Originally posted by h22avid
First slip your strut up into the strut tower and put the two bolts on loosely not tight yet....then slip the fork onto the bottom of the strut and don't put the pinch bolt in yet because you'll want to line up your strut before tightening it...once you get the fork on the strut allign the holes through the fork with the lca and shimmie or lightly hammer the bolt through while doing the shimmie with the hub/rotor too...put the nut loosely on the other side of the bolt through the fork....now everything should be in loosely....shimmie the strut to get it good and straight making sure that the sping is sitting properly in the seat of the strut (end of spring coil against the notched rise in strut seat)....tighten the top two bolts on the strut tower ... apply pressure by lifting on the knuckle or by using a jack to make sure the strut is firmly seated in the fork then put the pinch bolt in...tighten the bottom nut & bolt on the lca and your ready to bring it down.
The important thing is to grease the two bussings and sleeve at the top of the strut to avoid any squeking.
ah, so it's really the top mount bolts, and the pinch bolt that are really pressure sensitive :doh: for not remembering the idea with the jack. The rear doesn't have any pinch bolt or knuckle. I guess maybe that bottom bolt should be tightened under load?