Monroe Front Struts PN 81800

[Honolulu City Lights]

Hi,

Anyone know if the Monroe Front Struts Part # 81800 will fit on a 1989 Reatta ?

Purchased these new a couple of years ago and at the time think it fit the 88-91 Reattas.

Now need to replace the front struts on an 89 Reatta but checking the PN again, look like it's for the 88 only.

Gabriel struts are the same for the 88-91 Reatta so just wondering why the Monroe PN 81800 now only shows for the 88 Reatta ?

Thanks for the help.

[Ronnie]

Front struts for a '88 model will not fit properly on '89-91 models. You can go to The Reatta Store, click on Suspension & Steering and you can see the obvious differences.

[Honolulu City Lights]

Thanks for the link and quick reply.

I see the difference in the mounting tab just below the spring pad.

Oh shucks, need to get another set !

[Ronnie]

Thanks for the link and quick reply.

I see the difference in the mounting tab just below the spring pad.

Oh shucks, need to get another set !

The Reatta Store has the best prices around plus free shipping to your door! When you buy from there you help support Reatta Owners Journal at no additional cost to you. Edited May 17, 2012 by Ronnie (see edit history)

[Honolulu City Lights]

Checked my 88, 89, 90 FSM and appears the 88-89's mount their sway bars to the lower control arm while the 90 mounts the sway bar to the mounting tab just below the strut spring pad where the difference is between the two strut types.

I'll check the 89's existing strut if it uses the mounting flange just below the strut spring pad for mounting other parts.

[Ronnie]

BTW, If the '88 struts are Monroe Sensa-tracs for a Reatta the part number should be 71800. Do yours actually say 81800?

[Honolulu City Lights]

The Monroe struts I purchased a few years ago has the PN 81800. Don't think Monroe at the time came out with the 71800. The 81880 seems to have the nitrogen gas in the strut.

I checked my 88 Reatta that's sitting in storage and the lower mounting flange just below the spring pad has nothing attached to it.

Have to go down to my condo to check my 89 Reatta to see what kind of flange it has, but suspect it has the same setup as the 88 as both cars have the sway bar connected to the lower control arm while my 90 Reatta has a link from the mounting flange below the spring pad to the sway bar and does not use the lower control arm as a mounting point for the sway bar.

[Ronnie]

Have to go down to my condo to check my 89 Reatta to see what kind of flange it has, but suspect it has the same setup as the 88 as both cars have the sway bar connected to the lower control arm while my 90 Reatta has a link from the mounting flange below the spring pad to the sway bar and does not use the lower control arm as a mounting point for the sway bar.

Report back here what you find. I would be good to know for sure what fits and what doesn't. Everything I have read says they are not the same but maybe they are?

[Honolulu City Lights]

I'll let the forum know what I find out when I actually take the wheel off to have a close look at the 88's new strut and the old strut that's in the 89.

If they both look the same, will take the 89's old strut out and actually put the new 88 strut in to see how everything fits.

Who knows ? Might be other differences in mounting points such as for the ABS sensor cable or the wheel spindle thickness where the strut mounts to the spindle might be different.

Have a feeling though that the 88-89 is the same and the 90-91 is different and the difference is the 90-91 uses the sway bar link to the lower mount flange below the strut's spring pad.

By the way, tightening the wheel bearing hub nut when replacing the wheel bearing hub and the crankshaft damper requires some high torque settings.

The wheel bearing hub nut requires some 185 ft lbs and I used an unsophisticated method of a 3/4 in breaker bar with pipe extension to get the leverage as I would have had to stand on my torque wrench to get it up there.

Since then I found out about torque multipliers and came across a good deal on Amazon.com for a Central Tools torque multiplier which multiplies the input torque 4x on the output side of the tool....wish I had that when I changed the wheel bearing hub and the crankshaft damper.

[Honolulu City Lights]

I'll measure the strut rod diameter also where it goes through the upper strut mount assembly as the 88 is different from the 89, the 89 is different from the 90-91 and the 90-91 uses the same upper strut mount.

Anyone knows where and what the part numbers are for the top/bottom coil spring rubber insulators ?

[Honolulu City Lights]

Just checked the 89 Reatta and it uses the same mounting bracket below the spring pad as the 88 Reatta. Nothing is connected to this mounting bracket.

[Honolulu City Lights]

Hi Ronnie,

I installed the Monroe 81800 front struts in the 89 Reatta and it fit perfectly into the factory upper strut mount and lower spring coil pad.

All brackets for the disc brake hose and ABS sensor cable bracket bolted right up in its original positions.

Ken

[Ronnie]

Hi Ronnie,

I installed the Monroe 81800 front struts in the 89 Reatta and it fit perfectly into the factory upper strut mount and lower spring coil pad.

All brackets for the disc brake hose and ABS sensor cable bracket bolted right up in its original positions.

Ken

I'm glad it worked out for you.

[Honolulu City Lights]

Just to mention for those trying this for the first time, put some marking on the coil spring and the upper strut mount to line up with the centerline of the strut mount where the strut mounts to the spindle.

If you look at the top of the strut mount after pulling the strut out, there's a keyway that points outward when the strut is installed in the fender mounting pad.

The upper strut mount is angled to put the coil spring in proper alignment with the body/frame.

If the upper strut mount is installed in another position where the keyway does not face outward, you will have interference with the coil spring and suspension alignment problems and may have problems putting the upper strut mount bolts through the fenderwell mounting pad.

I used my floor jack's long steel handle and put the handle under the frame and lower control arm where it meets the lower control arm stablizer bar to gently push down on the control arm to give the strut more room to maneuver out of the way of the front axle. Doing this as a one-man job required all of my body parts: Put my butt on the floor jack bar gently pushing down on the bar while grabbing the strut and maneuvering it out. Press down on the bar only enough to remove the strut away from the axle and not damage the CV joint.

The front disc brake caliper had to be removed as the bleeder screw was in the way of removing the lower strut mount bolt. Be sure to support the caliper while working on the strut to prevent the brake hose from tearing.

Also removed the ABS sensor from the spindle to get it out the way to prevent damage to the ABS cable as well as cleaning the tips of those sensors. Be sure to put some grease around the sensor bore so removing it in the future will be easy.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Honolulu City Lights (see edit history)