Ohlins R&T Strut Failure

[r4dr]

Took a photo of the other side, in hindsight this looks pretty dodgy...

That's where the nut sits with the springs compressed and the camber plate stack on the base of the shaft? Something isn't right here.

[R1pilot]

Took a photo of the other side, in hindsight this looks pretty dodgy...

Mine has more engagement than that. The nut is fully seated on the threads.

[R1pilot]

Here is a picture of mine. I torqued the bolt to spec according to Ohlins’ instructions and marked the nut/shaft. I then proceeded to give it a quick extra bump with the impact to make sure, you can see the line doesn’t line up due to the extra torquing.

[R1pilot]

No idea why they came up upside down.

[Thoglan]

Hmm, looking at that makes mine look quite suspect. I'm not at home at the moment so don't have them on hand but perhaps there is a shim or something in mine that is not supposed to be there. Important to note I didn't actually install the ohlins/camber plates, they were installed by the previous owner and I hadn't touched them until now.

I think I am probably going to go the turner street camber plate route anyway. Mine are a few years old and done ~30,000km. My dampers were probably due for a refresh as well. Will do all the front bushings and convert to flat ride while everything is apart since I was looking for a reason to do that.

[R1pilot]

This is going to be hard to explain, but the GC plates have a sleeve that has quite a bug chamfer to accommodate a similar feature on the factory strut shaft I presume. The Ohlins on the other hand have a straight shoulder stepdown … the chamfer on the sleeve sits on that square stepdown.

I noticed this the second time I took them apart, so I never really paid attn to the factory struts before I threw them away.

My point is maybe the previous owner used a washer there and its pushing the strut up?

I completely disassembled the camber plates to see what could be wrong or whether they would come apart if the bearing failed as I was pretty paranoid, so I took pictures of every part. Here is the chamfer on the insert.

[Thoglan]

This is going to be hard to explain, but the GC plates have a sleeve that has quite a bug chamfer to accommodate a similar feature on the factory strut shaft I presume. The Ohlins on the other hand have a straight shoulder stepdown … the chamfer on the sleeve sits on that square stepdown.

I noticed this the second time I took them apart, so I never really paid attn to the factory struts before I threw them away.

My point is maybe the previous owner used a washer there and its pushing the strut up?

I completely disassembled the camber plates to see what could be wrong or whether they would come apart if the bearing failed as I was pretty paranoid, so I took pictures of every part. Here is the chamfer on the insert.

Thank you for that, I think you might be right. I pulled it all apart last night and can't quite remember but I think there might have been a washer underneath like you say. Will have a look tonight.

[eacmen]

Not sure if it helps but these are the Ohlin r&t kit with vorshlag plates. I didn’t assemble or install them, they came with the car.

[R1pilot]

Thoglan, let me know if you do not have the Ohlins instructions. I cant take pictures and upload them.

[zzyzx85]

Not sure if it helps but these are the Ohlin r&t kit with vorshlag plates. I didn’t assemble or install them, they came with the car.

it looks like the nylon is barely engaged 😬

[eacmen]

it looks like the nylon is barely engaged 😬

Its close but they both are engaged.

In a different thread someone had posted an idea of using a belleville conical lock washer on the diff bolt. This might be another good application for that style lock washer.

[Thoglan]

Its close but they both are engaged.

In a different thread someone had posted an idea of using a belleville conical lock washer on the diff bolt. This might be another good application for that style lock washer.

I was just gonna turn down the nut on the lathe so that it better engaged the nyloc, or buy different camber plates

[eacmen]

I was just gonna turn down the nut on the lathe so that it better engaged the nyloc, or buy different camber plates

Could also get two thin nuts from mcmaster and use them as jam nuts. This it what JRZ does on their struts.

[cobra]

I would get a standard height hex nut and a Nord-Lock washer underneath it. Or... locktite that bitch in there.

The strut itself is pretty burnished - it could be bent. I would disassemble it and check the tube for straightness by rolling it on a flat plate (granite or glass). I think these are only lubricated with grease so it could probably use a rebuild anyway.

[Smgto6mt]

I wouldn't consider this a mark against the ohlins, this was install error and something that in hindsight I should have been more aware of. I will likely pair with a different set of camber plates or turn down the top nuts on the lathe to ensure the nyloc is engaged properly. I believe the turner street plates are common to run with ohlins.

Why not just source a locking nut that's not as tall?