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u make a sandwich. washer/bearing/washer grease em up real good. marine wheel bearing grease worked fine for me. i'd usually regrease em like once a year. they go right on top of the gc upper spring hat
Hugo AIM:omegazodiac
95 gl & 99 contour svt #1750/2760
my profile pics stuff for sale
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r u using the gc's on stock struts or replacement oem struts? not a good idea. your gonna blow them out real quick.
Hugo AIM:omegazodiac
95 gl & 99 contour svt #1750/2760
my profile pics stuff for sale
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Joined: Aug 2001
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the washer/bearings replace the stock strut bearing which u wont reuse along with the stock upper spring seat
Hugo AIM:omegazodiac
95 gl & 99 contour svt #1750/2760
my profile pics stuff for sale
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thanks i understand now about the bearings.. and yes im going to put them on an "oem" strut i know everyone talks about them going bad quickly but i got a darn good deal on these and i honestly didnt have the money to spend(konis arent cheap). I figure as long as im not constantly bottoming out they will last for a little while.
my current question is im not sure but i may have 4 of the same strut. I believe it is a front strut. Is there any way to use the same strut for the front and rear. I mean with the GCs you are going to cut off all of the spring perches and stuff i just thought that the struts were a complete different size so i didnt think that using 4 of the same would be possible.
the part number is a gabriele ultra g-force G55692 .. its comes up as a front strut for a 95-97 contique. I need to double check but i think i have 4 of these. With GCs and with camber kits i can use the 95-97 struts on the front correct?? no chance on the rear correct?
thoughts, suggestions, opinions??
1998.5 Diamond White Pearl SVT (#4725)
custom exhaust/intake k&N/mod'ed y-pipe
slotted rotors/greenstuff pads/SS lines
cougar trans/FSVT shift tower/Torsen
16lb. flywheel
18" Velox VX-8's with some rubba bands
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Joined: Aug 2001
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i dont recall but the front and rear struts may be different lengths. even though your cutting the perches, they might still be different. honestly, with gc spring rates compared to stock, i wouldnt expect the stock struts to last very long. bottoming out means nothing. its the pressure the springs r putting on the struts. and with gc's and stock struts you'd have to run them at the tallest setting just to minimize the pressure on the strut so they dont blow out even faster.
think of your body as the strut. whats the max weight u can lift. now double that wieght. would u be able to hold up the doubled weight? if so, how long would u expect your arms or legs to last holding it up? bend and hold your arms or legs halfway down. now how much harder is it to hold the weight? you need a stronger body to hold up the more weight. the stock struts just arent designed to do this. even eibachs or hr springs eat away at the stock struts and i still wouldnt recommend lower springs with stock struts. with gc's the car is gonna ride like sh!t. i know your strapped for cash but i'd do it right or not at all. save up for konis. or get a bat or koni kit later on after selling the gcs. sell the gc's and u should still have money for new eibachs or bat springs. try that on oem struts before the gc's. if your doing the install yourself, ride the gcs til the struts blow. then you'll have to replace all the struts and do the install for a 2nd time along with another alignment. in the meantime i dont see the car being enjoyable to drive. just trying to be honest with u.
Hugo AIM:omegazodiac
95 gl & 99 contour svt #1750/2760
my profile pics stuff for sale
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Originally posted by hmouta:
i dont recall but the front and rear struts may be different lengths. even though your cutting the perches, they might still be different. honestly, with gc spring rates compared to stock, i wouldnt expect the stock struts to last very long. bottoming out means nothing. its the pressure the springs r putting on the struts. and with gc's and stock struts you'd have to run them at the tallest setting just to minimize the pressure on the strut so they dont blow out even faster.
think of your body as the strut. whats the max weight u can lift. now double that wieght. would u be able to hold up the doubled weight? if so, how long would u expect your arms or legs to last holding it up? bend and hold your arms or legs halfway down. now how much harder is it to hold the weight? you need a stronger body to hold up the more weight. the stock struts just arent designed to do this. even eibachs or hr springs eat away at the stock struts and i still wouldnt recommend lower springs with stock struts. with gc's the car is gonna ride like sh!t. i know your strapped for cash but i'd do it right or not at all. save up for konis. or get a bat or koni kit later on after selling the gcs. sell the gc's and u should still have money for new eibachs or bat springs. try that on oem struts before the gc's. if your doing the install yourself, ride the gcs til the struts blow. then you'll have to replace all the struts and do the install for a 2nd time along with another alignment. in the meantime i dont see the car being enjoyable to drive. just trying to be honest with u.
That was a bad analogy of how a shock works.... The piston on the shock is not supporting the freakin car when you have GCs! The spring rate of the GCs resting on the perch welds is what holds the car up! The amount of travel for the shock piston with the GCs is like 1.5" up and 1.5" down, WHICH MEANS: You get less piston travel and longer life on your shocks if you don't have the GCs down all the way. "Softer" springs allow the piston to have like 3" up and 3" down of motion which wears out your shocks faster. Don't tell people what you think is the right thing. I have had 3 different suspensions and have had experience in all areas - you don't know what you are talking about...
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the strut is still going to have to move the weight up and down properly, yes with the springs supporting the weight of the car. the oem struts just arent gonna do this correctly. u compress the spring all the way down and the strut piston isnt going to just sit there. its going to go down too with the weight from the car compressing the spring. the strut isnt holding the car up but it certainly is affected by the weight too. might've been a bad analogy, sorry for that.
harder springs tend to be lower springs. if they were lower and still soft, the weight of the car would be at a lower center of gravity and the piston wont be rebounding and compressing as it was previously. so u need to increase the spring rate to resist this and a matching strut valved for shorter piston moving. stock struts arent valved to only move 1.5" up or down if thats the amount of travel when using the gc's.
fine, pretend your arms r the springs and legs the struts. and your head is a carb and fingers tires. whatever the analogy, i think he gets that gc's on oem replacement struts is obviously doable but likely not recommended at all. now he can choose to do what he wants and cant say no one told him.
Hugo AIM:omegazodiac
95 gl & 99 contour svt #1750/2760
my profile pics stuff for sale
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i agree - sorry for bashing....
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If i'm cutting off the spring perch, do i simply weld the d-ring back in the same location as where the spring perch was? Also when installing coilovers do you simply pick a height. put the car together.. set on the ground and see if its a good height or not? i swear these are going to be the last two coil over related questions 
1998.5 Diamond White Pearl SVT (#4725)
custom exhaust/intake k&N/mod'ed y-pipe
slotted rotors/greenstuff pads/SS lines
cougar trans/FSVT shift tower/Torsen
16lb. flywheel
18" Velox VX-8's with some rubba bands
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Originally posted by Stylin55_oh:
If i'm cutting off the spring perch, do i simply weld the d-ring back in the same location as where the spring perch was?
Also when installing coilovers do you simply pick a height. put the car together.. set on the ground and see if its a good height or not?
i swear these are going to be the last two coil over related questions
Do not weld the D-rings to the struts. If you do you will likely melt the internal seals from the heat.
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