I thought my replacement struts were going to be identical to my old ones, but that's not the case. The bottom looks a little bit beefier, especially right where my old strut broke. Hmmm...

So, with these new struts (no gap/squeezing), so I use the ball joint with the "V" notch (not the rounded notch)?

-Steve

New strut (which ball joint to use?):
Click to view attachment

Ball joints:
Click to view attachment

Old strut that broke:
Click to view attachment

Looks like the one on the left uses the bolt, while the one on the right uses the wedge. So I would say the one on the right. Assuming those are late model struts. You also are going to need the wedge bolt.

Taking a look at that strut, and as far as I could blow it up, it looks like the bottom of the strut is cracked.

Take a good look at that before you put that on any car.

I labelled my photos above to make things a little clearer.

> Taking a look at that strut, and as far as I could blow it up, it looks like the bottom of the strut is cracked.

If you mean the last photo, yes, that is cracked. It either was the cause of this accident, or happened during this accident:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=142822

-Steve

the struts that have the split use the joints with the round hole for a normal bolt to pass thru and tighten to clamp the joint shaft. . . . . struts without the split use the wedge joints with the V notch. . and use the corresponding wedge bolts. . l

Got it, thanks!

Also, if you're changing spindles to the wedge pin type, I believe you will have to change to late (73+) calipers and rotors.

Sombody correct me if I'm wrong on this.

It's been determined that if you bring the rotor and the caliper with you, you can use any strut. The caliper and the rotor combination hold the key to the offset. So... no, no need to change calipers.

Late Balljoints BTW.