Well I did my globes today and here are some tips I can share to give back to this great community. I have an '06 LX with 185,000 miles on it and the fluid was flushed about 30,000 miles ago. I used all of the tutorials you can find here, and here are a few things I will add. I went to Home Depot and for $11 got an 8 foot 2x6 cut into 4 pieces. I drove the truck up onto these boards, giving me more space to work underneath without having to mess with a jack and stands. Before lowering the truck from N to L, I went ahead and removed the two running board brackets that get in the way of accumulator removal. I also soaked all of the accumulators and bleed screws with PB blaster the night before. The bleed screws worked fine and I had no issues with them.
I could only get one of the four globes off with the BMW 36mm wrench I bought off Amazon (a popular one, just do a search for the link). The other three I ended up hitting with a hammer and chisel several times quite hard, then putting the wrench back on to break them free. I think the hammer/chisel helped to break the threads a bit, even though I never saw any movement with the globes. I put on all 4 of the new ones I got from IMPEX, then bled them along with the accumulator until new pink fluid came out. I didn't spill hardly any fluid and it wasn't messy for me at all. This is because 1) I got 3 feet of 3/16" ID clear vinyl tubing from ACE, the drilled a hole in the cap of a 2-liter sprite bottle to feed the hose into. It fit snugly over the bleeder screws and didn't drip anywhere. And 2) I saw lots of horror stories of fluid spraying everywhere when the globes were removed, so for each globe removal I cracked the corresponding bleeder screw back open while I spun off the globe, releasing any residual pressure as well any leftover fluid that might otherwise spray out when the globe is removed. This resulted in very little spillage of AHC fluid. I noticed no serious air intrusion into the globes or bleeder screws by using this method, as they bled very quickly and easily when I was all done.
Took me about 3 hours from start to finish. The globes I removed were all still ok, even though I was only getting 7 graduations from L to H. They all passed the pencil test. Pressures are all in spec, and I notice an improvement in ride, although it is still a bit harsh over sharp bumps at low speeds. I attribute that to my E-rated tires. The ride isn't a complete night and day difference like some have seen, but that is probably due to my old globes being pretty ok.
I hope this helps people in the future, as I was a little intimidated to tackled this job since I am not a mechanic by any means. In the end it wasn't too hard, it saved me a ton of money, and I know the suspension is in great shape for years to come. Well worth it!
I could only get one of the four globes off with the BMW 36mm wrench I bought off Amazon (a popular one, just do a search for the link). The other three I ended up hitting with a hammer and chisel several times quite hard, then putting the wrench back on to break them free. I think the hammer/chisel helped to break the threads a bit, even though I never saw any movement with the globes. I put on all 4 of the new ones I got from IMPEX, then bled them along with the accumulator until new pink fluid came out. I didn't spill hardly any fluid and it wasn't messy for me at all. This is because 1) I got 3 feet of 3/16" ID clear vinyl tubing from ACE, the drilled a hole in the cap of a 2-liter sprite bottle to feed the hose into. It fit snugly over the bleeder screws and didn't drip anywhere. And 2) I saw lots of horror stories of fluid spraying everywhere when the globes were removed, so for each globe removal I cracked the corresponding bleeder screw back open while I spun off the globe, releasing any residual pressure as well any leftover fluid that might otherwise spray out when the globe is removed. This resulted in very little spillage of AHC fluid. I noticed no serious air intrusion into the globes or bleeder screws by using this method, as they bled very quickly and easily when I was all done.
Took me about 3 hours from start to finish. The globes I removed were all still ok, even though I was only getting 7 graduations from L to H. They all passed the pencil test. Pressures are all in spec, and I notice an improvement in ride, although it is still a bit harsh over sharp bumps at low speeds. I attribute that to my E-rated tires. The ride isn't a complete night and day difference like some have seen, but that is probably due to my old globes being pretty ok.
I hope this helps people in the future, as I was a little intimidated to tackled this job since I am not a mechanic by any means. In the end it wasn't too hard, it saved me a ton of money, and I know the suspension is in great shape for years to come. Well worth it!
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