shock absorber tube links

[vic]

I recently had to buy a replacement tube link.It's an after market copy and took quite a bit of fettling to make it slide between the two balls.My problem now is to make it fit over the two balls as I cant compress the internal spring to even get it started.....any suggestions welcome ?
Vic

[Chris H]

Hi Vic,

Sorry that I can't provide any help here, as I had the same problem. I worked at it for hours, trying every method that I could think of, only to find the bearing cups laying on the ground when I finished. I even went so far as applying super glue to the bearing cups in an attempt to keep them on the springs. (No, it didn't work either!) All I can do is to commiserate with you on this one. I found it to be extremely frustrating. I hope you find an answer, and will be watching so that, hopefully the same method will work for me. Good luck!

[Brian T]

Originally Posted by vic

I recently had to buy a replacement tube link.It's an after market copy and took quite a bit of fettling to make it slide between the two balls.My problem now is to make it fit over the two balls as I cant compress the internal spring to even get it started.....any suggestions welcome ?
Vic

Hello Vic,
I struggled with the same problem, remove the arm from the shock and lay it flat on the bench, fit the link down onto the arm, take the arm and link over to the car holding it with the link upright and push it onto the perch ball, you made still need to still use a little help to push it on, the secret is keeping the link upright, then refit the arm to the shock.

[pgerhardt]

If getting the shock links on is extremely difficult then something must be wrong. After all they were installed on a moving assembly line with only a limited time allotted for the job. On my 29 tudor three of the four went on easily using grease to "glue" the parts in position. On the fourth one I experienced all the terrible trouble described above. The problem was a burr that was left on the inside of the tube during manufacture. This burr kept the spring, spacer, and lower cup from sliding all the way down to the lower ball. It was then impossible to compress the spring (that was up too high) enough to slip the cup under the upper ball. Taking the tube down to my workshop and using my Dremel tool to remove the burr solved the problem. It then went on as easy as the other three.

[Mitch//pa]

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Originally Posted by pgerhardt

If getting the shock links on is extremely difficult then something must be wrong. After all they were installed on a moving assembly line with only a limited time allotted for the job. On my 29 tudor three of the four went on easily using grease to "glue" the parts in position. On the fourth one I experienced all the terrible trouble described above. The problem was a burr that was left on the inside of the tube during manufacture. This burr kept the spring, spacer, and lower cup from sliding all the way down to the lower ball. It was then impossible to compress the spring (that was up too high) enough to slip the cup under the upper ball. Taking the tube down to my workshop and using my Dremel tool to remove the burr solved the problem. It then went on as easy as the other three.

Thats exactly what Vince said previously on other threads...

Agree use grease along with the proper angle so the pieces stay put and they pretty much go right on...