[Blasirl]

The fronts needed to be done as they were worn. The rears, I replaced just to make sure. They weren't bad, but I didn't want to find out they were bad in 10k miles and have to pull the shocks off again. Not that it's difficult on the rear.

I bought the mounts from rockauto, KYB for the rear ands Monroe for the front

I did not use camber bolts and don't believe they are necessary on stock springs.


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I forgot you went stock height. I have Eibach springs and the sport struts.

 

[southerncruze]

Hello all,
I had a shop install Bilstein B6 front struts yesterday on my 2013 Cruze Eco. Everything went well except the top cap/plate bottoms out on the large self locking nut on top of the strut and the cap does not rest on the struct tower. I did a lot of searching and others have similar problems with coil over installations, but I could find no post to why this happens or a solution.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have only put on a few miles since the installation, but ride quality and handling are greatly improved, the car has 55,000 miles on it and the original struts were worn out.

Thanks, Phil

 

[jt_trouble]

OP. Did you just reuse the OE spring on the fronts? Or did you buy the whole assembly?

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[southerncruze]

I used the stock Eco springs.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Did you replace the front strut mounts as part of the install? I did.

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[southerncruze]

Yes I used a new GM mount.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

The shop used the wrong nut. The nut that goes on top of the first strut plate is much thinner than the one I see under there. I managed to dig up a picture of the nut you're supposed to be using. The nut pointed in the picture is much thinner than the one I'm seeing on your strut.

 

[southerncruze]

Thanks Extreme,
They used the lock nut that came with Bilsteine's. I still have the flat nuts. I suppose the springs have to be compressed if I remove the lock nut to install the flat one while strut is in the car and can that be done without removing the hole strut?
Thank you for your help.

 

[Blasirl]

Just adding my $.02:

Since my Bilstein sport struts are warranted for life, I chose to purchase the rest of the needed parts that also has a lifetime warranty. Moog seems to be the only manufacturer to offer this warranty for the parts I needed.

You will need 2ea K160334 – these are the Cruze specific strut mounts – they are hard to locate for some reason, but the Moog Tech Hotline verified them for me.

You will need 2ea K150275 if you have standard struts – These are stock strut bellows (wrongly listed as strut mounts everywhere I looked), this is not needed if you have sport struts.

You will need 2ea K750519 – These are the end links

You will need 1ea K200843 – These are front sway bar bushings

I have no affiliation with DST, but Tammy was of great assistance in pricing and locating parts for me. I ended up purchasing just the Strut Mounts from DST as the others were cheaper on Amazon. This is the only place that seems to have access to these mounts.

Tammy Johnson
Customer Service Specialist
1-888-406-2330 - Live Chat Support

EDIT: Feel free to move this to a better position, it took me awhile to edit so it is interrupting a conversation.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Thanks Extreme,
They used the lock nut that came with Bilsteine's. I still have the flat nuts. I suppose the springs have to be compressed if I remove the lock nut to install the flat one while strut is in the car and can that be done without removing the hole strut?
Thank you for your help.

Yeah, the locknuts go on the top plate. The flat nuts go on the bottom plate. Springs do have to be compressed to replace that nut. Removing the whole strut is just two more bolts, so I'd just remove it.

The tough part is getting that nut tightened and the old one off. I'm not proud of my method, but it seems to have worked. Ideally, you want a special tool for that purpose (a strut nut tool). I ended up being able to sort of wedge a 15/16" wrench in there to get the original one off, and used a 15/16" socket with vice grips tightened around it to put it back on. A proper 24mm strut rod nut socket runs $50...

 

[Rivergoer]

A LOT of great work/info here from ExtremeRevolution and Blasirl. Will come in handy when time to replace shocks/struts. Thank you!

I vote for Sticky-fication...anyone second the motion?

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Done.

To add to my review, I was very happy to see how these performed when I was towing my boat. I have a 14' Aluminum boat that weighs about 900 pounds boat + trailer. Since last year, I've added these shocks, a rear sway bar, front and rear upper strut tower bars, and a rear lower chassis bar.

The improvement in towing capability is incredible. The Cruze had no problem towing the boat before, but now, I don't even feel that the trailer is behind me. Even going over railroad tracks or big bumps, there is no "pogo" effect on the rear (due to the weight shift of the trailer), and the chassis remains very stable. I'm still very happy I spent the money on these shocks, and would encourage everyone else to save a little more and get these instead of OE replacements.

 

[southerncruze]

"Springs do have to be compressed to replace that nut. Removing the whole strut is just two more bolts, so I'd just remove it>"

Yea, that is why I had a shop do them, I don't' have a spring compressor or a tool to hold the strut and tighten the nut. Live and learn.

Thanks, Again

 

[southerncruze]

I wonder if I installed a Ultra Racing front tower brace to take up the gap between the tall self locking nut and the top plate if that would solve my problem or would the plate still bottom out on the nut?[h=1][/h]

 

[XtremeRevolution]

I wonder if I installed a Ultra Racing front tower brace to take up the gap between the tall self locking nut and the top plate if that would solve my problem or would the plate still bottom out on the nut?[h=1][/h]

I don't know. Others have installed these shocks without the problem you're running into. I don't think the UR front tower brace will fix it.

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[southerncruze]

Update on my Bilstein B6 structs. I took my car back to the shop that installed my struts. They removed the top plate and the large lock nut that came with the struts and installed the the thin stock nut to the top of the strut( as ExtremeRevolution suggested) and reinstalled the strut cap. They did not have to compress the springs , the weight of the car kept everything in place.

I highly recommend these shocks/struts, they make a remarkable improvement in ride and handling

 

[boraz]

I bought new

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for the rears, did you reuse the old dustboot, buy new, or go without?

i reused the boot cuz it has that rubber bumpstop?? at the top....

i didnt expect the bumpstops to be there, mine arent in great shape, wouldve preferred to change them out at the same time, sigh.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

I reused the boot and bump stops on the rear.

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[wasney]

I found the Repair Manual for the shock and strut install and plan on ordering these this weekend. However, does anyone know the strut top nut torque is? I purchased the tool and would like to do a write up/how to. Not the one on the plate as that's in the repair instructions, but the nut under that on the mounts? Also, do they come with new shock absorber nuts? It calls for new ones.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

I found the Repair Manual for the shock and strut install and plan on ordering these this weekend. However, does anyone know the strut top nut torque is? I purchased the tool and would like to do a write up/how to. Not the one on the plate as that's in the repair instructions, but the nut under that on the mounts? Also, do they come with new shock absorber nuts? It calls for new ones.

Torque specs can be found here:

Chevrolet Cruze Repair Manual: Front Suspension - Suspension