, it was just not possible.

wstrohm

Yesterday I replaced the left front shock, although it wasn't leaking, just so both front shocks would be new. The "Bound Stopper Assembly" had broken into two parts, and the shock's actuating rod was exposed. This job was easier than the RF shock due to what I had previously learned. Unfortunately I did a bad thing... I put my jack stand back in the inside rear corner of the left wheel well, and allowed the jack (under the jacking points) to relax too much. It held for a while, but then the sheet metal above the jack stand buckled and tore off of a rivet. I quickly put the load back on the jack, but damage was done. There doesn't seem to be any effect on driving, i.e. no rattles inside the car, and no interference from the distorted wheel well metal anywhere I can see.

Any advice out there as to whether I need to do anything about this "ding?"

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

Its a lot easier the second and eight time.

Post a pic of the damage. I think I may have a similar ding in mine from the previous owner.