Well, i've been riding around for a few months now with 92-94 strut mounts in my cav - because that's what mantapart sent me with their bilstein coil-over kit (btw, i hate mantapart now).
I initially thought that they were insane, so i tried my coil-overs with the 95-99 strut mount, and the top hat didn't even come close to touching the bearing in the mount. Well, the suspension is already starting to creek, and i assume that's because the strut mounts weren't designed to be in a '99 (duh).
So, what i'm wondernig is, anyone know where i can get a top hat for a 2.5'' coil spring that will fit properly in a 95-99 strut mount? I think (hope) that will fix my problem. Also, if anyone knows where i can get the smaller, - i believe they call them helper, but i'm not sure - springs, so that the top hat stays in contact with the strut mount at all times, and the piece that i would need that goes between the two differen springs, it would be much appreciated. I love how the bilsteins ride, but i'm not digging the creeking, and i imagine it isn't good for the other parts of my suspension either.
on the 95=99 mounts, you should do the bigjerm strut mount mod... i believe its listed in the FAQ still... might be on page 3 or 4
as for top hat check with ground control or any of the quality places that do coilovers...
Thanks event, i figured you'd be the one to answer, and i figured it'd be a quality answer.
One question: Does that mod mean that there is no bearing? If so, isn't that a bad thing?
nah there is a bearing actually... alot smaller although...
basically with the mod, you kinda flip the metal parts of the strut mount and then you have a flat surface for the bearings to sit on....
if this shows up....
<img src="http://www.ground-control.com/images/gm/co_gen.jpg">
at the top of the top hat, 2 washers "sammichin" a needle bearing setup will go flat against the part of the strut mount alowing smooth movement.
This is what my top hat looks like:
Think that top hat should be sufficient and everything should work if i get some new '99 mounts?
i;d say it will.
get a thicker flat washer to put on the top hat, get some needle bearings from like ground control or elsewhere and then another washer to go on top of the bearings... and then sammich it against the modded strut mount and you should be set
Word.
Any sort of dust type protection necessary? Or are you saying the needle bearing is already contained in the strut mount.
One other thing. Isn't that a lot of weight for a really small bearing?
well the bearing will be out in the open.... i cant remember the site......
rksport has em though
http://rksport.com/pdf_header?prod_id=02032515
its about 10.5 megs, but worth it...
step 13 shows the picture of how the bearings sit on the top hats...
small, but bearings are pretty hard due to the abuse they will take.... but it works.
Does that bearing come with the stock strut mounts (say if i go buy some from autozone), or is that something i'm going to have to order. BTW, thanks event, you rock.
i'm just avg man.... and i;ve made alot of mistakes to learn from myself
but thats all from ground control, or rksport.
some smaller hardware stores MAY carry em... but ground control or rksport would be the easiest method... just tell em you lost yours and need a new set. i heard they were 6-12$ last someone posted on em.
Ok, i think i'm on my last question (i think). RK had three things listed, a needle bearing, a 2'' washer/spacer, and a 3'' washer/spacer, but he didn't know which spacer was which, and how many i needed of each. I'm guessing i need 2 of the 2'' washer per side, and 1 of the 3'' per side. The 2'' spacers sandwich the bearing, and the 3'' spacer sits just below the end of the threads on the shock. Any idea if this is right? If it is, my parts list would be:
2 @ needle bearing
2 @ 3'' washer/spacer
4 @ 2'' washer/spacer
and i think i'm going to get top hat's too, because i think mantapart is a bunch of a$$ clowns.
If that looks right to you, hopefully i'll have a working (turning) suspension soon - which would be nice.
find out the size of the bearing.... if the bearing is 2 inch, then get 2 of the 2 inch washers...
the 3 inch one kinda sounds like the D ring the coilovers sit on...
