458 Rear shock | FerrariChat

458 Rear shock

Discussion in '458 Italia/488/F8' started by tr328, Apr 7, 2020.

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  1. tr328

    tr328 Formula Junior

    Jun 19, 2003
    905
    Pacifica, California
    Full Name:
    Darryl
    Does anyone have any tips on replacing rear shocks on Ferrari 458? Mine just started to leak. With shelter in place in California, lot of free time.
    Be safe everyone!
    Thanks.
     
  2. Jason B

    Jason B Formula Junior

    Apr 7, 2006
    397
    Hbg, PA
    Are you doing it yourself and did you buy the shocks yet?
     
  3. RayJohns

    RayJohns F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2006
    7,398
    West Coast
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    Ray
    I've worked on the front coilovers on my 458 and they are setup pretty similar to the rears as I recall.

    Here's a video which might provide a little information. I just recorded part of the job while working on my 458:



    Hill Engineering sells some very nice spanners for the lock nuts (if you need to make adjustments). Be super careful with aluminum threads if there is any spring tension on them whatsoever. I ended up making my own spring compressors (as seen in the video there). But I think you can probably find what you need online also. In my case, I was attempting to lower the car with the coilovers still on (which is why I welded up some very compact spring compressors). In the end, I quickly realized I needed to pull the entire coilover assembly off to do the job properly.

    What sort of information were you seeking specifically? Do you have the workshop manual handy? If not, I can probably section out the part which relates to removing the shocks. You can also buy it in PDF off eBay for $10 usually.

    Ray
     
  4. tr328

    tr328 Formula Junior

    Jun 19, 2003
    905
    Pacifica, California
    Full Name:
    Darryl
    Yes, I plan on doing the work myself. I was looking for any tips on removing the shock from the car. I know how to remove the spring from the leaking shock and reinstall on the new shock. I ordered new shocks which should arrive today.
     
  5. RayJohns

    RayJohns F1 Veteran
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    May 21, 2006
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    The front comes off surprisingly easy, just two upper bolts and one lower cross bolt. Just be careful torquing things back down because the upper two bolts thread into aluminum (at least for the fronts). Do not use any anti-siege. In the front at least, the upper part sort of indexes under a little shelf, which holds things in place somewhat while installing the 2 fixing bolts.

    There is also a somewhat delicate little lever you have to pop off, which reports travel back to the ECU.

    Ray
     
  6. Smiley

    Smiley Rookie

    Dec 1, 2015
    23
    You may find the perches the springs sit on seized solid, I took my spring completely off but the perches were seized, the lower locking collar moved freely straight away, but the actual perch was pretty much seized solid, so I gave up on trying to lower it, I've seen some people having to cut the perches off...
     
  7. tr328

    tr328 Formula Junior

    Jun 19, 2003
    905
    Pacifica, California
    Full Name:
    Darryl
    Thanks for everyones comments! I really appreciate it.
     
  8. JrMint

    JrMint Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 2, 2016
    8
    I'm about to do my rears also...Ordered from eurospares which were 25% of what the dealer wanted to charge. Let me know how easy it was for you
     
  9. Mighty Joe

    Mighty Joe Formula 3

    Sep 3, 2010
    1,125
    Atlanta, GA
    Full Name:
    Joe
    Could be a great time to lower the car too?? Not sure what that entails though....
     
  10. LivingthedreamBAB

    Jan 2, 2020
    123
    Full Name:
    BRIAN BUTT
    Aren’t these struts rebuildable? They are Ohlins higher end struts so I would think they could be rebuilt. If they can be rebuilt typically cost is around $1000 to rebuild all 4 and have them dyno matched so they are perfectly matched to each other side to side.


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  11. Jorligan

    Jorligan Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 23, 2007
    266
    Dexter, MI
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    Tim
    I am about to do the rears on a 458, I will try to take pictures and then post them. I am installing Novitec springs. I already did the front and yes, you can do the fronts without removing the complete strut if you have FAL and don't want to bleed the system.

    Removal is actually pretty easy, remove the lower caps to allow access to the bolt and then remove the lower bolt which will relieve any pressure on the upper bolts. The suspension arm applies slight upward pressure and you want to minimize any pressure where you screw the bolts into the aluminum. Once the bolts are out, the strut assembly is easily removed.

    Compress the strut assembly and remove the top nuts. Do not try to turn the lower perches when they are under pressure. Once the spring is removed, you get the pleasure of working on the perches, I would be ready to buy new perches and use them on the new struts. Before you remove, carefully measure distance of the upper perch from the top of the strut. Then reassemble.

    Reassembly is the reverse, top bolts and then the bottom. Be very careful putting in the top bolts and put them in by hand and then gently with a socket set. Do not use power tools to reassemble. These threads are VERY delicate and cross threading them is EASY. A lot of Porsche GT3 owners replace the bolt with nuts / studs on the aluminum uprights because you have to remove the calipers to change the pads and the calipers are held with bolts. Don't ask me how I know.

    The manual says to not use any lubrication so I guess that is where Ray is mentioning about the use of anti-seize. Anyone want to comment about not using anti-seize?

    I agree that it is a good time to lower the car. If you have FAL, you can do it on the car but you need very narrow spring compressors. I had an old pair which was just a rod and hooks and it worked well. I had replaced it with a more robust version which had forged hooks for increased strength since the old pair made me nervous, the newer one wouldn't fit in the space. If you do not have FAL, I would remove the front struts if you don't have FAL and work them on the bench.

