sv21, 3sfe 1988 wagon - cartridges or struts?

[jtu100]

Hi,

I have a 1988 Camry, SV21/3SFE, Australian, Station Wagon.

I am wondering if the suspension struts are serviceable or not?

Someone on ebay is trying to sell me some cartridges (Delco GC139) for my Camry, but the service manual seems to make out the strut is a non-serviceable unit.

Is the cartridge seller confused?

Or is there a way to fit these to my car?

Thanks

[atobe]

it came with both.. you'll have to take a look on your strut and see if there's a big nut on it or not.. if it does then it's serviceable if it doesn't then you have to replace as a whole

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t154557.html for pics

[jtu100]

Or is there a way to convert to cartridges?

I wouldn't mind as they are supplying the cartridges, new, for $25 each!

[atobe]

you can goto the junk yard and just take the casing i suppose and use the inserts(cartridges)

[Tommy]

got a grinder and a welder?

youll have to cut the top off the strut, pull out the inards, then weld it back together. Lot of work to save $100.

[jtu100]

Just checked my struts. They appeared to say this on them:

TOYOTA
-T202 48 102-
-=MONROE D05 AU88=-
GAS PRESURISED
DO NOT HEAT OR PIERCE (?)

The top piece ("suspension support" its called in the service manual) had part number: T202 48 114

[jtu100]

Originally Posted by atobe

it came with both.. you'll have to take a look on your strut and see if there's a big nut on it or not.. if it does then it's serviceable if it doesn't then you have to replace as a whole

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t154557.html for pics

I've looked at those pics and I can see a big nut.

So I've opened up my engine bay and I can see the suspension supports with a little dust cover that I can open. Inside I can see a large nut.

Is that the same nut as in the pics above? Or is that nut meant to be visible immediately inside the engine bay i.e. no dust cover?

I just spoke to a suspension guy and he was insistent that my camry was 'inserts' i.e. cartridges. He seemed quite confident!

[atobe]

the nut you saw is the one that holds the strut to the car if he's so confident then he won't mind to give you $ back if it's not the right part

[88 LE]

Originally Posted by Tommy

got a grinder and a welder?

youll have to cut the top off the strut, pull out the inards, then weld it back together. Lot of work to save $100.

Theres more to it then just cutting the strut open and welding it back together. You have to weld another piece of pipe onto it, this pipe is threaded on the inside. A big nut screws onto those threads. Serviceable struts already have the threads and the big nut.

I don't remember the site offhand, but I do remember seeing something about the modification. It was done on a Celica.

Originally Posted by jtu100

So I've opened up my engine bay and I can see the suspension supports with a little dust cover that I can open. Inside I can see a large nut.

Is that the same nut as in the pics above?

No, that nut holds the strut to the strut mount.

You need to look at the strut itself. At the top of the strut housing where the piston shaft (shiny metal shaft) goes in. It'll be covered up by a big dust boot, just lift the boot up and look.

[jtu100]

Are you talking about the area I've marked in red below? I have checked my struts and there is a sort of hexagon 'bolt' at the top of the strut body. But how can I be absolutely sure they are serviceable? Does anyone one have a closeup pic of serviceable vs non-serviceable?

[atobe]

here i took a pic of my old strut

[img=http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/8638/img0892zq3.th.jpg]

i don't have a pic of a sealed one.. but instead of the nut you should see welding marks around the place

[jtu100]

We are talking about the rather large nut just under the piece of string (?) on the right strut in that pic ... right?

[atobe]

yes both of them are serviceable.. if it's not you wouldn't see that big nut there

[jtu100]

If I do end up having serviceable struts, am I going to need any other parts when I swap it out? New nuts etc.

The tops of your inserts look a bit different to the ones I'm planning to buy off ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HOLDEN-APOLLO...QQcmdZViewItem

[atobe]

what top? you take off the big nut... remove the insert and put in the ones on ebay put the nut back on and you'r good to go