slydar
28th July 2008, 03:49 PM
ok, we start with this, a standard strut with all brakes ect pulled off.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68931.jpg
my step one, as i don't own spring compressors and they scare me anyway (Ant will tell you, i am very afraid of potential energy)
into the vice, and cut the spring seat off, make small cuts keeping as close to the weld as possible. leave a few spots where the cuts don't interesect, so the spring platform stays in place untill you want it to.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68932.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68933.jpg
next step is out of the vice and onto the ground, be carefull handling the strut at this stage, hold it by the stub axle/strut top only, keep fingers clear of the spring.
place the strut on the ground, strut top down
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68934.jpg
and give the spring perch a few good whacks downward, this should be enough to break the platform off the strut casing.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68935.jpg
note *twang*
next remove the standard strut top and spring hat as illustrated, a pair of vice grips and a 19mm deep socket will be handy at this stage.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68936.jpg
this is what you should be left with.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68937.jpg
next step is to remove the stock insert, back in the vice and a pipe wrench on the retainer nut. lefty loosey.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68938.jpg
ok, time to grind. flapper disc is best for this, grind the weld right down till its smooth, and take the paint off about down to the brake hose bracket. removing the paint is neccesary with my particular sleeves, as theyre a nice tight fit, koni's will usually just slip over the paint, unless some champion down at pedders has given them a real thick coat previously.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68939.jpg
next, shortening the body.
i make the cut pretty close to the top, about an inch below the machined step below the thread for the retainer nut. you might want to cut the old welded section out if that pleases you more, than just cut slightly above where the weld was.
to make the actual cut, i use a pipe cutter, makes a nice clean square cut, but does deform the tube slightly, so you will need to finish off inside the casing a little bit, this grinding bit for a drill works ok-ish. there is another drill attachment you can get that is made from similar materila to the flapper disc, and is probably better. or a die grinder would be better again if you have one.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68940.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68941.jpg
on the other hand, if you have a drop saw with a metal cut off wheel, that may possibly be the easiest way.
now we need to work out how much shorter we want them. grab your insert, i am using a trd "green", quite short stroke, but the bodies arent all that much shorter than stock, and using the monroe style retainer nut which is quite deep, i only need to cut about 12mm or so out. for agx, from memory its around 30/40mm and for trd short strokes (yellow, or blue adjustable, ae9x second section of the part number) it is possible to take about 60-70mm out. i am going to put it out there though and say, theyre is no way youre going to end up with a workable suspension set up if you shorten your strut that much and use those inserts. around 40mm is the MAX you wanna take out to retain some suspension droop. obviously you will need a spacer then to make them work. this is what trd themselves suggest, they don't have rocks in their head, and by no means are the "soft".
anyway, make some measurements and decide what you want to do. refer to the club4ag.com tech reference for further clarification. for the greens, and agx, i would recomend just shortening the casing untill you don't need a spacer at all.
some pictures below explaining how to work that out.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68942.jpg
next make the 2nd cut, followed by tidying up the inner edge as explain earlier.
ok, now its been shortened, its time to weld it back together.
i use a coilover sleeve with a window cut into it as a jig, this perfectly aligns the 2 peices so your struts remain "straight" and ensures that at the next stage when you go to slip your sleeves on, theyll actually fit. i make 3 tack welds, grinding them down as i go and rotating the sleeve about 120 degrees each time.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68943.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68944.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68945.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68946.jpg
if youre doing this at home, you can either buy 1 additional sleeve, or use the old insert with some tape wrapped around it at the joint, till both peices are a slug fit, then align by eye, tack, check, another tack, check, maybe at this stage try your sleeve, make sure it will go on, then do one more tack and check again.
note.. most inserts say "do no open, do not heat" so don't go too hardcore with the tacks if you do it this way, you don't want it burning through and exploding. yeah it could explode. cool the weld with water after each tack.
ok, so now its tacked and aligned, weld the join completely up. probably best if you don't just start at one end and weld all the way around, as even though its tacked, it could still move a little with the heat. just do an inch at a time, swapping sides as you go.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68947.jpg
beleive it or not, youre just about done at ths stage.
next grind the weld down smooth.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68948.jpg
next, you want to tripple check the new casing is the right length, cool it off under the water again, throw and insert in, and put a retainer nut on, tighten untill it contacts the insert, and make sure youve got a few threads left for final assembly so you can crank it down hard, you want them to be TIGHT.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68949.jpg
if its all good, pull it apart, slip the sleeve on, and weld it on around the bottom edge, take your time here, people are gonna see these welds. including possibly engineers, so try to make them neat.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68950.jpg
NOTE- depending on how much youve shortened the casing/the free length of your springs, you might want to put the sleeve on lower/higher. i try to use a shorter spring, and put the sleeves on right at the top.
next step is drilling the spring hat, as theyre supplied with only a 10mm pilot whole, so they can work with a variety of inserts. toyota inserts have a 15mm shank, so drill to this size. nissan type is smaller, dunno what, maybe ask the OCS boys, they love their datsuns.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68951.jpg
finally maybe a quick wire wheel, mask up and spray job to make them look fancy.
lastly assembly. NOTE the lock ring/spring perch will not go over the retainer nut. so its, lock ring, then spring perch, insert, and retainer but. do that nut up TIGHT.