    Lastly, make sure that you have tools to remove the top nuts. They make specific wrenches (http://www.keep-your-car.com/Laser-6182-Shock-Absorber-Tool-Kit-14pc) but I used a through hole socket and a small wrench to secure the rod. I bought a through hole socket from Harbor Freight tools, cheap but it works. (https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/sockets-ratchets/sae-metric-go-thru-socket-set-21-pc-62305.html)
     
  12. RayJohns

    RayJohns F1 Veteran
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    May 21, 2006
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    Anti-seize can really save your ass when it comes to aluminum threads (in some situations), but it can also cause more problems than it solves sometimes too. If you are dealing with very critical torques, such as mounting bolts or stuff like wheel lug bolts, using anti-seize can reduce clamping loads and make obtaining critical torques very tricky. Generally, it's not recommended in those applications.

    In a situation where you are using two jam nuts against each other, a very tiny amount might be okay. However, with regard to the coil overs, I was suggesting more that maybe using some might help during disassembly more than using it for re-assembly. Given the low torque needed to secure the lower seat, as long as you clean the aluminum threads with carb cleaner (e.g. B12 chemtool) and a toothbrush and compressed air, then I don't think any anti-seize should be needed for assembly. Maybe just 1 drop of oil to help lubricate the threads, but I wouldn't say that you should coat the threads with a lot of anti-seize here. When dealing with fine aluminum threads, you've got to be super careful.

    Normally anti-seize is used in a situation where you are threading a bolt into like an aluminum cylinder head and you are concerned about corrosion down the road and/or you want to avoid a situation where binding loads might gall thread faces or something. Also in cases where you have a lot of high heat cycles, such as exhaust manifold bolts and things.

    Another place where anti-seize is very helpful is with stainless to stainless threads, because stainless can friction weld itself together under certain high force clamping situations if you aren't careful.

    In short, go easy with the anti-seize.

    Ray
     
  13. LivingthedreamBAB

    Jan 2, 2020
    123
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    BRIAN BUTT
    Still shocked (no pun intended) that you are replacing for at least 4-5x more money than rebuilding. I’ve been racing cars and have been lucky enough to own a few exotics, currently a 458, and I have always rebuilt struts unless there was damage to the barrel or strut shaft.


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  14. RayJohns

    RayJohns F1 Veteran
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    May 21, 2006
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    I rebuilt the front shocks on my R1 - they were Ohlins FG43 tubes. As long as you have the proper tools, rebuilding is very straightforward and cost effective.

    Ray
     
  15. Jason B

    Jason B Formula Junior

    Apr 7, 2006
    397
    Hbg, PA
    Wow, so front and rear are rebuildable? That's good to know and it's obvious many don't know this and could end up dropping $10k for just rears at a dealer with install.
     
  16. RayJohns

    RayJohns F1 Veteran
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    May 21, 2006
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    Keep in mind that Ferrari probably isn't building shocks - those are most likely going to be sourced from another company. If they are indeed Ohlins - which sounds logical to me - then I would guess you can rebuild them just like any other Ohlins shock. The only possible problem would be if Ferrari has some restriction on some parts or something.

    Ray
     
  17. Jorligan

    Jorligan Formula Junior
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    Apr 23, 2007
    266
    Dexter, MI
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    Tim
    Aren't the shocks magnetic in which case it is unlikely that they are Ohlins and instead the same company that builds them for GM, Audi and Porsche (magnetic shocks were developed by GM for the Corvette before Ferrari adopted them) There was someone in Europe that was rebuilding them for the Audi R8 - frequently failed within the first 10K miles (3 of mine started leaking with under 10K miles shortly after the warranty expired). I changed my R8 shocks to the shocks from the R8 GT which were not magnetic using a KW module so that the car would think that it still had the magnetic shocks. I know that the FAL on the 458 is an Ohlin item.
     
  18. v35

    v35 Karting

    May 15, 2013
    190
    Los Angeles
    Full Name:
    Aaron
    The shocks are magneride developed by Delphi, made by BWI.
     
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  19. LivingthedreamBAB

    Jan 2, 2020
    123
    Full Name:
    BRIAN BUTT
    Mine are ohlins on the 458 and when I look up the OEM replacement strut it’s Ohlins. When you look on used websites like ebay they are also Ohlins.

    Below is a screenshot of ANZE who is one of the leaders in strut rebuilds. About $1000 for a complete top of the line Ohlins rebuild.

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  20. Jorligan

    Jorligan Formula Junior
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    Apr 23, 2007
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    Tim
    458SG and v35 like this.
  21. LivingthedreamBAB

    Jan 2, 2020
    123
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    BRIAN BUTT
  22. tr328

    tr328 Formula Junior

    Jun 19, 2003
    905
    Pacifica, California
    Full Name:
    Darryl
    Replaced my rear shock today. It was pretty straight forward, took a little under 3 hours. The difficult parts were removing the strut mount bushing from the old shock and compressing the spring and reinstall everything. Hindsight, I should have ordered a new strut mount bushing. I'm going to look into having the seals replaced on my old shock.
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  23. Golattus

    Golattus Karting
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    Dec 15, 2017
    227
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    JN
  24. tr328

    tr328 Formula Junior

    Jun 19, 2003
    905
    Pacifica, California
    Full Name:
    Darryl
    I contacted Nagengast in Poland and they sent me an estimate to rebuild at 864 Euro which is $939 u.s. dollars. Maybe more to ship to U.S.
     
  25. Jorligan

    Jorligan Formula Junior
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    Apr 23, 2007
    266
    Dexter, MI
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    Tim
    They were rebuilding the R8 shock after it started leaking so you should be OK. Less than 1/2 price.
     

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