top plate not touching tower?! WTF?

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

Did my suspension and here is some general info:
2.5 '95 MTX
2nd set of GCs
Konis with perches removed
upgraded top hat bearings and washers

I just searched and found something about coilovers with tophats put a lot of direct force on the top cap.
Here is a archive post about it....

http://www.contour.org/archive/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB46&Number=563436&Forum=UBB46&Words=tower&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=563430&Search=true#Post563436

The problem is the metal plate with the rubber on the ring, under the hood, does not sit on the strut tower. The driver's side is like 1/4" up off the tower and the passenger side is 1/16" up off the tower. The plates seem to be hitting the first nut that holds the suspension together. Possibilities:

1. Worn cone shape hat allowing front suspension to go too far up into the tower? Replace cones?

2. Find a "shorter" first nut to allow metal plate to come down further?

3. Put an a$$ load of washers to fill the 1/4" and 1/16" gaps? (don't want to do this one)

SOOOOO, basically could my GC's from before bend the cone deeper - I need a pic of a stock cone hat and a measurement of how deep it is to compare to mine....

p.s. back in 2000 when i put my first set of GCs in on stock shocks, i use to jump railroad tracks and am wondering if that could have damaged those caps basically pushing/bending them up further than they should be?

I need suggestions or if this has happened to anyone please throw ideas in - JOE

Im sure you all can relate to what i mean but if you need a pic I can load some up later today.

You're going ot hate me for saying this, but put your camber kit back in. It solved all my mount issues as it is all metal vs rubber. 2+ years on them no problem vs 1.5yrs max on the stock mounts.

Hey Joe I don't have any front struts laying around sorry

Originally posted by timeless420:
You're going ot hate me for saying this, but put your camber kit back in. It solved all my mount issues as it is all metal vs rubber. 2+ years on them no problem vs 1.5yrs max on the stock mounts.

I never had the camber kit.....

Thanks anyway tony....

anyone else with suggestions? - JOE

Mine became like that after a shop had my car for almost 3 months. I was afraid they dropped the car and it bent the strut towers. Or the strut mounts warped after being racked for so long.

Joe, The stock plates are NOT supposed to touch the towers. This is normal.

I just had the same problem over the weekend. Turned out that the nut that goes on top of the plate is taller than the nut that goes underneath the top plate. With the taller nut underneath the top plate, the top plate rests on the nut instead of seating down in the tower......swapped that around and problem solved

Originally posted by Stazi:
Joe, The stock plates are NOT supposed to touch the towers. This is normal.

huh? yes they are - they were touching before i put the new suspension in.....! come on stazi - p.s. knuckle works great, bearings are still good and have about 500 miles on them. thank you

About the nuts... I used the original nut to hold the suspension together and a new nut for the top plates under the hood.... soooo there really is no way that the way i have it now is wrong...

I need a picture of someones cone hat for the front suspension to compare to mine with the depth measurements or something.....

I also noticed that when the suspension was together b4 i put it in, the cone hat would sway like a bent rim when i spun it on the shock... the only logical thing is the cone hat is bent or the rubber is worn.

I wanted to see if anyone else had or has this problem and has found a way to fix it....

same with mine to..mine dont touch..its been a year

They are NOT supposed to touch. What people do not understand with our suspensions is that the strut rod at the top will move as you turn the steering wheel due to the inherent camber and caster - hence if you try to clamp it hard to the strut towers, you'll eventually fatigue the rod and break it.

Trust me I know what I'm tlaking about.

Joe - it helps to have someone who KNOWS how to install wheel bearings (me), install your bearings for you.

So how did they come from the factory? I'm a 2nd owner, and my top mounts were against the strut tower when I bought it... until a couple months ago.

With a VERY slight gap.

Originally posted by Stazi:
With a VERY slight gap.

Like this?

I am also concerned about this, and asked a similar question here.

Originally posted by delmar:

Originally posted by Stazi:
With a VERY slight gap.

Like this?

I am also concerned about this, and asked a similar question here.

YES
THAT
IS
NORMAL!

Read my previous posts as to why this is so.

