Am changing the strut inserts on the wifes 91 740 tomorrow and have a question I'm embarrassed to bring up but here goes. The new inserts (Boge) have a restraining strap in place to limit upward travel of the piston shaft. At what point in the procedure is this strap usually cut? When cut, is the piston gona shoot out and be difficult to retract? Like I said, stupid question. Thanks in advance

bl

To paraphrase someone else's wisdom, "You're never stupid for asking a question. The REAL stupid people are those who: a) never change their minds b) never ask questions."

Now forgive me if THIS question seems stupid, but... You do you have the spring compressors necessary to safely remove the coil spring, right?
(I only ask because I know someone who planned to do this job on his car but did not know that the springs needed to be compressed first. He thought he'd just remove the strut/spring assembly, then remove the nut! It could have been catastrophic.)

Again, sorry if my question is silly. But I'd rather be safe (and silly), than sorry.

Good luck.

Jeff Pierce





--
'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)

Thanks guys for the info! Yes, I have the spring compressor in my hot little hand. Didn't get to the job today as planned due to an ice storm here in the east and figured as soon as I started the power would go off as it was coming and going all morning. The last strut work I did was back in the 80's of which I remember little to nothing but do remember it was pretty straight foreward once the spring was compressed. Thanks again to both of you guys!

bl

Cut the strap as soon as you get ready to install, the strap is only to make the shock fit in the box; the shaft won't come out very fast, and you can push it back without too much strain, though you won't need to.