Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Help, Koni springs and Strut Mounts

I recently purchased a set of Koni springs out of the classifieds to replace a broken coil on my 98' Contour SVT, as well as all 4 new strut mounts and new thrust bearings up front. They are in from Advanced Auto (mistake dealing with them to begin with) today, and picked them up today after work. Well it quickly became apparent that either the springs could possibly be wrong, or the Strut Mount is (which is what is the case since the spring on the car is obviously larger than the bearing and plate, don't need the Koni spring in hand to judge from for that conclusion).


Spring Size, I'd say 6.75":


Anyway, on the spring is a number "057":


Mount and Bearing, ~4.5":


Which on the Koni website is the last three digits of thier part number for the Contour 6yl springs, so that leads me to believe I do have the right springs:


Here is just an overall view of them side by side:



My question being, do I have the 4cyl front mount and bearing even though I watched them look up Contour SVT 2.5L? I have the Ford CD and I can't really tell from that which sizes etc... I should be looking for. My problem is also that we are getting garage/house/driveway work done and I will be doing this at a friends house since it's my DD and I need to get to work and quit bumming rides, SO ANY HELP INCITE OPINIONS ETC WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

My car is running 057's as well.

Definitely something fishy with the seat and bearing - I have not have a 4-cyl to see what they look like, so I am not sure.



Seat w/aftermarket camber plates:

your missing the large metal piece that sits on top of the spring, then the strut mount sits on top of that ...



you are missing the item that is between #7 & 8



edit: sounds like you haven't taken the suspension apart yet, you will see how it goes when you get the strut assembly out of the car ...

brian, i need to get the upper spring seats and strut bearings. i threw mine out a while ago thinking i'd never pull the gc's now i have the koni kit to install. thats the same pic from teamfordparts. #7 is listed as front hub then it lists this:

FRONT HUB, Contour, Mystique 95-00 $175.52 $130.58


STRUT BEARING, Contour, Mystique 98-00 $18.73 $13.94


STRUT BUSHINGS, Contour, Mystique 95-00 $92.60 $74.08

is the metal upper spring seat 130bucks? no way am i gonna pay that. i'll find a junker. whats the strut bushing? can i just order the spring seat and strut bearing. the upper strut mount is $25. could the front hub listing be the entire assembly? spring seat, bearing, strut mount, and retainer?

the rear suspension diagram doesnt even show the upper spring seat or the retainer. just has the strut mount apparently sitting on the spring. maybe u get all 3 pieces when u order the rear mount but would be nice to see them in the diagram still

I have yet to put in the Koni's, (but here is the rear breakdown of the suspension from the Ford Service CD.. the strut mount sits directly on the spring, unlike the front. Although, it's numbered as 3 and 4 and worded as if they are two seperate pieces, where as the Monroe's I have waiting to put in are molded as one piece. Hope this helps.


Also, as far as the
STRUT BEARING, Contour, Mystique 98-00 $18.73 $13.94
STRUT BUSHINGS, Contour, Mystique 95-00 $92.60 $74.08
I got mine from Advanced, it's made by Monroe, not sure of the quality or anything whatsoever, but I'm not interested in it lasting forever. They sell the Bearing AND Bushing together for I believe ~$50.00 (If you don't like Monroe, there was a KYB setup, same thing with the bearing and bushing for a few dollars more.)

hugo I would just call Bill up and talk to him about it, but you should be able to get what you need from a junk car, I agree that upper spring purch shouldn't be $130

brian u dont have to go that far. i just wasnt sure if i was looking at the right thing. but either way still not paying that much for a piece of metal.

what r the strut bushings? all the items in the diagram are accounted for. i dont see an extra piece that i'm not familiar with. i wanna say the bump stops but those r listed too as such.

the haynes manual lists the rear as having an upper spring seat thats shaped to fit under the upper strut mount.

can i get the parts from a pre98? i know the pre98 struts can only go with pre98 springs if installing in a post98. aside from these 2 major things r the other items contour "universal" suspension parts so-to-speak

The Strut Bushings are the Strut Mounts, and vise-versa. They are the item labeled 3 and 4, and then number 7 in the diagram of the front. (The rear has no bearing, obviously.. don't mean to insult you but just checking)

The diagram from the ford cd and also I'm guessing from the Haynes manual says that thier is two pieces (the spring seat, and the bushing), where as what I have is molded into one piece as you can see in the pictures.

[image]http://img56.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img56/6679/overallrearrx2.jpg&ul=quickload[/image]
[image]http://img56.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img56/1745/rearprofilecj9.jpg&ul=quickload[/image]
[image]http://img56.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img56/5251/rearso2.jpg&ul=quickload[/image]

Also, the front needs it more since the spring doesn't "flatten out" at the top and bottom to sit on something at one level, where the spring seat up front makes up for it. The rear springs top and bottom most coil come together, so it will sit flat on the strut mount.

You can sort of see it below:

[image]http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/1910/rearassemmv4.jpg[/image]
[image]http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/6484/springmountrearqy1.jpg[/image]

Hope you can see what I'm talking about...





Edit: Anyone know why when I post pictures, sometimes it's hit or miss?

if the strut bushings r the strut mounts, why is #10 (the upper mount) listed for $25 when i click on it, then when i click on 7 (listed as front hub) it expands to list the front hub, strut bearing and strut bushing and the bushing is listed for $74. i can see the rear having an upper mount with the spring seat molded to it. but it still needs some type of spring seat even if the spring is level at the top. i remember my car have that piece. it actually slipped inside the top of the rear spring and arched up and out to create the "seat" then the mount went on top of that. i know because we accidentally reinstalled it on my right rear when we did the gc install and i had clunking back there. when i jacked up the car i saw the stock piece. i have to remove the strut to get it out.

i'm not trying to make this complicated, maybe the diagrams from teamfordparts are mislabeled and the pricing is mismatched too for the mislabeled/unlabeled stuff.

now i'm inclined to jack up my brothers stock se just to look at the parts for partnumbers