Dammit, Dammit, Dammit

[Binford]

Apearantly, I just put a front RS strut on the rear of my SS. I got struts and springs from a 2.5 RS, and none of it was marked front or rear, except YF and SE. I didn't know what that meant, so I guessed. The SS tapered spring fit perfectly on the perch marked SE, and everything fit well into the car, except it would lower the rear about 2". That's low. Oh yeah, the tire would rub hardcore on the perch, too. Good thing I didn't even tighten anything down before I checked. Now I have to put my destroyed strut back on to make it drivable again. This sucks.

[Binford]

OK, I swapped it for the YF strut, but the perch on that one was smaller. I think it'll work alright, we'll see. I took it for a test drive, and it's rattling at the top mount, so I guess I have to add a washer. It didn't seem that I would when I assembled it, but oh well. I'm done with it for today. I'll wait till it dries off to do any more.

[Imprezive]

Yeah, you might need a spacer of some sort, and make sure you tighten the bolt that holds the top mount on. Did you check to see which struts had the little brakeline bracket? I think only the fronts have those.

[jamal]

Sounds like you might have the springs mixed up. I thought with struts it's pretty obvious as to what is front and rear. It's kind of hard to tell the difference between front and rear springs off the struts. Maybe this helps?

Front spring perch on the left, rear on the right:



Just use the springs that fit in the right perches.

Wait are you trying to use the SS springs with the RS perches? Because they're not compatible. You have everything for both cars, right? Just use the SS perches and tops. They'll fit on the strut just fine.

[Binford]

I didn't get any upper perches or top mounts from the RS. I re-used my SS spring, and only tore apart the rear, so I couldn't easily compare them to the fronts on my SS. The SE pair have two tabs with welded nuts, and the YF pair have a tab for the brake hose like my stock SS rear.

So I've determined this:
SE=front
YF-rear

[Binford]

Here are some pics of my destroyed strut. I should get a few shots of the RS struts later.

http://www.thawa.net/gallery/album58?page=8

Fixed link.

[jamal]

ok well the rear struts are significantly longer and I don't see any problems with using the SS springs and perches with them.

[Binford]

Well I got ambitious today (day off) and swapped my other rear strut, so now I have a matching pair of RS struts on the back of my SS. My rattling was from not having the top nut all the way tight for some reason, so no washer or spacer was needed. Everything feels great now. I need front perches for the RS springs becuase I don't want to use my stock front springs if I have these sitting here. Kinda hard to come by locally, but I'll see what I can do. I need to replace my front wheel bearing on my drivers' side, so I'll probably do that at the same time. Maybe new rotors, too, as my cheapies are warped after about 6-8 months. My fualt, really. The list just keeps going on and on.