100 iem, question for front strut

[albert]

hi, ray , i ,know , i read your 100 old post for the strut , i make e look in my parts catalogue , and i see something by coincidence this parts no,,,,, front strut audi 4000-1985 boge no.812-412-031 kyb gr2 gaz ajust no. k365008 strut bushing no 811-412-365 strut munt upper no. 811-412-323c and if you look for vw 412 ,,71to73 you see ,,,parts no. 461-412-031b ,,,kyb ,,no. ky-kc 4017 and if you see the parts no. resemblance , with audi and vw 412 ( 412-031 ) and i see for watt reason your suggestions was good , and for the rear shock the vw parts no. is 411-513-031b that is différent model for 4 doors or wagon and you suggest for 412 wagon ,,,G.M.C. S10--1985 kyb strut gaz for the rear picup S 10 1/2 tons , but on S.10 strut,,the buttum hook is different , wee remoove the hook and we kipe only the rubber bushing for to instal on the 412 wagon ,,???? thanks, albert

[raygreenwood]

Albert. The part number for the bushings threw me long ago. The "412" reference #...simply denotes teh sub-assembly. That being the strut. It is used on a great many VW/audi assembly numbers. The parts would not be the same or even close unlesss the first three digits were also the same.
The reason teh Audi strut works well...has little to do with its shape or length. It was strictly a valving choise. i spent ten years looking for any car on this planet that used a stut cartridge even remotely similar in shape/configuration to the 411/412. It does not exist....so far. I then finally decided to at least find one whose valving was usable. That took disecting over 50 varieties in the junkyard with a pipe cutter.

Once finding one that had very silmilar valving....and i was still guessing....I had to get around the problem that the strut cartridge for the audi has both a shorter body length and ashorter rod length.
The shorter body was not a problem....I just put an extender pipe underneath. The 411/412 only has a longer body..because it has high strut mounting points and has a depp body. It does not need a strut that long....it simply had one because it had to reach down a long way.

Short of making a welded on...or machine extension to allow the audi strut to reach upward to where it would meet the strut bushing at correct spring compression....the easiest way was to extend the rod of the audi cartrdige.
The shorter rod itself...is not a problem....as its still a good 10-11"...and the 411/412 only uses about 4.5" max...of its whole rod stroke.

The KYB gas-adjusts for the front fo the ford econoline 1/2 and 3/4 ton vans....is the same valving and same extended length...and same top mount. The only difference is that it has a shorter bushing tube and no side bushings on the bottom. Those are an easy swap.Ray

[albert]

thanks ray , your are the top men on the 412 reff. and you work hard for to keep the 412 on the road thanks ,,,albert