12-18-2015, 04:24 PM
Hi, my friend and I had replaced the suspension (front and rear) of my 96 Sidekick Sport. It was just so easy for the rear - you just take the old ones out and bold in the new ones.
But it was really a pain for the front ones. After so many years of use, the strut mounts got stuck with the struts itself very strongly - it is not just for Sidekick Sport struts, other car's struts would face the same problem, according to my friend who is working in an auto shop for years. The Sport's front strut mounts consist of rubber inside and longer rod in the middle of the rubber. We tried to hammer it but it would not come loose. We dipped it in solvent for overnight and we tried to hammer it again but it would not come loose!!! The common practice here is to heat it up and hammer it. However, it would burn out the rubber.
Finally, there was only one way: We saw off the strut core and bring it to a drilling shop to drill from the top nut through the rod to save the strut mount.
I noted down the factory front struts and rear shocks
- KYB LG12 41602-77E10 for the right
- KYB LG12 41601-77E10 for the left
- TOKICO BJ2 E2872 for the rear.
The replacement ones are:
- KYB Gas Shock Absorber Excel-G 334196 (for the left)
- KYB Gas Shock Absorber Excel-G 334195 (for the right)
- Rear shock KYB Gas Shock Absorber Excel-G 343247 for both.
The rubber itself is very strong- how hard you hit them, they would not break. For the replacement struts, I can use only the bracket for the brake line. The bracket for the ABS cable is at the wrong place. So I used Zip ties. The strut mounts are not available, so you need to destroy the old struts to save them.
__________________
'96 (07/95) Sidekick Sport 16V, 1.8L, 4 auto, 4x4, 4dr, A/C, ABS, 99K on odometer.
But it was really a pain for the front ones. After so many years of use, the strut mounts got stuck with the struts itself very strongly - it is not just for Sidekick Sport struts, other car's struts would face the same problem, according to my friend who is working in an auto shop for years. The Sport's front strut mounts consist of rubber inside and longer rod in the middle of the rubber. We tried to hammer it but it would not come loose. We dipped it in solvent for overnight and we tried to hammer it again but it would not come loose!!! The common practice here is to heat it up and hammer it. However, it would burn out the rubber.
Finally, there was only one way: We saw off the strut core and bring it to a drilling shop to drill from the top nut through the rod to save the strut mount.
I noted down the factory front struts and rear shocks
- KYB LG12 41602-77E10 for the right
- KYB LG12 41601-77E10 for the left
- TOKICO BJ2 E2872 for the rear.
The replacement ones are:
- KYB Gas Shock Absorber Excel-G 334196 (for the left)
- KYB Gas Shock Absorber Excel-G 334195 (for the right)
- Rear shock KYB Gas Shock Absorber Excel-G 343247 for both.
The rubber itself is very strong- how hard you hit them, they would not break. For the replacement struts, I can use only the bracket for the brake line. The bracket for the ABS cable is at the wrong place. So I used Zip ties. The strut mounts are not available, so you need to destroy the old struts to save them.
__________________
'96 (07/95) Sidekick Sport 16V, 1.8L, 4 auto, 4x4, 4dr, A/C, ABS, 99K on odometer.