Anti Seize on McPherson Strut Assembly, Knuckle Pinch Type

[YoshiMoshi3]

Working on a Honda McPherson Strut assembly. It has a "pinch" setup, where the strut fits into a "bore" within the knuckle. A bolt is used to tighten the knuckle to "pinch" around the strut. My question is, is it a good idea to put anti-seize in the bore or around the strut where the strut rests inside the bore of the knuckle, to prevent the two from rusting or seizing together into one piece. I'm not talking about applying anti-seize to the fastener. Could it possibly lubricate it to much and it needs to go in dry?

I'm also wondering about the upper mount that gets bolted to the frame. Clamping down one piece of metal to another. I know that the mounts are typically rubber, and petroleum based products like anti-seize, grease or oil will be bad on the rubber. What about silicone grease? Just a light coat on the upper mount that will come into contact with the frame, being shore not to get any silicone grease on the studs that to to the frame, and nuts go on top that are accessible from the engine bay.

 

[5ubtle]

Give it a try. Ten years from now, when you take it back apart, you can decide if you like it.

 

[WILD-BILL]

The old Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable had this set up. Worst design IMHO.

Back when I was turning wrenches for a living we always put antiseize on the strut and the pinch bolt. (always heat the knuckle around the pinch bolt prior to trying to remove it). They're a ***** to extract when they break.

Nothing on the upper mounts.

 

[YoshiMoshi3]

The old Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable had this set up. Worst design IMHO.

Back when I was turning wrenches for a living we always put antiseize on the strut and the pinch bolt. (always heat the knuckle around the pinch bolt prior to trying to remove it). They're a ***** to extract when they break.

Nothing on the upper mounts.

You sheared one of those bolts, with hand tools or an impact?

 

[Jagmandave]

My MINI has a flat loop that fits into the slot, and the pinch bolt goes thru it. If it's built like this you really can't have a problem lubing it up. If it's only held by the "pinch"......well, I still don't think it would matter.

 

[mrvm]

On Subarus there’s a pinch bolt that secures the knuckle to the ball joint on the lower arm that rusted tight after 12 years. During removal it snapped and had to be drilled out. On my ‘22 Subaru Forester I removed the same pinch bolt after the first oil change and applied anti-seize on that pinch bolt to prevent a future problem. Depending upon where you reside if your vehicles have yearly salt baths some anti seize could help when it’s time for disassembly.

 

[MongoTA]

On Subarus there’s a pinch bolt that secures the knuckle to the ball joint on the lower arm that rusted tight after 12 years. During removal it snapped and had to be drilled out.

Just helped my son, we changed the front and rear suspension on his '06 Subaru. We were cruising through it. Right up until I snapped the head off that same bolt. Stared at it for a bit but nothing changed. Yep, I really did that. Same thing, had to drill it out.

 

[WILD-BILL]

Impact. No way I'm doing those by hand. Only took a couple to learn to heat them first.

Some other guys in the shop never learned. they would just go for broke. Sometimes they got lucky. Most times not.

 

[pbon]

I have started using heat. Should have started sooner. I live in the Northeast where we have a lot of corrosion. I am using more never seize as well. But sometimes rust has made the bolt or nut into a tiny nub that will break when it comes apart and the totally rusted stuck bolt that is left is still a pain to remove.

 

[Shoreline_]

As long as you're not putting it on the threads and tightening them to torque spec.

 

[Pinne]

BMW uses the same setup on their cars - I've never used antiseize on these as it tends to be a cast part clamping over a painted strut. On BMW, after loosening the nut, you'll use a spreader to open the knuckle slightly and then you can usually slide the knuckle off the strut without too much trouble.

 

[Professor Gascan]

My VW has the same mounting style and I painted anti-seize on the struts I replaced the oem ones with. 15+ years later when I went to refresh the suspension again it didn't really matter, enough water and salt crept in there that they were still a fight to remove.

It can't hurt, but in my case it didn't really help. As long as you aren't taking your car off any sweet jumps I wouldn't worry about the strut slipping out of the knuckle from having antiseize on it. Even with the strut spreader tool it's still a ******* trying to separate the strut from the spindle.