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@alchemist Pricing for a ready to install strut is spot on in my opinion. It is very fair and comparable to going the internal thread route. It will be a while until the internally threaded strut housings with KYB inserts are installed in my Reatta. I may not be a good judge of the ride quality as compared to OEM / OE replacements as the struts on my car were completely collapsed, but I will make an attempt once they are installed. Bottom line is that even a rough ride is better than one with worn struts.

I think there is air in the system since the pump is capable of building pressure and shutting off. When the pump builds pressure it must be compressing an air bubble in the system somewhere and when you push the brake pedal the air is released quickly and the pressure is gone causing the pump to run and the pedal to go to the floor. Assuming you are certain you have bled the brakes properly, the most likely place for an air bubble to be trapped is in a bad accumulator. It is the highest point in the system. Air could have got in it when you were working on the brakes. Normally the accumulator has a gas charge on top of a rubber bladder (diaphram) that pushes the fluid and any air out the hole in the bottom when the pressure in the system drops. Take the accumulator off and do this down and dirty test to see if the bladder is ruptured. -Bleed all the pressure out of the system by pumping the pedal 25 times. -Immediately remove the accumulator and watch to see how much fluid drains out. There shouldn't be much because the gas pressure pushing on the bladder should have pushed most of it out. -Next get a small rod that isn't sharp on the end and see how far it will easily go up in the hole in the accumulator. It should only go in a short distance. If the bladder is ruptured it can easily be pushed in a long way as shown in photo #2 The first shows the bladder inside a good accumulator pushing against the hole in the bottom. Photo #1 Photo #2

Edit: Monroe 71662 Maybe the place I saw the above video was from one of our contributors earlier in this thread😖 I know he mentioned a Volvo strut?? I happened across a Facebook post with a similar way of producing a substitute but it used a 2000 Regal rear strut. Same sort of bracket removal but the specs do closely match the Reatta dimensions: Body length 15.03" and collapsed oal of 15.53", Extended length of 23.09 and 7.56" of travel. Not trying to muddy this thread, as a matter of fact I purchased a pair of KYB's, but I wanted to keep all similar info in a single thread🤞

Yes, that could certainly be done, anything is possible with the right amount of time and money. The tubing is readily available in the proper size (OEM strut dimensions). A cap would need to be welded on one end and the dimple for the knuckle pinch bolt added. The sway bar attachment bracket would need to be fabricated and welded in place as well. The open end could be cut and threaded to the the proper length for the gland nut that comes with the insert strut. Still need the sleeve nut on the top mount to correct the short thread length up there. I finally got some traction on the sleeve nut with a guy I used to work with that opened his own machine shop that specializes in stuff like this.

The 3D printed plastic 'proof of concept' sleeve nut is complete. It will require the snout/bridge to be cut off the lower mount plate (far right in the picture below), the hole in the upper plate (second from left in picture below) will need to be made larger to allow the sleeve nut to pass through. The strut mount on the car will be left as-is, no modification necessary. The sleeve nut fits perfectly inside the plastic sleeve inside the lower rubber bushing. I have another set of mounts on order to modify as needed to confirm everything. Just waiting for the pricing on the sleeve nut. I will heat treat (austemper) the 4140 sleeve nut at our Oshkosh, WI facility. Again, soliciting for anyone who has a failed set of struts to donate to the cause and be the first one to receive prototypes. I have one Monroe insert strut already.