Just ordered all four corners from Island 4x4. Don’t trust the Arnott units as there are loads of horror stories out there. Cost me £1620, but ho hum, it’s only money!

All four struts have arrived this morning. Any special tools needed to make the job easier?

15mm flexi head ratchet spanner Kev

MY2014 L405 RR Vogue SE 4.4 SDV8 in Corris Grey
MY2010 L320 RRS HSE 3.0 TDV6 in Stornoway Grey

Great, many thanks. I’ll post pics as I go. Should be sometime next week weather permitting!

Hi all, update time. Bought a nice shiny new set of Halfords lifetime warrantee flexible ratchet spanners yesterday. £70 for 12 different sizes. Very well made as I found out today. Used the 15mm flavour one for the top bolts, the back one being a real nightmare until I used the open end of another spanner on it to give me more leverage. Anyway, got all three off ok but could I get the bottom bolt to undo? Nah. No amount of leg muscle with my full weight behind it would shift it, and I couldn't use my trusty metal tube 'persuader' as there wasn't enough swing room at the top or bottom. What a difference this job would be with a proper vehicle lift! Anyway, I had to admit defeat in the end and put the top bolts back on. Anyone know what that bottom bolt is torqued up to? It's mighty tight. Looks like this is a job for my trusty local indie..

From memory that bolt is 300Nm Dave.

I used a breaker bar on mine and it undid no problem. Perhaps try wire brushing the threads and pre-soaking for a few days in WD-40. Kev

MY2014 L405 RR Vogue SE 4.4 SDV8 in Corris Grey
MY2010 L320 RRS HSE 3.0 TDV6 in Stornoway Grey

Ps. My breaker bar is a Sealey AK730. It's only about £12 and has got me out of a lot of sticky situations! I'd recommend it. Kev

MY2014 L405 RR Vogue SE 4.4 SDV8 in Corris Grey
MY2010 L320 RRS HSE 3.0 TDV6 in Stornoway Grey

Hi Kev, a suitable bar isn't my problem- it's the lack of swing room that's the issue.

These are expensive but effective. We have a more expensive one for use on aircraft and they are amazeballs.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-AK629-To....l4275.c10 2019 5.0 SC SVA (Current)
2012 5.0 SC AB. Sadly written off by a campervan
23 plate Focus ST (Current)
1942 VEP Ford GPW Jeep (Willys) (Current)
1943 Whites M16 Halftrack (Current)
16 plate Eurofighter Typhoon, 2 x Eurojet engines with 20,000lbs thrust each. 1380mph

Thanks for the tips chaps. Well, my local Indy doesn’t want to know and won’t fit the struts for me as he can’t make much money out of the job. Honest, if nothing else I suppose. Sooooo, I’m going to use a local rent-a-vehicle-lift service. They charge £100 for 9 hours on the lift, and I’d like to think I’ll get all four corners done in that time. I’ll buy the Sealey breaker bar and a six sided 24mm socket, so hopefully I’ll be better prepared this time!

Keep applying the penetration oil and you’ll get it at some point. I also find cursing and blaming everyone and everything bar ones self helps. 2019 5.0 SC SVA (Current)
2012 5.0 SC AB. Sadly written off by a campervan
23 plate Focus ST (Current)
1942 VEP Ford GPW Jeep (Willys) (Current)
1943 Whites M16 Halftrack (Current)
16 plate Eurofighter Typhoon, 2 x Eurojet engines with 20,000lbs thrust each. 1380mph

I’m good at all of that

Hi all, replaced all four corners today at a local rent-a-ramp garage. Only problem is that the plastic electrical connectors for each strut appear to be very brittle and two out of four were seized solid- had to break them to get them apart. At least one of the rears isn't connected properly now as I have the 'Adaptive suspension fault' dashboard message and the car's suspension feels very harsh. Anyone ever replaced these crappy connections before?

Brit Plumber wrote:

These are expensive but effective. We have a more expensive one for use on aircraft and they are amazeballs.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-AK629-To....l4275.c10

Far canal .. you're not wrong about expensive! Is there room in there to get a windy gun on the bottom nut? I know Dave has cracked it now, I'm just wondering ahead of time for when I'm doing the job I have a choice of Ingersoll Rand air gun or Makita battery gun (bigger than the IR, probably more clout).


Anyhoo - on the connections; assuming they aren't carrying large current then grab yourself a set of SuperSeal connectors from somewhere like 12 Volt Planet (https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/superseal-w...eries.html) or AES (https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/42). If they're carrying >14A then get some 2.8mm SuperSeal (https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/43/category/7)

Grab a decent ratchet crimper designed for them, too (both places sell them) and maybe a spare connector as you might need a little practice to get them right (watch the videos if you've never done one before!)

Brilliant connectors and designed for automotive use where water-tightness is a requirement and, once you get the knack of the crimping, dead easy to make up. 2014 BMW 530d Touring, 2006 BMW 650i, 2018 Mini Cooper S

Ok great, many thanks! I’ve ordered them and they arrived this morning. Look very fiddly though- I’m not sure I’ll be able to use them as there’s very little room to get my hands in.