Just bought a 93 350 4X4, the struts were shot. Bought some Kimpex pro gold for replacement. I installed them but now I'm wondering if I dropped them in too deep in the strut holder? There's about 2 inches before the spring touches the upper mount. I guess I'll just put some weight on the front end and tighten the two lower bolts. I just wasn't sure about this, and I didn't want to restrict the front end suspension and more importantly I didn't want to do this job twice. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Monty

 

Ok, installed struts, although the right strut wouldn't go in strut holder very well. Pried it in . When done steering seemed to be a bit tight. Put it in gear, GRIND. I'm assuming something popped out of the axle. What now?I guess the first thing is to release the tension from the strut. Should I take off the rotor assembly or remove the boot to see what's going on? It makes sense now on why that strut was so hard to insert.

 

you will have to pull the hub off, and take the a-arm loose from the ball joint, then slide the axle out of the strut housing and take the boot off to slide the splined end of the axle back into the piece that slides into the strut housing. before you put it back together make sure you get the spring clamp that was installed at the factory on the end of the splined piece out of the the piece that slides into the strut housing if it's still in there. stick your finger down inside that big pivoting bearing to see if it's down inside there. holler back if your confused. oh yeah, the strut should sit all the way down in the strut assembly. your tight steering could be from tightening those bushings at the top of the strut back up. they get worn and loose from wear and tear over the years and when you replace the struts you pull everything tight again. if not it's probably from the axle binding where it pulled out from the other piece.

 

I wish I'd gotten the dealer to change them $@#*% struts! I removed that retaining ring clip and peeled the boot. A ball pops out. This was not a problem, reinserted. but spline was damaged. I heard a grinding sound when I put in gear, this caused the damage on the spline. The end and about an inch up the spine was gouged pretty good. I filed the spline end the best I could and I finally managed to get it back in there with some hammer tapping. It's a pretty tight fit. Does this spline need to move in and out freely or am I going to have more problems? I was also wondering why this shaft would spin like that in 2 wheel drive. What do you guys do to replace that retaining clip properly on that boot? Call the dealer I guess on that one.

 

the clip i'm talking about was installed at the factory and goes on the end of the splined shaft. you don't need to replace it just make sure it's not still down inside that bearing the splined shaft slides into. that shaft is supposed to slide in and out so it must be buggered up pretty good. if one of those ball bearings fell out of that big bearing i don't know if thats going to cause problems for you or not. it sounds like you may have to buy a whole new shaft anyway so let it ride and maybe it will be ok. i hope you don't have to get a new one there about 250, 275. you might be able to get one cheaper off of ebay. that shaft will spin if it's not in awd or if it's not in gear or moving. as for the boot clamp, you can re-use it. use a pair of pliers to squeeze it back together. you will see some raised peices on there that you get a hold of with the pliers and squeeze them together while you push down on the end of the clamp so it slides over the raised part. hope that makes sense to you. you might get lucky and the splined shaft will loosen up after you ride it for a while.

 

well, got everything back together, except that damn boot clamp.Tried for a couple of hours. Went for a little burn. Wow what a difference. Ride is not in the same league as my Outlander but it's not bad either. It has decent power for a 350 2 stroke. I see that I'll be well acquainted with my grease gun in the future.There's nipples everywhere! What is the rule of thumb regarding greasing? I assume every time you drive in water you should grease the axles? Thanks for the advice Rieds. Monty

 

yeah that's pretty much the rule of thumb. i usually hit mine three times a year wether i've been in water or not.