How easy is it to compress new struts??
 

Just pulled my old strut out, mount seems OK but i guess it's hard to tell. You can see where it compresses a bit as the weight goes on the strut.

How easy should it be to compress the strut piston? I can fully stroke it in under 1/2 second, however to pull it back out (in rebound) it takes several seconds. Is it knackered or is it normal to be much stiffer in rebound?

Matt

Rebound is the most important aspect of damper action and is usually set considerably higher. What was the fault that required removal of the strut?

if you can pull the strut up fairly easily... Your struts are blown.. also if you push them all the way down and they just sit tight.. they are blown

Tom

Well, I CAN pull it up, just takes around 5 seconds. But in bump it compresses very fast, like i said, less than a second, and stays down.
SHOULD it compress down that fast or should it take a few seconds to compress it as well?

Trevor: I suspected that the shocks were a bit knackered. Also it is starting to get a bit of knocking noise in the front suspension which has been known to come mostly from the front strut mounts, so I wanted to visually inspect them. They are not visibly falling to bits, but they are originals from '92 and I can see where they compress a bit when the weight of the car come on them. I have replaced struts in other cars before and I don't remember the struts being that easy to compress.

Matt

I have presumed that, as you appear to be compressing by hand, we are talking here about the telescopic dampers without the springs, even though the complete assembly in fact constitutes a strut . :confused:

Yes, otherwise you could call me Heracles! I was using the american vocab...

Matt

Gotcha ;) :D Like wheels are rims, hubs are wheels and spokes are nowhere to be seen. :confused: :eek:

Unless you happen to own an E-type.....

Matt

If you push the tube down, and it does not come back up on it's own...the strut is toast:(

Thanks all. Ordering today.

Lower rear spring mounts are wrong!
 

You won't believe this:
After checking my rear ride height, which I've always been suspicious of, and in conjunction with checking things out for my new struts, I have found that sometime in the past the rear lower rubber spring mounts have been replaced with something in plastic that only goes part way around the spring seat and completely messes up the seating of the spring!! No wonder the ride height was all wrong! Unbelieveable. I only hope the spring itself is not damaged.

Matt