So on my wee fiesta I changed the whole suspension system which was easy enough but since then as I turn the wheel I hear the springs twanging. Hmm the top bearing was quite tight but didn't see anything about greasing it prior to fitting. Done this kind of jobs on other cars and this bearing has to be the worst design I've seen yet, cheap and nasty. Any ideas? I don't mind stripping it back down as it's all free and with new bolts...

Are you referring to the bearing on top of the suspension strut?

I've changed a few myself and likewise never seen any instruction to lubricate them in any way. Ordinarily they seem to have a pretty long service life and I assume are designed for any water to drain out via gravity.

There's usually a torque figure to tighten the nut to on the strut top. I'd imagine over-tightening it would put more load on the bearing and may make it wear faster.

Hmm never thought of that tbh, no didn't use a torque wrench just a modified spanner

Haynes manual for the 205 GTI gives:

Self-locking nut = 45nm
Crimped nut = 70nm

45nm oh... that's not tight at all

I suspect I am well above that, I used a tube extension.... Well I didn't have a manual at the time...silly me, glad I asked I did think the steering was a bit heavy, now I know why

Thanks very much

Might be worth slackening them off a bit and see if it helps.

I think many of the bearings contain caged ball bearings so hopefully the balls or surfaces are not damaged!

quote:

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Originally posted by nick205
Might be worth slackening them off a bit and see if it helps.

I think many of the bearings contain caged ball bearings so hopefully the balls or surfaces are not damaged!

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Fingers crossed!

Be sure to report back and let us know if clackeing it off helps resolve the issue.

Out of curiosity what's the mileage of the car and were other suspension parts/joints worn out?

Had exactly the same on my Jeep - I needed to grease the top bearings and not over tighten.

Mk 6 top mounts are of toffee, in normal use, well you know for me, and I changed 3 to date

Hmm - sounds like they're not so good then!

Tightening the nut can be awkward as the shock absorber strut can rotate while you try and tighten the nut. Often there's an Allen fitting in the top of the strut to allow you to overcome this if using an Allen key through a spanner though.

Macpherson struts normally have a shoulder on the piston so it shouldn't be possible to overtighten the nut and damage the top mount. They're also nylocs and from memory around 50lbft is about right for the ones I've seen.

But I have replaced umpteen top mount bearings because they've failed, sometimes after only a few hundred miles. There's loads of cheap parts out there, and they're not worth the effort. The one I did last on my Saab came out and sprinkled itself all over the floor, and it was maybe 1000 miles old? It was Eurocarparts 'middle' top mount, so not their cheapest one.

It got replaced with some that were Meyle branded and they're meant to be one of the best.

The other thing to check would be washers, it's often easy to miss one (or a previous owner to miss one), then the wrong things are sat against each other.

Make sure the nut is fully tightened otherwise it could end up looking like this.


Description

If you drop down the strut top it should only take hand pressure to turn against the spring, it should turn smoothly.
Another thing to check is the alignment of the top - it will bolt down in 3 orientations, on most strut tops only 1 of these is correct and the other 2 will misalign the top bearing. This should be marked into the top face of the strut mount with an arrow pointing front-rear as futted to the car.

Dave

well I checked it last night looking at the old parts and the design is such that the central nut does not influence the bearing pressure, only the spring pushes against it so still at a lose however I was thinking of inserting a 2mm rubber gasket between the spring and the plastic bearing housing, partly to increase grip but also to isolate the road noise a bit more as it's quite loud, I know you can get a lower one although that's to stop the springs snapping all the time...

I have a pair of new fiesta springs of unknown model rolling around garage if any use can send pics and measurement s if helpful FOC
atb
Mike

Thanks Mike for the offer, I don't think springs are the issue though as they are new, more they are slipping on the strut mount bearing for some reason, looking into it just now

Yes I figured that but I’m trying to clear space in the garage I might have to start making those chickens on Springs that you see in parks!
Atb
Mike