Front strut removal

[simon.williams]

Morning.

Should I loosen the top mounting bolt before removing the strut from the car? And do I need to “hold” the central spline with another spanner first? Sorry if this is obvious but I’ve not tackled before.

[Charles H]

NO! just remove the whole leg undoing the four bolts on the hub, and the three nuts at the top of the strut to withdraw the unit. Before attempting, make sure you have a set of spring compressors, it is under a LOT of tension and must be treated with great care. If you are not confident in removing the spring, your local workshop will be able to do it for you.

[simon.williams]

Thank you! I have spring compressors and will be careful. I’m determined to learn how to do the struts.

It came out very easily. As I’m replacing the ball joint and track rod ends and bushes I just took the whole thing out.

But once compressed, how do I get to the insert?

[johnnydog]

Once the spring compressors are on and the tension released on the top mounting, then you need to put a spanner on the two flats of the insert to hold it whilst undoing the nylon nut with a cranked ring spanner, although it doesn't look that there much room to get an opened ended spanner on the flats of the insert! Once the nylon nut is undone, the top mounting can be removed (noting the position of the washers etc).
Then you have to remove the cup in the top of the strut tube (as outlined in a previous reply) to remove the insert. Some say there should be a small amount of oil in the bottom of the strut tube /body when refitting the insert.
I cut a block of wood (4x2"?) that would fit in the vice, drilled a hole in the middle with a hole saw (50mm comes to mind, but it needs to be the diameter of the strut tube/body), then cut it in half. This then acts as a clamp for the strut body which is then held firmly in the vice vertically without causing damage to the strut tube /body with the jaws of the vice.

[simon.williams]

Thank you! New dampers here I come!