if you have GCs and Koni look here now!

[CougarGuy1802]

i would also like to add the vehicle is not lower by the height of the nut, the way its designed prevents this.

[Drewmanfu0]

I think the nuts were installed wrong. The bottom nut is thinner than the top nut, the bottom nut is supposed to be in there and there is supposed to be a small gap in the strut tower, about half the width of a penny to allow the strut angle to change when the wheel is turned. You may end up having to replace a set of koni's due to bent upper shafts in a few months.

[blu_fuz]

That gap you had was not because of the nut holding the spring to the struts. It is because your upper rubber cone is worn and possibly inverted some. I have pictures of what an inverted one looks like, I will post them soon. It is caused by too much weight focused on such a small area. The top hat of the coilovers is supporting the entire corner weight of the car. The original suspension puts pressure on the outer edges of top mount not in the center like the top hat of the coilovers. I would recommend putting that nut back on, but that's just me.....

[CougarGuy1802]

yea i have a feeling im gonna putting the nut back on after i get my new konis. i dont wanna bust a strut rod. thats a potential safety concern.

[ironworker]

Originally Posted by blu_fuz

That gap you had was not because of the nut holding the spring to the struts. It is because your upper rubber cone is worn and possibly inverted some. I have pictures of what an inverted one looks like, I will post them soon. It is caused by too much weight focused on such a small area. The top hat of the coilovers is supporting the entire corner weight of the car. The original suspension puts pressure on the outer edges of top mount not in the center like the top hat of the coilovers. I would recommend putting that nut back on, but that's just me.....

I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT PIC MAN..THATS PROLLY MY PROBLEM, I'VE GOT LIKE A 1/4 INCH GAP IN MINE...

[Blackcoog]

Originally Posted by ironworker

I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT PIC MAN..THATS PROLLY MY PROBLEM, I'VE GOT LIKE A 1/4 INCH GAP IN MINE...

Gaps are from worn upper mounts. It happens on the stock suspension when it's worn out as well.

[blu_fuz]

I posted this in CEG too:

I want to revive this because you should not be removing that spring compression nut. This is an explination why your top plate on the strut tower lifts up. The rubber isolator hat above the top hat bearings is what causes this to happen. The hat starts to crush into itself lifting the plate on top of the strut tower. This happens because of improper weight distribution on that rubber isolator. The GCs top hat/bearings puts a point load in that isolator that is really meant to be distributed along the outer edge of the isolator, not the center section.

You need to change the isolator, not remove the nut even though to the "untrained" eye even in my pics it looks as if the nut is holding the plate up. IT'S NOT
Look at before and after pics below:
before:






See this height difference of the old isolator on the left and the new one on the right:

[CougarGuy1802]

that does make perfect sense. also the part number for the top nut is the same as the other nut.