How to Remove Thrust Bearings – Video Transcript

How’s it going everybody? Andrew here from ISC suspension, and today we are going to show you how to rebuild your thrust bearing kits.

Why does ISC suspension use thrust bearings?

Spring bind is a common issue with aftermarket coilovers of any brand. What exactly it is is in the front where the wheel might be being turned at a low speed turning rate or on an off camber surface sometimes people hear a pinging noise coming from the spring so what ISC implemented was a thrust bearing insert which gives the spring perch assembly another point of rotation to ease the pillow ball upper mounts. So essentially the spring perch is right here where this spring connects and then this black insert right here has a series of bearings inside of it which give a smooth quiet ride as well as smooth turning. What happens like anything else, grease, grease oil, they dry up over time, so we recommend every season or two, to open up your thrust bearings, pack them with grease, and re-assemble them. So we’re going to show you how to do that right now with a few easy steps.

Coilover Disassembly

First step, simply remove your allen key adjuster. This allen key adjuster is just to adjust your rebound adjustable dampening. Put that aside, by hand, you should be able to unscrew the top clicker adjuster, put that aside. And here you have your 19 millimeter nut. So this nut is what keeps the shaft assembly connected with the pillow ball upper mount, camber plates, everything up top on the coilover assembly. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to take a 19 millimeter socket, we’re going to slide in a 5 millimeter allen key which is part of the shaft. The purpose for this is to keep the shaft still while you loosen the top nut. If you simply just use a wrench or a socket and no allen key, the shaft will spin in unison with the nut and you will not be able to take this assembly apart. All right, now the 19 millimeter nut is off, we will find a small washer, right here, put that aside, don’t lose that. Here’s your whole camber plate assembly, they will look different from model to model, whether it is a pillow ball upper mount without the camber plate, you know the adjustable camber I should say or just a plain top plate, either way it’s going to look the same. Now your thrust bearing will simply slide out, and here you have it as I showed it to you before.

Thrust Bearing Maintenance

Now that the thrust bearings off, simply lift the top black cup off of the spring perch with the insert in it, and the bearings are free-floating in there. These are obviously brand new, but for reference, we are going to clean them, and re-grease them. Get a clean rag, wipe off any of the pre-existing grease from the bearing configuration, making sure that you get all of the sand and grit out of there as well that could work through your way in there over the years. As well as the inner area of the thrust assembly. Make sure there are no sharp abrasions in there as well. If there are, obviously you might want to reassess them or file them down, but in most cases this whole area should be intact. A traditional grease is fine, we use a wheel bearing related grease. Anything from a generic auto parts store is fine. Re-grease the assembly as well as the inner spring perch area here. Again, too much grease, not an issue it will work its way out so you don’t have to worry about that. There we are. Back in it’s assembly there. And then what you simply do from here, put the black cup back on, work it in a little bit, just to make sure again that everything feels smooth like it should. Once you’re done with that, it is ready to re-install.

Re-Assembly

Okay, so to re-assemble you simply reverse the steps that we just took now that this is fully re-greased and the thrust bearing itself feels smooth to the touch, it is time to put it back together. Camber plate and pillow ball assembly will just slide right on there. Don’t forget the washer, your 19 millimeter nut. Bring it to hand tight. Now get your 19 millimeter socket back on there, and your 5 millimeter allen key to keep that shaft still so we can actually tighten that 19 millimeter nut back to the shaft. Make sure you do tighten this enough because if there is any play in there you will experience a potential clunk. So if you re-assemble this and you hear that, most likely it’s because you didn’t tighten the 19 millimeter nut enough, so make sure that is tight. Clicker adjuster for the dampening reference points, hand tight is fine. And then your actual allen key adjuster with a hard and soft reference for the dampening adjusting again. Will slide it in there, and here we are back to adjusting our dampening with a fully assembled kit ready to be re-installed.

In Conclusion

Now you should all know how to maintain your thrust bearings, again we recommend doing this every season or two depending on where you are. Here on the east coast with things like salt and harsh winters, obviously like anything else, metal parts that are exposed will need a little more attention. Any questions, contact us at [email protected].