Fitting Upper strut brace .. jacked up or not ?

[markinnz]

Since I have the front of the car off (headlight bulb and de-gunking the air conditioning vent) I may as well fit the upper and lower strut braces, but before I offer any more blood to the gods I want to make sure I get the process right :-)

When taking the bolts off the top of the suspension should the car be jacked up or have its weight on the wheels ? I don't want to turn the last thread on the bolt and the car collapses :-)

Thanks!

[Mad smart person]

Greetings, I'd suggest jacking the wheels off the ground, by taking the first nut of the top of the strut (the nut you access behind the head light) you won't have the spring wizz past your ear, as there's a second nut holding the shock together. You may have luck with the drivers side nut but I'd suspect you'll have fun undoing the nut on the left. I'd suspect you'd need to spend a bit of dosh on a wheel alignment after.
Cheers, Ian.

[markinnz]

Thanks!

If the wheels drop off I'm blaming you! :-)

I'll be getting an alignment done shortly anyway, some new bushs are being installed and I'll get new tyres at the same time.

[tolsen]

Invest in a TrackAce laser wheel alignment tool and you'll recover your investment on the first job. It is a fantastic tool and more accurate than professional tools used by garages.

[Evilution]

I recently bought a TrackAce to track the front of a crashed 451 CDI that I bought and am fixing, I'm encouraged to see you recommend it Tolsen. I previously bought a Gunson gauge that you roll the car over which is a bit fiddly.

[tolsen]

I came accross TrackAce when searching for parts for my own alignment tool which I found was exactly the same setup as TrackAce. Unfortunately I was several years too late since Terry Grogan, the designer of TrackAce, had already patented his tool.

I then bought TrackAce and instead spent a few hours making another laser tool to complement TrackAce. My tool allows me to get steering wheel quickly and easily centred so the car drives straight.

[Evilution]

Looking at the TrackAce, it's a good idea but isn't it aligning one wheel with the other, not necessarily aligned straight on when the steering wheel is centred?
I think I'll use my Gunson roll-over gauge 1st to align 1 wheel and then use the TrackAce to align the other wheel to the 1st.

[tolsen]

TrackAce measures total toe as do most tracking gauges. Tracking gauges capable of doing toe for each wheel cost several thousand pounds.

[nickkimbel]

I have fitted mine with two front wheels in the air, used the shock removing tool to hold the shock when and popped in the upper strap brace and here we are. There was no need for me to use a trackace as all wheels are straight and the car is not pulling anywhere when driving. Aw the wheel is straight

[tolsen]

The 450 is unique in that it is blessed having its steering ball joints separated from steering track rod ends. Changing steering and front suspension components* other than track rod ends do therefore result in only minor changes in tracking. All is most likely fine if your steering wheel is straight and car does not pull to one side.

Having tracking checked from time to time is still something i recommend. TrackAce is the perfect tool for that purpose. It is relatively cheap costing only about £65 and small enough to fit 50 of them in the boot of your smart.

*) There is one exception: Fitting aftermarket front wishbones will screw up both your tracking and camber.