Strut bearing dust cap color

[bnam]

Mike,

Can you post a how-to on your method?

Byas

[HBChris]

Raise car by the the ball joint to push the strut up, put cap in boiling water for a minute, lube with rubber lubricant or similar, push on by hand. Worked for me.

[JohnS]

+1 on adding some lube.

I don't know if it makes any difference, but I purchased BMW part #31-33-1-110-195. These are the strut bearings with the shorter 18mm studs. Ordered the real BMW ones from the Bluntmeister. I'm going to use them with some fixed camber plates from Ireland Engineering so I had to press out the original studs anyway. The other strut bearings BMW part #31-33-1-112-644 have the longer 35mm studs that you would use if you still have spacers installed or want longer studs for a strut brace or something.

I was worried about the dust caps not fitting after reading here on the FAQ. So, I spent a good deal of time cleaning off the sticky Glycerin coating from the rubber where the dust caps snap on. Then I applied some Mother's rubber protectant.

The dust caps pop on and off easily without having to do anything else now. The caps Part #31-33-1-110-540 were purchased new from Blunt too. They look kind of silver when compared with the gray ones on my '73, but they fit good...

[cbgii]

Just put my black ones on the new BMW strut mounts with Bilstein inserts - fought them for awhile, then put a little dish soap on the rim of the mount, had them centered, pressed down with a little twist and they went right on!

[Brett]

Hi All!  Adding to this thread.  I had the same problem with the newer strut inserts, so I had a friend gen up some 3D printed ones that fit great and maintain the look of the OEM ones.  He decided that he is going to make a run of them and sell them for $25 plus shipping for a set.  They are made from a high temp filament and fit on the newer strut inserts without having to drill a hole or anything else.  Picture below shows the OEM original on the left and the 3D printed new on the right.  

[Mike A]

On 4/2/2012 at 2:12 PM, mike said:

Roundies: black caps

Squarelights: grey caps, sometimes painted/dyed black.

That being said...the black caps have been NLA for many years, so many roundies now have grey caps as they've been the only replacements available.

Also neither cap fits very well on the newer strut bearings as supplied by BMW and others--and if you try to force 'em on they'll split. I made an adapter from a plastic plumbing pipe fitting and a piece of bicycle inner tube (don't laugh, it works) so I can use the OEM dust caps on the newer strut bearings.

cheers

mike

Edited September 9, 2019 by Mike A

[Harvanj]

I will purchase a pair.

 

 Thanks,

JH

['76mintgrün'02]

Nice work Brett.  

 

My '76 has the grey ones, with the pretty black stripe around the base.  No problem at all fitting them on the Meyle bearings I installed eight years ago.

 

I did experiment with these yellow and red colored glass caps a while back, but decided to stick with stock.

 

 

 

[Conserv]

1 hour ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

 

 

 

 

It seems to me, Tom, that you — of all the people on this forum — could devise a plan for the red light to flash when the strut insert needs replacement.... ?

 

Best regards,

 

Steve