[s-cars] Front Strut Removal

[weski at verizon.net]

Thanks for all the input guys.  I checked with Chris at Force5 and he 
had the tool and shipped it to me.  It worked like a charm and I had the 
end-cap off in less than 2 minutes (I used an 18" .5" breaker bar plus a 
3' pipe extension.

Mike - thanks for the offer - I'm in Pittsburgh and Chris sent it to me 
plus a couple other parts I was needing to buy anyway so I was able to 
accomplish a couple repairs combined in Chris's shipment of the tool.

Josh - the cap is an original part of the strut mount housing and does 
not come with the new struts.  It's apparent purpose is to contain the 
strut housing to limit movement during extension.  So cutting it off is 
not an option unless you can source another cap - without the cap there 
isn't anything keeping the lower body of the new strut in the housing.  
Old and new struts are Koni adjustables so the cap is required.

Good comments on the cautions of using heat!  Safety can't be under 
estimated.

My next challenge was the old strut wouldn't come out of the strut 
housing even without anything holding it in place.  I tried penetrating 
oil for a couple days and gentle persuasion with a hammer on the 
housing.  Finally, I thought I'd try to use the weight of the car to pop 
it out - I reattached the strut to the top mount but didn't put the 
strut cap back on.  I then put the wheel and tire back on and jacked the 
car up high enough so that when I put my weight on the wheel and press 
down a few times the strut would extend to it's limits.  After about 5 
firm steps on the wheel the old strut popped out of the housing.  
Success at last.

Now off to clean things up, add a little oil to the housing prior to 
inserting new strut and maybe even using a little anti-seize to the top 
of the strut housing to keep the new strut from sticking there as much.

Thanks for all the help guys!  It's a simple job with the right tools as 
it usually is.  I should be able to complete the passenger side this 
afternoon and anticipate it only taking about an hour.

Paul
95 S6 - 270,000 miles and and riding smoothly once again


On 11/17/2015 10:28 PM, Joshua Van Tol wrote:
> If the new struts have new cap nuts, why don't you simply cut the old 
> ones off? You can use an angle grinder to thin down the cap in a 
> couple of places, then chisel it off, being careful not to bung up the 
> threads on the strut tubes.
>
> Alternately heat (oxy-acetelyene, propane or Mapp not hot enough) will 
> work. But as Cody warned, you can really start a conflagration with 
> shock oil and whatnot, so work fast and have a bucket of water and a 
> fire extinguisher handy.
>
> Josh
>
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: weski at verizon.net <mailto:weski at verizon.net>
>     Sent: Monday, November 16, 2015 7:00 PM
>     To: S-Car-List at audifans.com <mailto:S-Car-List at audifans.com>
>     Subject: [s-cars] Front Strut Removal
>
>     Patient is a 1995 S6 and I'm struggling with removing the strut
>     cap so I
>     can remove the front struts - Bentley says to use the VAG 2069 tool.
>     I've read that it can also be done with a large pipe wrench but
>     I've not
>     been able to get it to budge.
>
>     Any advice on where to pick up or borrow the correct tool or on how to
>     get this loosened?  I can't seem to find anyplace on-line that
>     sells the
>     2069 tool anymore - all NLA.  Should I get a 3' pipe for leverage
>     on the
>     pipe wrench?  Touch the collar to heat it up?  This weekend is my last
>     chance to get the suspension repaired and ready for winter since our
>     spare car goes into storage for the winter starting this Friday.
>
>     TIA,
>
>     Paul
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