adjustable strut rods

I recently installed some adjustable strut rods from ron morris. when I went to install them the front mount where the bushing used to be there is a washer/bushing that rotates in the hole. So when I try to tighten the new part it rotates and I cant torque it. Am I supposed to remove this or weld it in, anybody familiar with this?

here is a pic of the new parts

 

aren't all strut rods adjustable?

 

Touche, I am talking about Aftermarket adjustable strut rods with a solid front mount with a heim joint.

 

I used Global West and they locked down tight when I torqued them. Is your cross member damaged or rusted out in that area?

 

No instructions? Why not use another mfgrs instruction sheet since it's not like they are totally reinventing the wheel here and many other designs would also spin just the same if you don;t have everything tight and mocked into place before attempting the final torque spec.

So, with that said and simply looking at the design, I can only assume they want you to rough measure the required length to set everything into place and also set the jamb nuts.. before torquing the big end into place on the strut brace.

Either that.. or if you're worried about spreading the lower arms pickled end?.. insert a long bolt or bar or very large screwdriver through the big end(after removing rod of course) to help pin it in place before final torquing. Once you have it pinched in place at about 50 % or more within final torque spec.. you should be able to keep it from spinning as badly due to the extra friction against the braces mounting point.

 

Ive looked at a few other instructions and they dont mention anything about a bearing/washer. I also emailed ron morris a few days ago no response yet, just wanted to see if anybody here has run into this before. I used a pair of channel locks on the front mount to keep it from spinning I tightened it pretty well then was still able to spin the front mount pretty easily so I dont know what would happen while I am driving since the front mout is supposed to be clocked a certain way. I know the global west ones are square in the front and cannot spin, I got these at a swap meet for $80 I could not pass them up these retailed for $400. I am going to Goodguys next weekend and will talk to Mike Maier about it I was hoping to be done with my car by then so I could autocross it there.

 

i was talking with carl from chris alston chassiworks this last week about strut rods. he said thier old design had a problem of casuing the front mount to rotate over time. eventually causing the heim joint to go into bind. he said to prevent this, its good idea to some how put a notch or pin or something through the crossmember the mount clamps over to prevent this rotation.
looking at the pics of your strut rods, i suspect their is not enough clamp on the cross member by the mount and its washer to not rotate before you can achieve torquing it. i would suggest putting in some sort of pin and notch deal to prevent the ability to rotate and to allow you to torque the bolt correctly.

 

I have seen some other designs like the global west ones that have a square flange in the front so it cant spin, I like that design but they are almost $400, and I bought mine for $80. Also rosehill designs that are more reasonably priced $265 has the square front mount. I have also seen some where the do not use the original hole but intersect the strut rod so there is no front mount just a rod end with a bolt going through the frame support. I dont have a bunch of free time to reengineer something so I may just buy some different ones. But like I said I am going to talk to Mike Maier this weekend and get his opinion

 

I got an email from Ron Morris with the instructions It said they only found one case where there was a washer/bearing type setup and to remove it so I did but the maverick front frame mount looks a lot differet than a Mustang one. I had to use an air hammer to unfold the crimp to get them out, ended up having to use one side of it as a washer because the shoulder on the strut rod was taller than the hole in the frame, also now the hole in the frame is bigger than the shoulder on the strut rod. My freind works at a CNC shop so I will have him make me a washer/with a step to accomodate my issues.

I wish I was able to take pics but I had to do it on my lunch brake along with replacing a damaged rim and using the old tire