So im changing the struts on my 93 245. Things went pretty smooth until I began installing the new struts. First I assume the struts I removed were the oem/stock struts, they had volvo stamped on them and came with the (I assume original) gland nut. I removed the old strut and replaced it with a Boge/Sachs touring strut, which came with replacement gland nuts. Side by side the new/old struts look almost identical. The main difference between the two is in the gland nut. The new one looks cheap, crappy, 2 pieces welded together, and had about half of the threads as the original. The old gland nut looks like its made out of a better grade steel is one solid piece and is still 100% reusable. This brings me to one of my problems.. neither of the gland nuts will seat fully when torqued on the new strut. No there is not a spacer in the strut. Yes I am sure. So here are my questions,

1. Which gland nut should I use, the only reason I have reservations about using the old one is the paperwork that came with the strut said to make sure to use the nut that came with it. (even though it looks like garbage and the other one fits the same if not better)

2. Should I use washers to space out the distance between the strut body and the gland nut? Basically, if I leave it be, will it cause the gland nut to back out and cause the dreaded strut clunk.

Im Driving around my parts volvo while I figure out what to do with these Gland nuts.. any help/strut wisdom would be appreciated

It's finished, I didn't use the new gland nuts. Took it for a test drive, everything seems ok no clunking or knocking. My steering seemed to pull a bit to one side, should I get my alignment done after messing with all my front end linkage?

If your car alignment was fine before you started working on the struts and you marked where you started on the arc shaped plate before you took it apart, no. If that plate for some reason isn't back to where it was, you'll probably benefit by having your vehicle aligned again.

Do not use the new nuts. Let me explain my dilemma, new Sachs struts with the welded nuts, they screwed all the way in. Drove a few hundred miles, started to get knocking, checked nut, it had started to back off. Tried to tighten nut, top snapped off because of crappy weld, ARRRGGG!!!

I'm hoping with a large pair of channel locks I can grab the remaining threads and twist it out.

I have purchased the one piece style longer nuts. I have spacers but they would not fit with the short nuts, if I can use the spacers with the long nuts and get them to at least thread in halfway I'll be happy. As JohnMc said if you screw them all the way in you can not tell if you're getting a truly tight fit.
--
Bruce S. near D.C.

It would be nice if the gland nut tightened down on the strut insert *and* reached the strut tube at the same time... but these things aren't made to such high levels of precision. So generally it's going to tighten down on the strut insert first, *or* screw all the way down to the strut tube top and tighten down on that. In the first case, that's good, because the gland nut is holding the strut insert firmly in place. In the second case, that's not so good, because the gland nut bottomed out on the strut tube before it bottomed out on the strut insert, so the insert has some unknown amount of slack. Enough to be an issue? Possibly.

So the gland nut not going all the way down is not a bad thing. Unless you have a mismatch (like trying to use Bilstein HD's in late model strut tubes) - in which case the gland nuts *barely* get started before they bottom out on the strut insert. That's not really a good thing, although I've been running my 245 like that since 2006 with no issues.

I would use some Loctite on it though. That should preclude any backing out.

I'm not sure on using one gland nut vs another. Is there any difference in the inside diameter between the two? Or perhaps the shape inside where it seats against the insert? The new gland nut might fit against the top of the new insert better?
--
'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

No difference in inside diameter, main difference is, the nut that came with the struts has fewer threads and on the inside of the nut where the top of the strut sits there is basically a washer on the top that causes the threads to stick out even further.

I'm going to use the old gland nut (once again only because they are in excellent shape) and just tighten them down as far as I can. Once I get her on the asphalt again I'll see if I have any probs and report back

I hear so much about gland nuts backing out, I think I'll make a point of marking the nut's position with a bit of paint next time I have the opportunity to change a strut. So far I've had no reason to suspect this and having a tough time imagining the forces turning these back out given their diameter and thread pitch.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

One thing for sure, the cartridge body has got to be sandwiched in the strut tube between the bottom and the nut, down tight!
Some cartridges may or may not come with lower end spacers to properly center up the bottom of the cartridge.

If I read this right, you now have play of the cartridge body(s) up & down in the tube or you cannot get both nuts to now "thread themselves all the way into the tube" to lock the cartridge down solid.

If both cartridges bodies are identical in lengths. Then something gave way down at the bottom of the strut used for support of the original one also.

Or we need to define your term "will seat fully" when torque down? If you are expecting all of the threads of the nut to disappear down into the tube, that is not suppose to happen. The hex part will be sticking up away from the end of the tube and up probably 3/16 of an inch away.

The inner part of the gland nut has surface machined to fit the top contours of you specific cartridge housing. That crimped end may vary with each manufacturer and is the reason they are stressing using those they have supplied.

Make sure as you tighten in the cartridge that you keep the chrome rod centered in gland nut until there is no side shake. By then you should not be able to pull the cartridge up or down.
Then you will want to pull that nut down as tight as you can get. I use a pair of groove joint pliers with about 14 inch long handles to tighten it. Both arms and shoulders yank should do it.

Another thing I got into was replacement dust boots. I found that KYB and AutoZone sell boots. The KYB's are about twice as much as AZ's China brand but they look identical. Both are a plastic type but KYB's are slightly more softer and was stamped made in USA. Even though I believe they are a Japanese outfit. Things are just about packaging it seems.
The next thing is neither of them seals at the bottom at all by about 1/4 inch all the way around. This ticked me off. Planned deterioration of the cartridge seals.

I went to Home Depot and bought a 1&1/2 pipe rubber drain line connector for about $3.50. They came with two stainless steel gear tooth type clamps but I did not use them.

I cut the connector in-half to get a rubber sleeve to fill the gap for both strut housings boots. I used nylon wire ties to secure the boot down as the boot kit does not come with them either. One could probably not use them as they were nice and snug.
The top of the boot cover fits just loose enough around its own grooved rubber bumper that if any amount of compression of air volume inside will equalize very quickly. If that is a concern for anyone its not that tight to do anything noticeable.

I just had to deter that whirl wind of dirt and water from having its way with those seals on the chrome of the absorber. I have been eyeballing my rear shocks for a filler but those covers come way down on the absorbers tube body. May not be an issue.

Hope you figure out you dilemma as I did with the boots.

Phil

"If I read this right, you now have play of the cartridge body(s) up & down in the tube or you cannot get both nuts to now "thread themselves all the way into the tube" to lock the cartridge down solid."

Neither actually sorry for the confusion. As far as I can tell the cartridge has zero play. I spun it around while threading the gland nut to ensure it was centered. The only reason I was surprised that the gland nut did not seat fully (and yes I expected it to go all the way to the top thread) was that when I took the gland nut off (the same one I'm reusing) it was seated fully. I even left the driver side untouched for a reference and the gland nut is fully seated... Even though the tubes are identical there are no spacers and I'm using the same gland nut. However there is no visible play and the threads showing are like you said about 3/16, very little but still there.

So I shouldn't be concerned about this causing my gland nut to back out? Why do some folks use spacers?

Thanks for the bonus boot info. I tried using a boot from an old motorcycle fork it was too small in diameter.

Thanks as well for your input