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Options for replacing rear struts needed.


lukehemstreet

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On 7/22/2022 at 8:27 PM, DAVES89 said:

I'm confused. Can you do a parts description in some kind of order that makes sense to a novice like me?

 Also do we cut the sway bar mounting brackets of the original 

It depends on what strut cartridges you use, not all strut cartridges have standard dimensions. But yes you cut the top of the old strut and remove the piston . I would not recommend the strut cartridges I used do to 2 out of 4 struts being bad from stock and having to make adapterfor the stem. I will ask my local machinist if he would be interested helping others. But I will make a list of part numbers that I would use if I had to do it again. But most of the old strut is used. I hope this helps!

 

If I was doing this all again I would get Koni inserts p/n 8611-1259 race and gland nut p/n 73.25.01.003.1-m48x1.5 and a weldable nut p/n din1804-m48x1.5-h. On paper all parts should fit inside the old housing,with minimal machine work. The maximum strut body length is 13 inches. When I started I used Monroe catalog with the spec.to find what had closest to we need. I will still call my local machinist and will update later in week.

Edited by Sam car
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I wonder if there might be another approach to solving the rear strut problem. The strut serves two purposes. Keep the rear wheel in vertical alignment as the wheel goes up and down, and control the ride of the car by dampening the rear control arm as it moves up and down.

 

I don't remember anyone saying they had to change rear struts because the rear wheels were out of alignment. 

 

Isn't the primary reason the rear struts usually get changed because they lose their ability to properly control the the rear wheel causing a rough ride? In other words, the struts lose their internal dampening ability because the piston seals and valves go bad when they are worn out.

 

Maybe we should find a way to ADD a standard shock absorber between the control arm and the strut tower as a damper to give a smooth ride without removing the old strut. I have been laying under my Reatta looking at the rear suspension and it looks like it might be possible to do that without a lot of fabrication. Similar to the way the shock is mounted in the photo below. The coil spring shown in the photo isn't needed on our Reattas because we have the transverse leaf spring that holds the weight of the car.   

 

Modern-car-rear-suspension.jpeg

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3 hours ago, Ronnie said:

I wonder if there might be another approach to solving the rear strut problem. The strut serves two purposes. Keep the rear wheel in vertical alignment as the wheel goes up and down, and control the ride of the car by dampening the rear control arm as it moves up and down.

 

I don't remember anyone saying they had to change rear struts because the rear wheels were out of alignment. 

 

Isn't the primary reason the rear struts usually get changed because they lose their ability to properly control the the rear wheel causing a rough ride? In other words, the struts lose their internal dampening ability because the piston seals and valves go bad when they are worn out.

 

Maybe we should find a way to ADD a standard shock absorber between the control arm and the strut tower as a damper to give a smooth ride without removing the old strut. I have been laying under my Reatta looking at the rear suspension and it looks like it might be possible to do that without a lot of fabrication. Similar to the way the shock is mounted in the photo below. The coil spring shown in the photo isn't needed on our Reattas because we have the transverse leaf spring that holds the weight of the car.   

 

Modern-car-rear-suspension.jpeg

The only draw back is you loose movement of the hub because of where the leaf spring supports the a arm?? Almost need to find a suitable straight axle rear sub frame??? But I would love to put tubular a arms on !!!! I'm not a engineer but maybe there are in the Forums??? Maybe use a old corvette rear end  it's similar to the Reatta's suspension?? Sorry for rambling but I love this kind of discussion.!!!

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I was thinking of a lot simpler solution, like putting some brackets on the existing rear suspension to mount a shock that is readily available. Next time I have the rear wheel off I'm going to take a look to see what I think might could be done. right now it is driving time in Tennessee and I don't want to have to work on anything on my Reatta unless I have to. 🙂 

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I know alot of fabricators love using crown vics front suspension.  Locking the steering into the straight position still give independent suspension and cheap parts??? 

