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Front Strut Replacement

These are the details of how I changed the front struts in my HR31 GTS-X Skyline

(There are quite a few photos missing from this story, as I was too frustrated to think about taking pics!)

After removing the strut insert in the usual manner, this is what I found...

An old KYB Excel-G  insert...

Jolly good, I thought, as that's what I had just purchased from Burson's Automotive!
(for the early struts which mine were, not the later Torkio)

In order from the top down:

Old KYB insert, new KYB insert, old insert from other pair of struts(KYB New SR Special) ,and the stock electronic controlled insert.

There was a slight problem however...

In order from top down::

Old KYB insert, New KYB insert, KYB New SR Special, Stock electric insert. This pic was taken with the bottoms of the inserts lined up, as in the above pic...

Note the difference in shaft lengths, and body lengths, and also the difference in the tops of the shafts!

Below are the new KYB, old KYB from spare strut, and an old Aussie R31 insert I had laying around..

 
Not the difference in bottom "cup" bits. The new KYB has an extended cup, the spare insert has a shallow cup, and the R31 insert has a small solid cup! The New and Spare KYB's have an identical top of the body, but the Spare KYB is roughly 20mm longer! Note the R31 strut with its right angle body top - this is why R31 inserts don't fit in an HR31...

And check out the bottom of a stock electronic strut insert!

I found the corresponding "castle" in the bottom of the actual strut housing body! Are there aftermarket strut bodies!?!?!?!??!??!? The castle bit in the bottom of the body didn't seem to be removable, and the other strut bodies had a corresponding hole to seat the "cups" on the other inserts!
Note the 3 small holes in the bottom. These struts were filled with oil (hence the O-ring on the top) and the electrics vary the vaulving internally -soft-medium-hard.

Next up were the retaining (or Gland) nuts that hold the insert into the body.
KYB supply two different nuts with the inserts, neither of which are the correct thread pitch.

And check out the different hole sizes! Both the new nuts had the large hole. The old one is from a stock electric insert.

Below is a pic of the underneath side of the old nut.
These let the insert bang around in the strut body...

These were the nuts that fitted over the shaft, and had the correct thread.
Note the extended length of the nut, and the O-ring seal in them. This seal slides down the shaft of the insert, holding it tight in the strut body.

After all that was figured out, then the strut top hats became an issue!!
All these top hat bits run an actual ball bearing race under them, which I got new ones for the job.
 This makes them far stiffer than the Aussie  R31's rubber tops.

Larger hole with slight "D" shape...

Small hole...

Small hole with pronounced "D" shape...

Now these aren't the best pics, but if you look closely, you will notice that the 4 small spot welds, are in different spots, so these are not re-drilled.
What this means is there is obviously several different top hats!!!!

After all that, I was glad the I was able to select all the right parts, and get the passenger side done!
Then there was the driver's side....

Long story short, I couldn't get one of the gland nuts off the strut I was going to use, so I'll just use another strut body, I thought.
What I found out was that I actually had 2 spare passenger side struts!!

I had to cut the top of the strut off, and weld a new piece on from another strut. Nothing like destroying two struts to make one.........

Now I made sure that I measured it correctly before I did any cutting, so there's no questions there.......
 

BUT...

Excuse the crappy Paint drawing, but this is what I ended up with (somehow)

I couldn't understand why this was so, due to me triple checking the measurements before cutting!
Maybe I had two different types of strut bodies? I still don't know the reason....

I solved this by using big washers to pack under the "top nut on insert shaft" (as shown above) Not an ideal solution, but it seems to work! It now rides much better in the front end, feeling more stable on rough roads and uneven surfaces,etc.

This has all been condensed into one page, but let me assure you it was not fun at all, and took over a week to sort out.
The end result is well worth all the effort though.

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