brunnhilde's broken key - fixed

Last Friday I ordered a handle and a lock cylinder from the dealer. The parts person told me it should arrive on next Tuesday. Just like clockwork, they call me at noon today. I am impressed.

Such perfect timing as I just finished installing the Koni rear shocks on Brunnhilde. Normally I would take my Mini but I took Brunnhilde so I can see if what the new shocks feel like.

always love to see a package on the front door - i am so materialistic :-)

front and rear shocks - installing the front is a bit more than a cake walk

Face with the task to install these shocks made me realize I really need to get a set of new metric wrench as my current ones does not go above 18mm. The big bolts on the top requires 21mm. Fortunately I have a 15/16" box end wrench that fits the 21mm bolt nicely.


All these years I had resisted buying an impact wrench even though I do all the work on my vehicles. I had managed until now because all my vehicles are light weight enough to do without. After needing to use a 4' long monkey bar to loosen the wheel bolts (i reckon some required 400 ft-lb to break free) on Brunnhilde I decided it is time to buy an impact wrench. I found this very compact one at Harbor Frights. Doing a bit of comparative shopping I bought it. I am very impressed with it's performance and most of all the smallness. For it's size it packs a huge punch and is a dual hammer design. It is made in Taiwan instead of China - very rare these days do one see a tool from Taiwan. Now I am the only impact wrench wielding hillbilly shade tree mechanic on my street.
 
got one out - thanks to my harbor freight impact wrench

The stock shocks are not bad. Both seems to be in pretty good shape. I clammed them in the vice and check compression and rebound. Compared to the Koni compression is about the same. Rebound seems to be just a hair weaker. These being shocks from a 4 ton vehicle one has a hard time moving them at any meaningful speed so these test is "just for grins" if you will. A real test will requires much more force a person can exert and at a greater speed.

The stock shock is noticeably lighter than the Koni and one immediately notice the smaller cylinder diameter:

                      Koni              Stock
cylinder dia       1.975"           1.791"
dust shield dia   2.238"           2.133"
weight             5lb 1oz          4lb 1oz

I am happy. I have gotten my money's worth on these Konis weight alone.

I wanted to do the installation right so it took me much longer than 15 minutes others able to do the installation. It took a bit of time to make sure I understand Koni's instruction of setting the rebounce firmness. I think they do a very lousy job in the one-size-fit-all instruction page and confuse people with "if the shock has been pre-set this is what you add...".

Both the front and the rear shocks are "made in holland" per the labels- I like they use Holland instead of the Netherlands.

With the adjustment set I installed them.

i arrange the koni labels facing forward - with the red it screams steal me

Even though it was very short drive to pick up the door handle and the lock cylinder I immediately noticed some difference even though I forgot I was going to pay attention to the ride difference. Instead of the cheap feeling vibration when going over bumps on the road (including a rail crossing) this is that well damped low frequency response which reminded me I was suppose to pay attention to the ride difference. I would characterize it as more supple. The short trip did not offer the opportunity to check the more dynamic responses like in a sweeping turn with wavy pavement or gusty cross winds.

I am dreading what it take to install the front struts. While it is relatively simple but being such a heavy vehicle it would not be easy. The torque spec for the fasteners that fastens the strut to the steering knuckle is a whopping 136 ft-lb.


I almost have a heart attack when picked up the handle and lock cylinder for the sliding door. The so call "lock cylinder" is only the tumbler. It has a key stub inserted into it. I was expecting the tumbler and the cylinder housing with the bore which the tumbler is inserted into. The parts person said lets see if it is in the handle and I was so sure all along that the door handle consists of only plastic parts being it's relative low price. Sure enough it has the cast cylinder bore in it.

tumbler came with the key stub (you can install into the remote control key if you broke your old one); this is the right orientation to insert into the cylinder bore in the handle

At the end of the tumbler there is a spring-loaded key which locks into a slot towards the end of the cylinder bore. Once you push the tumbler (with the key inserted) it snaps into place and that is it. It is designed not to be removed. Likewise, unlike common tumbler lock design, the tumbler cannot be "re-keyed".

the installation of the handle with the new lock tumbler onto the sliding door should be a snap

However I discovered even with the new lock cylinder and a perfectly good factory key the door lock just didn't function properly. I have to turn the key very hard which put a lot of stress onto the metal. Investigating further I found that the sliding door key have to overcome a lot of frictions from many linkages, including the power lock motor and gear. Now I know this must have been the reason the previous owner managed to break the key not knowing the door lock mechanism needs to be lubricated.

I lubricated all the moving parts with silicon oil and that made heaven's and earth's difference.

If you reading this article and live in areas where winter ice gets into the lock, remember always gentle with the keys. Putting a lot of force on the key can cause you a lot of time and money.