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The struts can be rebuilt.  A local auto parts retailer here in my town has confirmed this for me due to replacements being unavailable 

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24 minutes ago, Jimy Kraus said:

The struts can be rebuilt.  A local auto parts retailer here in my town has confirmed this for me due to replacements being unavailable 

That's great news. I'm sure he will get lots of business if he is willing to supply the parts parts for rebuilding the strut or sell a rebuilt rear strut. If you have more information it would be appreciated.

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I replaced my rear ones last year and was only able to purchase one new front strut. I will explore what I was told by Rodger May, the owner of "The Parts Store" located here in Great Falls, Montana about being able to send the one strut off to be rebuilt. He has been in the auto parts retail sales since I was in short pants, and is a warehouse distributor for many different lines. 

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There doesn't seem to be a shortage of front struts either on Rock Auto, eBay, or Amazon.  Might want to check those vendors out. 

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15 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

That's great news. I'm sure he will get lots of business if he is willing to supply the parts parts for rebuilding the strut or sell a rebuilt rear strut. If you have more information it would be appreciated.

Looks as though we have twin Reattas. Mine is also red with tan interior.  The wheels on it pictured are 17" Falkens I was able to install via wheel adaptors due to having a smaller bolt pattern. I got the wheels and those ridiculous rubber bands for tires for free and have since been changed out to a proper sized sidewall tire.  

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33 minutes ago, Jimy Kraus said:

Looks as though we have twin Reattas. Mine is also red with tan interior. 

Yeah, red/tan was by far the most popular color combination.  Your car looks good. The wheels in the photo you posted look a lot like some 17" Mustang GT wheels I tried to put on my Reatta. They were just too big with the tires on them and I didn't want to buy new tires so I sold them.

 

2007 mustang wheel-3.jpg

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The correct size tire for 17" wheels is 215/55R17 to match the original 15" tire/wheel combination on the 88-89 model Reattas No rubbing on anything and the speedo will be dead on. 

27 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Yeah, red/tan was by far the most popular color combination.  Your car looks good. The wheels in the photo you posted look a lot like some 17" Mustang GT wheels I tried to put on my Reatta. They were just too big with the tires on them and I didn't want to buy new tires so I sold them.

 

2007 mustang wheel-3.jpg

 

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Ronnie, the underside of your Reatta is IMACULATE !!   I am very impressed.  

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The reason I replaced 2 of the 4 struts on my Reatta was primarily due to ride quality diminishing. Upon performing the replacement of the rear struts I discovered that they had been leaking quite a lot that wasn't noticeable until removing the OEM wheels.  Same with the front struts.  I am presuming the leakage is due to normal mileage being my car has just over 93K on it ?? 

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I finished installing my rear struts... Rides so nice!!! But when putting back together right wheel bearing had excess play, I just replaced when we got the car( I changed because I'm big believer in prevent maintenance) Either bad part or extrem angle from flat struts. Just wanted to say thank you to this forum.  Hopefully I won't have to use the forum for info. For along time.lol!!

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22 hours ago, Sam car said:

I finished installing my rear struts... Rides so nice!!! But when putting back together right wheel bearing had excess play, I just replaced when we got the car( I changed because I'm big believer in prevent maintenance) Either bad part or extrem angle from flat struts. Just wanted to say thank you to this forum.  Hopefully I won't have to use the forum for info. For along time.lol!!

Preventative maintenance is a good thing !!   Amazing just what a nice smooth ride Reatta's have when they're in proper operational order isn't it.  My car had 67K on it when I inherited it after my mother passed away.  My step father took excellent care of it and maintained it regularly.  I have had the car since August of 2015 and put just under 30K miles on it since, and am at that point where common components have simply reached the end of their service life from normal use. sensors, struts, engine accessories, trim items, etc.  

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  • 1 month later...

How about if we all got together and asked Monroe "pretty please, make us a bunch of struts"?

Anyone know someone in Munroe?

6.jpg

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