Sport Spring/Strut Combo Confirmation

[wagnerf15]

I have read hundreds of old posts, and they all seem to indicate that the combo of IE Stage 1 springs and Bilstein Sport Struts will cause the spring to be unseated with strut out of car. Mine seems to be 3/4 - 1" off the perch when fully assembled and I'm way too anal to put this in the car without some kind of further reassurance as to it's future road-worthiness. Anyone want to help out a fighter pilot transitioning to the world of 2002s? Thanking you in advance.......

[BillWilliams]

even if he is not Army :-) My son, 11 Bravo, always appreciated air cover - so many thanks!

I have not used IE springs but HRs are short too. I have used safety wire to hold the upper perch and the spring together when the car is lifted. I use normal safety wire and safety wire pliers like you use on .50 cals.

Father of SGT Nathan Williams

Operation Iraqi Freedom 2005-2006

This is a "postcard" many of us signed and sent to him in Baghdad. I made him promise to bring it back to me and he did. It hangs in my shed today.

[Marty]

Your fine just like they are but you'll need to make sure the end of the spring fits into it's little indent in the spring perch every time you let the car down off the jack which is a pain in the ass, I slotted my spring perch and used hose clamps to keep the springs seated same idea as Bills but I wasn't smart enough to figure it out just drilling a hole.

[wagnerf15]

Tell your son thanks from the F-15 drivers of the world. We love the army....can't win the war without boots on the ground. In fact, unless you sit in their bar and drink their booze, the war goes on forever.

Think I'll follow the safety wire advice. Can that wire keep the strut compressed enough to keep the perch seated on the spring? If so, that seems like a good fix. Thanks

[BillWilliams]

and yes to your question.

[bianchini]

that hummer needs a drop! haha

[BillWilliams]

squad's vehicles.

Look closely at the grill area.

[citizenchan]

LOL awesome. This must be the H1 concept.

[Emyers]

What Bill said....

Earl

Snake driver AH-1F

[SRC60]

Do you also drill and safety wire the spring to the lower seat? If not, it seems the spring would just lift and unseat at the bottom and could get mis-aligned. I'm assembling my struts now and I too have a 'loose' spring. I'm concerned about lifting a wheel either by hitting a bump or cornering and having the spring unseat and get mis-aligned in one of the seats.

TIA, Steve

[wagnerf15]

Here are the pictures of my strut, based on the recommendations of BillWilliams. Some light drilling and safety wire work and it seems to hold just fine. I suppose all it does when unloaded is keep the shock slightly compressed since it's obviously not working against the spring. Fairly easy, elegant solution.

[wagnerf15]

well, i tried to add pictures, let me try again. BTW, I did top and bottom for the exact reason you questioned...

[wagnerf15]

All right, I can't get a picture to load for some reason. But it worked well anyway!!!!