Shock absorber strut — disassembly and assembly (Hyundai Elantra J1)

Disassembly

Remove the dust cover.

Clamp the front strut in a vice.

Using the special tool, compress the spring (1) so that it moves away from the top. When using a spring compressor, make sure that the spring coils are securely gripped and that the spring is compressed from opposite sides.







While holding the upper spring cup with a special key, loosen the nut.



Remove the strut damper support.

Remove the top cup and spring cover.

Remove the protective cover (1).

Remove the compression stroke buffer (2).



Remove the spring.



Remove the spring compressor.

Examination

Check the shock absorber components.



Check the smoothness of the piston rod movement during full compression and extension. Check for oil leaks through the rod seal and welds.

The rod must not have any deformations, cracks or other damage. Replace or repair the shock absorber if necessary.

Upper support of the rack

There should be no cracks or other signs of destruction on the rubber elements. The rubber should not peel off.

Thrust bearing

When the bearing rotates, there should be no extraneous noise or excessive axial play. If necessary, replace the bearing (1).

Coil spring

Check the spring for deformation, cracks and other damage. Replace the spring if necessary.

Note: The springs on the front suspension must be of the same class.

When installing, the spring must be installed as shown in the photo.

Assembly

Assembly is carried out in reverse order, taking into account the following:

After compressing the coil spring, use a special device to pre-tighten the self-locking nut.

Align the holes in the lower and upper strut spring support cups (some models). This job is easily done using a piece of pipe (1) as shown in the figure.



Correctly align the two end coils of the spring with the grooves in the upper and lower cups, and then loosen the spring compressor.



Tighten the self-locking nut to the specified torque using the fixture.