dgotc

I just did the Right side. This car was serviced at the dealer it's whole life until I got it. They dropped one of the handle bracket bolts into the door, which I found when it was apart, and then ram-rodded a 1/4-20 hex bolt into the brass insert. The insert spun in the plastic when I tried to remove the bolt. I extracted the insert and heat-set a proper 6mm nut in place. I scored the nut on each flat for a little more grab. Good as new, or at least, better than a ford dealer. This is exactly why I work on my own cars. You can't trust someone who doesn't care about your investment.

Awesome, thanks everybody! I'm hunting for a strut closer to 45mm for older gen subarus (1980's). There is currently only one option available...

Hello all, I'm in the process of searching for struts for another vehicle that is not really supported by the auto industry anymore. I'm looking for the diameter of the strut that get clamped into the knuckle. My 2016 transit connect is approximately 52mm. What is the diameter of the earlier gen transit connect? Hopefully someone with a calipers can measure it at some convenient time. I'm also interested in the height of the spring perch from the lower end, but that's not as critical. Thanks!

Thanks Don. That was the first thing I did. I'll have another look...

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll take a look at that seal.

I have the same drain plug and it is 10mm allen socket, I believe. I did mine recently and it worked out great. I did two drainings of 3 quarts each and the 3rd draining I let it completely drain. This resulted in using about 1 extra quart of fluid, but made putting the drain plug back in with thread sealant less messy. I didn't take the drain plug to full specified torque because it just didn't feel good, so I got it to about 100 inch-pounds. Still tight and sealed well.

One thing to note: the instructions to re-mount the wipers on the motors is not correct for my vehicle. The measurements given to the edge of the windshield resulted in the wipers touching the the lower one's end moving well past the lower edge of the windshield. Luckily, I marked the original parked position in several spots with a sharpie on the glass and used that as a guide to reinstall. My windshield is a replacement and does not have the factory markings for alignment.

After driving a bit on some washboard gravel roads, I have to say that these struts are a huge improvement over stock. They really smooth out some teeth chattering on gravel. I highly recommend the upgrade.

Thanks for the suggestion, G B L. I ended up loosening the transfer bearing flange just inboard of the right-hand inner CV joint. I only loosened the nuts half way off of their studs. This allowed the axle to float a few cm in and out of the transmission and gave enough clearance between the axle and frame to get the strut slipped into the knuckle. A warning: be careful about transmission fluid spilling out of the axle hole in the tranny if the vehicle isn't perfectly level. I had a few issues with this combined with my poor judgment. Luckily, I need to do a transmission fluid flush anyways. Unluckily, a portion of transmission oil ended up on our driveway... :( I've read a few threads on transmission flushing and all of them mention a fill level check plug with a standard hex head on the left-hand side just in front of the axle. This does not exist on my car. There is a larger plug with a Torx pattern just behind the axle at a similar level. I have not seen any reference to this plug so I can't be certain it is the right one. The closest I got was a comment in this guy's vid: Does anyone have the actual transmission level check/flush procedure for my 2016 Ford Transit connect Titanium? (mainly detailing where the level check plug is) Lastly, I have about 100 miles on the new Bilstein B6 front struts. They're a very nice improvement. The small bump compliance is way better than the stock struts and they take the edge off of big hits like potholes and railroad tracks. I think I'm hearing the bump now more than feeling it. Before the bumps would vibrate the whole car more. Overall, they're a lot more buttery than the stock struts. Changes like this are very noticeable on these vehicles since they all ride so rough with small tires and high load capacity for their size. I did measure before and after and they raised the front end roughly 3/8". I'm sure it will settle a little bit.

Just a quick brand pointer: Don't get KYB bellows and bumpers. The bellows don't stay on their own strut tops (which seem to work fine and look like the Ford part). They're also too short and look like the diameter that hits the Bilstein B6 body is not quite small enough. Go with some OEM bellows or something like that. On the point of installation, I'm struggling with the passenger side where I've started a thread on that:

I did have the thought of unbolting the carrier bearing just inboard from the inner CV joint. This would allow the axle to move outward, slipping out of the transmission a little (there's no split ring on the RH stub in the tranny) and maybe clear the frame by 1cm or whatever it needs to come together. Thoughts?

I'm having a lot of trouble with reassembly of the passenger side. The CV shaft hits the frame before I can get the strut engaged in the knuckle. This was discussed here without a real good solution. I say real good because I don't want to use a spring compressor while the strut is on the car and I don't want to "just muscle it" for fear of doing damage to the CV. The inner CV joint already popped out on disassembly and I was able to pop it back in while there was no strut installed. I do have the axle hub nut off and the end pushed through the wheel bearing to see if I can get some play there... not much luck, yet. I've done a lot of front strut replacements and never have had an issue like this. Any advice?

Thanks again, Don. I'm going to need the entire database please. Just kidding. I wish the FSM's weren't so prohibitively expensive. I know it's really designed for professional mechanics and dealers so I should probably not complain. I appreciate your assistance. Now that this post is here, I hope it helps lots of people with this procedure. I know I'm not the only person that needs to replace shocks, themselves.

Don, Any chance you can provide the procedure to remove the wiper motor (strut.pdf step 1)? Thanks.

After a few road trips I think these speakers sound pretty good. I turned up the bass and put the fade setting slightly to the back to give them a little more power. No complaints over stock setup. Can't really complain much for the cost, anyways.