[Wile E. Coyote Jr.]

I dont understand the point of the bearing. Is this to get it to the correct ID for the 3000GT insert thread? To get more more thread engagement? Or is it purely to have a range of motion for some reason?

 

[XR7-4.6]

Former two things, there's no need for a bearing in of itself since there is no rotation

 

[Zep5.0]

The bearing cost next to nothing and MM had figured out they fit correctly and could be welded in easy.

 

[CDsDontBurn]

@jco1385 has them installed as well. If he chimes in, he'll share his 2 cents on the mod, maybe?

 

[jda95bird]

Thanks for the pictures of other mounts. I was able to get all of the rubber removed from mine today. Hopefully I can have everything welded this week. I used a drill with a bit to get most of the rubber out around the center insert. Once it was sufficiently holy I put it in the press and pushed it out. I then used a small pistol grip hack saw to remove large pieces of rubber. After that I found a variety of wire brush attachments for the drill worked best to clean it to the metal.

 

[jda95bird]

Life has gotten in the way and I haven’t had much time to work on these. I did make some nut sleeves from stainless steel M14 bolts. I had a friend with a lathe drill the holes for me and then I tapped them. For anyone unfamiliar with metric, you subtract the pitch from the bolt size to determine what size hole to drill. The shocks are M10x1 so you need a 9mm hole. I decided to put some stainless steel M14 washers inside the housing to take up the empty space where the shock can’t fit all the way down. I glued the washers together just to make it easier to install everything. On the outside I plan to use one washer and a split lock washer. I do need to check and see how much clearance there is between the bottom of the shock and the lower control arm so it doesn’t rub when installed.

 

[jb351]

Add another member on here going the 3000GT insert route. Mine came last week from Rock Auto.
Going to make it harder on myself and will try to design a replacement system based on the info in the various threads here along with any improvements I find.
Ideally it will mostly use off the shelf parts like McMaster-Carr, Summit etc. So far I have made an accurate model of the strut insert and started work on the lower mount design.
Whatever it ends up being I'll share the files and drawings when it's done.

For those who want to work on their own in the meantime, I've attached the CAD file for the insert.
You need to rename it from .txt to .step after downloading it. Step file extensions are not allowed on the forum for uploads currently.

 

[jda95bird]

Does anyone know why S4Gunn went with a 5/8" uniball bearing? The steinjager website also offers metric sizes. I'm not at home to check it out but the top bolt on the bilsteins should be metric. Maybe M10. The 5/8" does have a small amount of play in it. I would think that the metric bearing would be a perfect fit. Maybe too tight depending on tolerances.

 

[S4gunn]

Does anyone know why S4Gunn went with a 5/8" uniball bearing? The steinjager website also offers metric sizes. I'm not at home to check it out but the top bolt on the bilsteins should be metric. Maybe M10. The 5/8" does have a small amount of play in it. I would think that the metric bearing would be a perfect fit. Maybe too tight depending on tolerances.

It was what was available at the time.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Once the nut is tightened it’s not going to move.

 

[jda95bird]

It was what was available at the time.

Thanks. i was just curious.

I checked the measurements when I got home. The threaded part looks to be M14 but the shoulder underneath where the bearing rides is 15mm.

 

[Rangerguy302]

If I can throw 2¢ in, I did this shock mod too. Didn't have time to wait on parts so I cut the factory metal insert out, used a bigger one and 2 grade 8 flat washers. The top threads didn't go threw very far so I snuggled them tight, they got about 3/4 of the way into the thread. Worked great for awhile but today it pulled the threads off the shock.....now to get that spring out of there without dying..... I know it was a dumb thing to do but had no choice at the time, then, since it worked, I forgot about it.... Handled like a dream though and now that the front end is new thanks to Bill scpc, it should be even better once I [email protected]#k what I did🤦🤦

 

[jda95bird]

There are walkthroughs in some other threads, maybe S4Gunn’s shock thread, about using the car to put the shock together and take it apart. It shouldn’t be a problem.

The way I plan on setting it up, mine should have full thread coverage. The bearing will be directly in the middle with the mount around it like Saturn’s rings.

 

[Grog6]

A heavy buddy can help putting it back together; use their weight on the shock tower while you guide the top of the shock thru the hole. You need the stock washers to hold it together, especially with sport springs. I've collected a few of those washers; they are way stronger than anything you can buy elsewhere.

 

[jda95bird]

Finally getting somewhere. I had a coworker weld everything up for me. I dremeled out a large washer to fit over the bearing housing and those were welded together.

This was then put through the bottom of the shock mount and welded into place.

Then another washer was welded over the top for extra support.

Now I just need to slap a coat of paint on them.

 

[jda95bird]

After a coat of paint.

 

[Zep5.0]

Has anyone find a very close yellow to Bilstein stock color? I know it's dumb, but I'd like the front to match the rear. And maybe I'll need to just paint them both.

 

[jda95bird]

Are you talking about painting the donor shocks yellow?

 

[XR7-4.6]

Has anyone find a very close yellow to Bilstein stock color? I know it's dumb, but I'd like the front to match the rear. And maybe I'll need to just paint them both.

I’m shameless enough to bring one into a hardware store to compare cap shades to the shock body 😆 Could probably get pretty close, the 2X ultra rustoelum enamels are pretty good for suspension paint, they cure very durable and hard for rattlecan. Don’t spray them anywhere near anything you care about though, they also have the most obnoxious overspray of any rattlecan I’ve ever used too, mist gets everywhere and worst of all sticks to whatever it lands on even if it travelled 10 feet.

 

[CDsDontBurn]

Has anyone find a very close yellow to Bilstein stock color? I know it's dumb, but I'd like the front to match the rear. And maybe I'll need to just paint them both.

You can thank @jco1385 for these photos.