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  1. #1
    ephatch member Alex857's Avatar
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    DIY: Stop your Racelands from clunking.

    Hey all! Thought id make a write up since the raceland craze has taken over But first a little history, i kept getting a horrible horrible clunk after the 3rd or 4th autox on these, and i have been wondering what it was. I thought maybe blown strut. Either way, i was tearing into it the other night to find out. What i found was the left front shock cartridge was loose, the nut that threads down in to keep it centered and tight, came loose, causing my knocking sound.

    Tools needed:

    Long-handled 3/8s and half inch ratchets.
    10mm, 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 17mm, 19mm, and 21mm wrenches and sockets i believe.
    3, 6, and 12 inch extensions
    Collar wrenches (the ones they provide to tighten and loosen the collars).
    Some sort wrench that has the 2 prong things (cant remember the correct name lol)
    1/2 inch impact
    Centerpunch
    Hammer


    First and foremost take your wheel off , i didnt provide a pic because im sure you can do that on your own.

    Next..using an extension, 14mm socket, and ratchet, take off the 3 tophat bolts that hold the top of the assembly in, once these 3 bolts are off, the assembly will drop down, with the control arm and everything still holding it. :




    After that, comes the easy part, 10mm and 13mm bolts hold the brake line and wheel speed sensor wire on the strut, these need to come off.



    If you have camberbolts, this is important. If you dont, skip to next step. Take the centerpunch (mine is automatic) and punch in a straight line, the bolt, washer, and on the strut, that way, when you put it all back together and line up your marks, your camber setting will not be changed.



    Look at the 10 oclock position on the bolt and you can see my marks



    Now that those are marked, take them out, but be prepared! Dont let it flop over, causing your axle to pop, its a bitch to get back in. Tie it up somehow (mechanics wire in my case)



    Now that its tied up, and you have the assembly out, clamp it in a vise, careful to choose your spot carefully so you dont bend the mounts.



    Unwind your collars (or whatever you want to call them) and take the top nut off. I believe its a 17 or 18mm. (no pic, sorry guys)

    Ok great, youve made it this far, now here is what was giving me problems, and potentially dangerous.

    As you see, this nut type thing (idk the correct name lol) is loose, see the gap in between, causing the strut cartridge to move all around, not secure.





    See the gap? Now unscrew that, mine wasnt even finger tight, and the cartridge will pull right out.



    Dont be alarmed if there is fluid in there, its designed as a cushion, and to prevent rust from building up and making it freeze in there.



    Now, all i did from here was locktite the nut, and put it in, tighten it down and re asseble the way i took it apart. Make sure you line up your camber kit and you are good to go. Hope this helps! feedback is appreciated, its my first diy, and sorry about the pics they were taken with my bb lol.

  2. #2
    Caffine nicotine ep3 Cheep3's Avatar
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    Nice DIY! I've been curious about how Racelands do in autocrossing. If I ever blow a stock strut they will be my next option. I'm guessing these nuts would be a good idea to locktite on original installation. How well do they work on the track??

  3. #3
    ephatch member Anrasmor's Avatar
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    Was there any kind of locktite on the threat to begin with? If not, it might be a good idea for any new coilover owners to go ahead and do it before installing. I for one am going to check before installing.

  4. #4
    ephatch member Alex857's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cheep3 View Post
    Nice DIY! I've been curious about how Racelands do in autocrossing. If I ever blow a stock strut they will be my next option. I'm guessing these nuts would be a good idea to locktite on original installation. How well do they work on the track??
    They actually worked out really nicely for me! thanks :) i love em honestly, for the money you cant beat em.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anrasmor View Post
    Was there any kind of locktite on the threat to begin with? If not, it might be a good idea for any new coilover owners to go ahead and do it before installing. I for one am going to check before installing.

    Nope..there was no loctite on there to begin with, i would def suggest doing this before you put them on, saves you from tearing them apart later down the road. also put some kind of antiseize on the threads that the adjustments are on,i put some on mine, and they are smooooooth as new still.

  5. #5
    ephatch member Anrasmor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alex857 View Post
    Nope..there was no loctite on there to begin with, i would def suggest doing this before you put them on, saves you from tearing them apart later down the road. also put some kind of antiseize on the threads that the adjustments are on,i put some on mine, and they are smooooooth as new still.
    They do suggest the antisieze on their website when installing. So that makes sense, but the loctite on the reservoir of the shock should be done by the factory. I can't think of any coilover I have ever seen that was actually easy to open the reservoir. These open themselves.

  6. #6
    ephatch member Alex857's Avatar
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    yeah for sure, i would do it before installation. So much easier

  7. #7
    ephatch member Anrasmor's Avatar
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    Also for anybody out there that wants to mark the position of suspension pieces or anything else for that matter, finger nail polish works pretty good. I used to use touch up paint to mark suspension positions all the time.

  8. #8
    Murphy's bitch Twisted-X's Avatar
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    Ditto. White-out works well also.

  9. #9
    Registered User 03Si757's Avatar
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    this should be sticky! Ima try this this weekend.

  10. #10
    ephatch member ZoomBoy's Avatar
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    I'm pretty sure this is exactly what my problem is. Only low speed turning, driving I hear the clunking. Driving anything over like 10-15 km/h I hear nothing. The only issue is, if this is done how many hours is this going to take a shop? Am I getting an alignment after again because my car was a bitch to get aligned when I had my racelands initially put on.

  11. #11
    ephatch member Alex857's Avatar
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    You will need an alignment afterwards, even with markin them, my steering wheel was a little bit off. Make sure guys, that its not coilbind that you are hearing, and that it is actually this problem.

  12. #12
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    great write up

  13. #13
    ephatch member Alex857's Avatar
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    thanks man

  14. #14
    ephatch member ZoomBoy's Avatar
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    How would we know if we had coilbind over this?

  15. #15
    ephatch member Alex857's Avatar
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    Coil bind sounds like exactly what it is, a spring popping noise when you turn the wheel. i mainly had the noise over bumps, but i do still have a small amt of coilbind.

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