How-to-guide
With the vehicle on a two post lift, raise the vehicle to a comfortable working height and remove the road wheel. Before undertaking any removal of the faulty or worn shock absorber, check that the replacement part received is identical to the one being removed. Once satisfied, remove the old part by removing any ancillary items attached to the strut. Apply releasing agent to the lower fixing bolt and remove the bolt. Apply releasing agent to the joint between the suspension strut base and the suspension arm, then carefully tap the arm until the suspension strut is released from the mounting.
From within the engine bay, undo the top mount fixing bolt with a suitable tool and remove. Lower suspension strut down within the wheel arch and remove. Place strut assembly into a spring compression tool and compress the spring accordingly. Once compressed sufficiently, proceed to remove the top bush with a suitable tool from the shock absorber and remove the suspension strut from within the spring.
With the new suspension strut, place the new protection kit over the piston rod and insert the suspension strut into the compressed spring aligning the base of the spring to the correct position in the spring seat. Fit the new mounting bush. Loosely tighten by hand and do a final alignment of the spring within its seat. Once correctly aligned, tighten the top nut to the correct torque setting as specified by the vehicle manufacturer.
Remove the strut assembly from the spring compressor, reposition into the wheel arch and attach the top mount within the engine bay. Align correctly within the wheel arch and insert into the bottom mounting on the arm, ensuring correct alignment with the bolt hole. Replace the bolt and torque in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. Reattach the ancillary components and torque up the top mount. Now reattach the road wheel and torque fixing nuts in accordance with manufacturers’ recommendations. The job is now complete.
Nice-to-know
ZF Aftermarket product range
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