Stazi... so what if mine has a 1/4" gap? Is that still acceptable or is something wrong?

Still OK, just means the rubber cones are wearing out and the strut assembly is slowly making it's way up. Eventually you'll need new struts mounts, but don't worry you're OK for quite a while.

one of mine is the gap shown in the pic - i know that is acceptable but the 1/4 inch gap will induce clunking when the suspension is fully extended I ordered new cones for my suspension @$33 a piece just so that i can give myself piece of mind. I will have to disagree with you stazi, not to dispize you but to be on the safe side - it is not good to have a gap below your top cap on your suspension tower more than 1/8" FYI. Thank you though - JOE

Originally posted by delmar:

Originally posted by Stazi:
With a VERY slight gap.

Like this?

I am also concerned about this, and asked a similar question here.

p.s. that is like a 1/8" gap barely - you are fine, do not replace those yet.....

Originally posted by blu_fuz:
one of mine is the gap shown in the pic - i know that is acceptable but the 1/4 inch gap will induce clunking when the suspension is fully extended I ordered new cones for my suspension @$33 a piece just so that i can give myself piece of mind. I will have to disagree with you stazi, not to dispize you but to be on the safe side - it is not good to have a gap below your top cap on your suspension tower more than 1/8" FYI. Thank you though - JOE

Unless you're in the habit of taking jumps like the Dukes of Hazard you will NEVER fully exyend your struts.

Just a technical detail - it's pretty easy to get the springs out of the seats with GCs. But I haven't had any alignment problems at all with that happening. In fact, it takes a good push to get the hats out of the tower when I adjust them for racing.

Originally posted by Stazi:

Unless you're in the habit of taking jumps like the Dukes of Hazard you will NEVER fully exyend your struts.

What about hard cornering??? sometimes the tire lifts off the ground right.... i just saw a picture of that - hmmmm?

I've never seen a contour with a front tire off the ground... only rears, which most stock SVT's can should be able to do.

Correct - the front tires on a front-heavy car do not come off the ground. The only cars I know that routinely lift a front are Porsche 911s. They have a very stiff McPherson front suspension with very little weight on it.

Again: I guarantee you my camber plates see more abuse of the type the will ruin an alignment than anyone else here. The top plate is not an issue.

Anyone who thinks the plate should put pressure on the strut tower: have someone crank the wheels from lock to lock while watching the strut move: then tell me you want that torqued down.

Yes, 1/4" is a bit much. But I don't think it matters. The real problem is that you're running out of rubber on the hat, which provides some needed play.

Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:
Correct - the front tires on a front-heavy car do not come off the ground. The only cars I know that routinely lift a front are Porsche 911s. They have a very stiff McPherson front suspension with very little weight on it.

Again: I guarantee you my camber plates see more abuse of the type the will ruin an alignment than anyone else here. The top plate is not an issue.

Anyone who thinks the plate should put pressure on the strut tower: have someone crank the wheels from lock to lock while watching the strut move: then tell me you want that torqued down.

Yes, 1/4" is a bit much. But I don't think it matters. The real problem is that you're running out of rubber on the hat, which provides some needed play.

Phil, I see you fully understand me.

Now, if only the rest would.

Wow you guys got me worried lol Mine drop in and touch the towers. I thought they get 34lb of tq on them.... Should I loosen them up before something happens... I guess the only reason they are there is for when jacking the car up the struts don't fall too far?

AFAIK, they are there to prevent the hats falling out of the tower - just about impossible - and to keep crud out. Torquing them down is not a problem provided the nut is being torqued against the nut on the strut shaft, holding the hat on, and not against the tower itself. As long as there is no stress on the plate it's fine.

The other problem is I have an OMP bar installed.. The omp plates do touch the very top plates... I did already have the passenger side strut break at the plate that holds the spring on. Basicly there was no thread on the strut shaft after that. But BAT did send me a new one and said throw the old one out. I'm going to snap some pics. Now I'm really worried lol

Don't mean to hijack this thread

i got ya stazi..... I understand now what that top hat is actually for - the more info the better. I agree with all the points addressed in the posts... thanks everyone. - JOE