XKR Suspension Repair

So after a little a little looking around I managed to find a supplier that had everything I need in in stock. I ordered them from British Parts uk . I was a little confused over some of the part selection options as it says things like XKR and not the R option? Apparently the R option is the Brembo brakes upgrade which my car has and also the CATS suspension option. The CATS option means you need to be very careful when removing the nut on top of the damper. You use an Allen key to hold the shaft still while undoing the nut. The problem there is that inside the shaft is the two pins for the electrical connection and they can be easily damaged if you push the Allen key in too far! So after a couple of days waiting for shipping the following items arrived

New parts
New parts

The strut with the broken spring and spring pan was relatively easy to disassemble due to the break. I decided to assemble the replacement prior to removing the other side. I spent a few hours struggling with my spring compressors to do the job. Due to the length of the spring and the fact it tapered in as it went down I just could not get enough compression to put the strut & spring assembly together. Then I had an idea, my local garage Station Garage are very helpful and willing to help out. I removed the other strut and dropped everything off for them to do it for me. They are always extremely busy however I was not in a rush. A couple of days later I got the call that they were ready for collection. They agreed that the taper caused a bit of an issue but they managed it and only charged a token amount. Many, Many, Thanks guys.

assembled struts
Assembled struts

At the weekend I got to work putting it all back together. It went together fairly easily to be honest, I thought it was going to be a bit of a pig but pretty straight forward. I have also replaced one of the damper bushed at the rear and the other side needs replacing too. Just ran out of time and energy 🙂

Till next time