Front Suspension Strut - Overhaul - Opel Kadett Owner's Manual

3.5a Sectional view of front hub
A Outboard circlip B Inboard circlip
4 Remove the brake disc shield.
5 Remove the two circlips (see illustrations)
and press or drive the bearing outer races out
of the steering knuckle.
6 If the bearing inner race stayed on the hub,
press or pull it off.
7 Fit the outboard circlip to its groove in the
steering knuckle so that the ends of the circlip
will point downwards when the strut is
installed.
8 Press the new bearing into position, acting
only on the outer race, until it contacts the
outboard circlip.
9 Fit the inboard circlip, again with the ends
pointing downwards.
4.6b Removing the strut ring nut
3.5b Removing a hub bearing circlip
10 Refit the brake disc shield.
11 Support the bearing inner race with a tube
and press the hub into position.
12 Refit and secure the brake disc.
13 Refit the suspension strut as described in
Section 2.
4 Front suspension strut -
overhaul
Warning: Before attempting to
dismantle the front/rear
suspension strut a suitable tool
to hold the coil spring in
compression must be obtained Adjustable
coil spring compressors are readily
available and are recommended for this
operation. Any attempt to dismantle the
strut without such a tool is likely to result
in damage or personal injury.
1 Remove the suspension strut (Section 2).
2 Clamp the strut in a vice. Fit the spring
compressor and tighten it to unload the
pressure on the upper seat.
3 Hold the flats on the piston rod to stop it
rotating and unscrew the piston rod nut. A 19
mm ring spanner with a deep offset will be
needed.
4 Remove the top mounting and ball-bearing.
5 Carefully release the spring compressor.
Remove the spring seat, guide ring, damper
ring and bellows, followed by the spring itself.
On later models also remove the rubber
damping ring.
4.7 Removing the shock absorber
cartridge
Suspension and steering 10•5
4.6a One method of unscrewing the strut
ring nut
6 To remove the shock absorber cartridge,
unscrew the ring nut from the top of the strut
tube. This nut is very tight: one way of
undoing it is to invert the strut so that the nut
is clamped in the vice, then levering the strut
round using a long bar and a bolt passed
through the steering eye (see illustrations).
7 With the ring nut removed, the cartridge
can be withdrawn and the new one fitted (see
illustration). Secure it with a new ring nut,
tightened to the specified torque. Do not
clean the wax off the new nut.
8 Refit the rubber damping ring (where fitted)
then compress the spring and refit it. (Strictly
speaking it can be left in place when renewing
the cartridge, but unless special tools are
available for dealing with the ring nut, it will be
too much in the way.)
9 Lubricate the top mounting ball-bearing
with grease to GM spec 19 41 574. (The
bearing cannot be renewed independently of
the mounting) (see illustration).
10 Fit the top mounting to the strut piston
rod, making sure that the lower thrustwasher
is fitted with the raised edge upwards (see
illustration). Hold the piston rod still and fit a
new self-locking nut; tighten the nut to the
specified torque.
4.9 Lug on spring seat (arrowed) points
forwards on LH strut, rearwards on RH
strut
10