this is what you should end up with. note these are ra60 casing, being used in my brothers gz10.. but all the above applies to ae86/xt130 ma61 ect ect.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68952.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68931.jpg
my step one, as i don't own spring compressors and they scare me anyway (Ant will tell you, i am very afraid of potential energy)
into the vice, and cut the spring seat off, make small cuts keeping as close to the weld as possible. leave a few spots where the cuts don't interesect, so the spring platform stays in place untill you want it to.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68932.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68933.jpg
next step is out of the vice and onto the ground, be carefull handling the strut at this stage, hold it by the stub axle/strut top only, keep fingers clear of the spring.
place the strut on the ground, strut top down
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68934.jpg
and give the spring perch a few good whacks downward, this should be enough to break the platform off the strut casing.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68935.jpg
note *twang*
next remove the standard strut top and spring hat as illustrated, a pair of vice grips and a 19mm deep socket will be handy at this stage.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68936.jpg
this is what you should be left with.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68937.jpg
next step is to remove the stock insert, back in the vice and a pipe wrench on the retainer nut. lefty loosey.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68938.jpg
ok, time to grind. flapper disc is best for this, grind the weld right down till its smooth, and take the paint off about down to the brake hose bracket. removing the paint is neccesary with my particular sleeves, as theyre a nice tight fit, koni's will usually just slip over the paint, unless some champion down at pedders has given them a real thick coat previously.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68939.jpg
next, shortening the body.
i make the cut pretty close to the top, about an inch below the machined step below the thread for the retainer nut. you might want to cut the old welded section out if that pleases you more, than just cut slightly above where the weld was.
to make the actual cut, i use a pipe cutter, makes a nice clean square cut, but does deform the tube slightly, so you will need to finish off inside the casing a little bit, this grinding bit for a drill works ok-ish. there is another drill attachment you can get that is made from similar materila to the flapper disc, and is probably better. or a die grinder would be better again if you have one.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68940.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68941.jpg
on the other hand, if you have a drop saw with a metal cut off wheel, that may possibly be the easiest way.
now we need to work out how much shorter we want them. grab your insert, i am using a trd "green", quite short stroke, but the bodies arent all that much shorter than stock, and using the monroe style retainer nut which is quite deep, i only need to cut about 12mm or so out. for agx, from memory its around 30/40mm and for trd short strokes (yellow, or blue adjustable, ae9x second section of the part number) it is possible to take about 60-70mm out. i am going to put it out there though and say, theyre is no way youre going to end up with a workable suspension set up if you shorten your strut that much and use those inserts. around 40mm is the MAX you wanna take out to retain some suspension droop. obviously you will need a spacer then to make them work. this is what trd themselves suggest, they don't have rocks in their head, and by no means are the "soft".
anyway, make some measurements and decide what you want to do. refer to the club4ag.com tech reference for further clarification. for the greens, and agx, i would recomend just shortening the casing untill you don't need a spacer at all.
some pictures below explaining how to work that out.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68942.jpg
next make the 2nd cut, followed by tidying up the inner edge as explain earlier.
ok, now its been shortened, its time to weld it back together.
i use a coilover sleeve with a window cut into it as a jig, this perfectly aligns the 2 peices so your struts remain "straight" and ensures that at the next stage when you go to slip your sleeves on, theyll actually fit. i make 3 tack welds, grinding them down as i go and rotating the sleeve about 120 degrees each time.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68943.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68944.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68945.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68946.jpg
if youre doing this at home, you can either buy 1 additional sleeve, or use the old insert with some tape wrapped around it at the joint, till both peices are a slug fit, then align by eye, tack, check, another tack, check, maybe at this stage try your sleeve, make sure it will go on, then do one more tack and check again.
note.. most inserts say "do no open, do not heat" so don't go too hardcore with the tacks if you do it this way, you don't want it burning through and exploding. yeah it could explode. cool the weld with water after each tack.
ok, so now its tacked and aligned, weld the join completely up. probably best if you don't just start at one end and weld all the way around, as even though its tacked, it could still move a little with the heat. just do an inch at a time, swapping sides as you go.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68947.jpg
beleive it or not, youre just about done at ths stage.
next grind the weld down smooth.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68948.jpg
next, you want to tripple check the new casing is the right length, cool it off under the water again, throw and insert in, and put a retainer nut on, tighten untill it contacts the insert, and make sure youve got a few threads left for final assembly so you can crank it down hard, you want them to be TIGHT.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68949.jpg
if its all good, pull it apart, slip the sleeve on, and weld it on around the bottom edge, take your time here, people are gonna see these welds. including possibly engineers, so try to make them neat.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68950.jpg
NOTE- depending on how much youve shortened the casing/the free length of your springs, you might want to put the sleeve on lower/higher. i try to use a shorter spring, and put the sleeves on right at the top.
next step is drilling the spring hat, as theyre supplied with only a 10mm pilot whole, so they can work with a variety of inserts. toyota inserts have a 15mm shank, so drill to this size. nissan type is smaller, dunno what, maybe ask the OCS boys, they love their datsuns.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68951.jpg
finally maybe a quick wire wheel, mask up and spray job to make them look fancy.
lastly assembly. NOTE the lock ring/spring perch will not go over the retainer nut. so its, lock ring, then spring perch, insert, and retainer but. do that nut up TIGHT.
this is what you should end up with. note these are ra60 casing, being used in my brothers gz10.. but all the above applies to ae86/xt130 ma61 ect ect.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68952.jpg