Driving with less strut top bearings

[HiDDeN]

Hey all, I know that’s it’s very common to have the strut top bearings break open when changing the front strut tops, and mine has done this exact thing.

Unfortunately when I was taking the strut top off I wasn’t able to crack and remove the nut, I was applying a lot of pressure (using manual wrenches, not a rattle gun) and the housing for the bearings broke open.

Is it safe to drive the car with the same strut back in with less bearings? I believe about 16 bearings came out in total. I’ve reassembled the strut but want to know if it’s safe to drive. (I won’t be driving it far and will be fixing the issue once I get to my destination).

 

[ephect]

The bearing cannot go anywhere as it's contained within the strut assembly. Its not ideal to br missing some of the ballbearings but you can use it safely, turning may induce noise as they are not evenly distributed any more.

Get it changed as soon as you can.

 

[Johannes]

Can strut bearing be replaced with steel bearing 6 mm diff in thickness all other sizes are matching..commodore

 

[greenacc]

Can strut bearing be replaced with steel bearing 6 mm diff in thickness all other sizes are matching..commodore

What kind of steel bearing?