strut cartridge

[frankensteinZ]

Hello again still in the process of putting on my struts. I have taken out my old struts and put in the new ones however these new tokico's have some play up and down in the cartridge. I was wondering if this was normal. The old struts seem to have a longer base then the new ones. Is this okay?

Frankenstein Z

PS Putting oil in the cartridge, nothing in any of the books I have about it but most everybody on here says its needed, whats the verdict.

[SteveK]

How much play are we talking about

When I did mine (5 months ago, front and rear) the fronts were a different length from the rears (this confused me for a while until I offered them up into the tubes and only on set would fit), one set had an extender attached to the bottom, I wonder if you have got them swapped or the wrong ones (extender was about 50-75mm long) other than that when I tightened the nut up onto the supplied washer it locked down quiet well, don’t tighten it down all the way a small amount of thread should be left showing I think its about an eighth of an inch gap from the nut to the top of the strut tube (may be wrong)

As for Oil I put a couple of table spoons of normal 10:30 in as it should help dissipate the heat better (shocks can get pretty hot) opinion is mixed but, hey better to have it and its not needed that not to have it and get overheated shocks.

[frankensteinZ]

I have about an inch or two, so that does seem like to much. I'll pull everything out and see what i got. Thanks for the help again.

Frankenstein Z

[SteveK]

That 2 inches (50mm) kinda corresponds with the spacer size I mentioned before I wonder:ermm:

[frankensteinZ]

You were right about the extension, guess I should have went through all the boxes.:stupid:

Thanks again

Frankenstein Z

[dozer171]

i just put some hydraulic jack oil in mine, put in the cartridge/gland nut, and wiped up the mess..... every mechanic i talked to gave me a weird look when i asked them and said "it must be a Z thing, i don't understand what those guys were thinking."

guess it is...?

[SteveK]

When I took my old shocks out I could see where the paint had peeled due to heat (constant re-compression sometimes many times a second)

If there is no oil, the air gap forms a heat barrier preventing any heat generated "sinking" away, this could cook the seals and ruin the shock.