Leaderboard

Nice work. Looks Good! I've noticed that on every shock or strut installation I've done when I first lower the car it always seems to sit a little higher, but settles after a test drive. Also, the weak side may be a little lower causing the side you measured to be a little higher. Meaningless observations if the ride turns out OK then we have proof of concept.

Reporting in: I tried to duplicate the problem on Saturday (10/29) to no avail. The driver's side headlight mechanism kept operating correctly. I'll check into it further when I take the Reatta out of storage in April 2023.

Another view from the bottom with OEM strut installed. Looks to be over 1/2 insertion depth. The pinch bolt is 1/2 way between the top and bottom of the clamping portion of the knuckle.

Agree wholeheartedly with this observation. I will also place a paint mark on the strut and knuckle to see if there is any movement.

I hate to sound like a Debbie Downer. I think in the end this is going to work but... With a large bolt in the bottom hole as described and the clamp for the sway bar on the top, I don't think the strut will come out of the clamp. I'm just a little concerned that if there isn't enough grip on the body of the strut, it might move a little in the mounting clamp with the pinch bolt. That would throw the camber alignment off and cause the tires to wear unevenly on the inside. I don't know how much force is applied to the mounting clamp when you hit a pothole that might try to do that. It might not be an issue but is something to think about.

Maybe a little more than half. My original thought was to match the body of the Cardone to the original and do some careful grinding on the Cardone for the bolt. However, the original mounting was engineered for years of typical 10-15K per year use and mounting the Cardones a little differently may not matter much.

Mine measures 28-1/4" from the floor to the lip of the fender, almost what yours does. My trunk is full. Two toolboxes, suitcase, chairs and the tank is almost full. So the weight might make quite a bit of difference. A little difference in measurements doesn't matter as long as the struts work well when you get both of them on.

My wife is a worker. She actually did wash every river rock. When we built the foundation of our house, I laid the cement blocks, and she mixed all the concrete mortar by hand in a wheelbarrow. We did all of our plumbing, copper water lines and PVC waste and vent. Did so much more but the major electrical was by contractor.