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Bilstein HDstruts in a 1990 240

bremms

bremms

New member
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Location
Columbia,SC
I put Bilstein HD front struts in 1990 240. My issue is, the gland nut only engages about 4 threads. This seems to be a common issue in new 240 struts. I was going to either mod the strut tubes or make a tool to machine the the seat in the strut tube about 3-4mm So There would be more thread engagement. Even carefully welding the gland nut in place is an option since I'll never be changing them out again.



Options;


1. Leave as is and not worry about it.


2. Cut the strut tube and extend it 6 mm to fully engage the threads


3. Machine the seat down about 3-4mm with a one off cutting tool.


4. Cutting out the ring and making a spacer the goes down to the ball joint mount


5. Weld the nut little by liittle being careful to not heat up the strut.


6. Finding earlier struts that have proper fitment.

To be fair, I did have a late 1988 240 that I installed Bilsteins on and never had an issue despite the gland nut engagement.
 
You can get strut tube/spindles from earlier 240 with removable spacer. A lot people run the hds like that and it seems to be fine.
 
Its fine with engagement as is as long as you can torque it with no problems. the second best option is shortening the housing on the bilstein so the gland nut engages more.
 
I tried to fit orange DeCarbon strut inserts from a Turbo/GT to my '90 240 as well. They're just like Bilsteins. The tubes had the integrated spacer in the bottom, nothing I could do about that, so I swapped in older tubes. Easy on a non-ABS car. I don't recall the gland nuts engaging more than a couple of threads and it definitely didn't look like it would work, so we stopped and put the old stuff back in til I got a pair of tubes. I believe JohnMc put Bils in his '93 with the gland nuts partially engaged and had no issues.

I've had a gland nut loosen up before and the insert clunked til I found the issue and tightened it...but back then I had stock-diameter springs, so it was pretty easy to get a wrench in between the spring and tighten the nut. Now with 2.5" ID coilover springs, I'd have to take the strut apart to retighten the gland nut. So I'd rather have full thread engagement and be sure the nut is tight.
 
Looked at it and the insert looks like aluminum. I'm going to try and make a tool to machine the stop down 3-4mm. That should engage all the threads.
The gland nut will still protrude a little, but it will give another 4 turns of threads in the strut tube. If I really worried later I can swap them out for early ones.
 
I have them in my 91 240 non abs and yes the gland nut engages a few threads but no issues. I tightened em as much as I could with a pipe wrench.
 
As mentioned many people crush them in and it works for them. Personally, when I tried that with a non abs car that had the welded spacer. I ended up swapping the strut tubes like Towery.
 
Last edited:
OttoB said:
Lower end. At upper end there is small short sliding bush.

I also had to clean inside of strut tube with mop / flapwheel /and remove stickers and some paint. It is a tight fit.
Click to expand...

Its only a tight fit if you have bent strut tubes.
 
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