Ball joint/strut wedge pin, Pulling through hole Options

[rjames]

So I got one of the ball joints installed into the strut housing without any issues. Went to do the other one and got the wedge pin tapped almost flush and then went to tighten the nut and got to 20 foot pounds (spec is 33) before the wedge pin started pulling through. WTF?!
Is it safe to leave it like this? This is a wedge pin from Porsche.

[technicalninja]

The Koni instructions say to add antifreeze to the strut housing and given that the later strut housings aren't sealed (there's a hole at the bottom) trying to pour antifreeze while it's mounted to the control arm sounded like a recipe for disaster. Lastly, the strut gland nut would be easier to tighten on the bench.

Koni is most likely having you fill the strut housing to increase heat transfer from the insert to the housing.
I've done this multiple times with Z cars, but I used the original hydraulic oil that was already in the strut. I'd carefully drain that crap into a container for re-use.
I called it "Japanese fish oil strut juice" because that is the way it smelled.

I WOULD NOT put anything into an outer strut housing that was not fully sealed!

I cannot say I've seen an outer housing that wasn't sealed at the bottom.
I will be looking at mine closely when I put inserts in per your comments.

I am a HUGE believer in having the heat transfer fluid between the insert and the housing.

But, if it can drain out, it will.

Make a mess of your freshly painted suspension pieces...

One final note regarding antifreeze. It has very little surface tension and can flow through cracks that nothing else will.

Have an old, cracked coffee mug that works fine for coffee, it probably won't hold antifreeze.
Antifreeze is an excellent test fluid for crack detection because of this feature.

It will leak out of the strut housing easier than almost everything else.

[rjames]

The Koni instructions say to add antifreeze to the strut housing and given that the later strut housings aren't sealed (there's a hole at the bottom) trying to pour antifreeze while it's mounted to the control arm sounded like a recipe for disaster. Lastly, the strut gland nut would be easier to tighten on the bench.

Koni is most likely having you fill the strut housing to increase heat transfer from the insert to the housing.
I've done this multiple times with Z cars, but I used the original hydraulic oil that was already in the strut. I'd carefully drain that crap into a container for re-use.
I called it "Japanese fish oil strut juice" because that is the way it smelled.

I WOULD NOT put anything into an outer strut housing that was not fully sealed!

I cannot say I've seen an outer housing that wasn't sealed at the bottom.
I will be looking at mine closely when I put inserts in per your comments.

I am a HUGE believer in having the heat transfer fluid between the insert and the housing.

But, if it can drain out, it will.

Make a mess of your freshly painted suspension pieces...

One final note regarding antifreeze. It has very little surface tension and can flow through cracks that nothing else will.

Have an old, cracked coffee mug that works fine for coffee, it probably won't hold antifreeze.
Antifreeze is an excellent test fluid for crack detection because of this feature.

It will leak out of the strut housing easier than almost everything else.

@technicalninja The struts I removed were aftermarket (KYB) and there was oil in the strut housing and they did not leak. Clearly the wedge pin and ball joint end was sealing it all up. Maybe I should use a lightweight oil or ATF instead of antifreeze?