Strut Replacement Time...what tools?

[PyroChuck]

Ok, so I will be replacing all 4 struts on my '93 Festy in the morning and I was wondering if anyone might know exactly what tools I will be needing for this job.

The reason I ask is I will be doing the job away from home and don't feel like luggin' my entire tool box with me when I head out in the AM.

I am aware that a strut/spring compressing tool is needed and I have that taken care of....what else folks?

I'll prolly get crap over them not being KYB's but I got 4 Monroe Sensa-Trac stuts for total of $180 plus will get $60 rebate....buck-twenty all the way around I couldn't pass it up.

Thanks,
Pyro

[Icedawg]

I took the kyb's off my Festiva and put on junkyard Aspire's, and they are definitely better. I also bought a Sensatrac, thinking I was going to get an oem, and it feels by hand the same as the Aspire, and stiffer than the Festi kyb. So don't let anyone do that seagull thing to you.

Fronts
17 mm socket and wrench to undo the strut mount bolts. 14 mm socket or wrench to do the two strut tower mount nuts. 17 or 19 mm socket for the strut nut, which is easiest to undo or tighten with an impact gun, otherwise channel locks or vise grips to hold on to the strut while you undo it, or a hex wrench (not sure size) to hold while undoing nut with a wrench. Socket or wrench for your spring compressor. Screwdriver punch or drift and hammer to drive out the two strut mount bolts if they are stuck. Pry bar to pull down on the sway bar and control arm if the strut needs persuasion to release from the hub. large c-clamp or channel lock to pull the strut into the hub if it needs persuasion on re-assembly.

Rears
Prayer.... for the bottom nut
top nuts - 14 mm wrench or socket up top, plus a philips screwdriver and prying tool to remove plastic decorative material so you can get at the nuts.

Back to prayer, 14 or 17 mm to undo bottom boltthat holds in shock, more prayer. Usually the bolt snaps it is so rusted in, or it turns, but is rusted to the metal insert inside the rubber mount of the strut, and no amount of turning undoes it. Maybe 3 weeks of pb blaster, maybe sawzall and grinder, maybe torch, definitely prayer.

[Festy46]

If you use the strut compressor that looks like 2 threaded rods with a hook on each end, be sure to use the safety hooks that attach to the springs and the threaded rod. I'm all for "cutting corners" to save time, but a trip to the hospital will take longer than attaching those pesky saftey hooks. Put some grease on the strut mount bearing and never seize all your attaching bolts so you won't need the "prayer" the next time you take it apart.

[zoom zoom]

^

My lower strut bolts in the rear twisted, but they're so seized in the rubber, it twisted the whole lower part out of the nut, bending out the metal that wraps out around the lower bolt. It's still sitting there and I don't know yet what I'm going to do about it. I have beat it, pryed on it, pb blasted it, and hit it with an Impact until my arm was sore from holding the gun up. I didn't want to replace the strut, but it looks like I'm going to..I just wanted different springs.

[georgeb]

^

My lower strut bolts in the rear twisted, but they're so seized in the rubber, it twisted the whole lower part out of the nut, bending out the metal that wraps out around the lower bolt. It's still sitting there and I don't know yet what I'm going to do about it. I have beat it, pryed on it, pb blasted it, and hit it with an Impact until my arm was sore from holding the gun up. I didn't want to replace the strut, but it looks like I'm going to..I just wanted different springs.

You forgot to pray.

[crazyrog17]

zoom zoom, can you reach the 'captured' nut? If so, I was able to stick a short course threaded screw in there to wedge the nut stuck and get the bolt out (on the front, LCA to frame rail).

I actually had to tape the screw to my fingertip to get it up into the frame.

[WmWatt]

Hammer and punch or screw driver to drive off the clip holdling the brake hose to the strut and to tap it back on after. Can also use the hammer and punch or a cold chisel or screwdriver to wedge the steering knuckle away from the strut. I wedged a block of wood under the wheel to hold it up after the strut was removed.

[Christ]

I'm sure nobody will like this, but I've never used a spring compressor to remove/install springs in my life, and I've done literally hundreds of them.

If they're still in the car, remove the nut that holds the strut stem into the bearing (mount), jack the car up, set it nicely on stands, and remove the bolt that holds the lower control arm from the chassis so the arm can move freely away from the body. That will give you enough room, as you jack the car up, to unbolt the two strut/hub mounting bolts, and remove the strut and spring without any pressure on them. Once you've done that, place the spring on the new strut, line it back up (set the spring in the upper bearing seat), put the lower mount bolts in again, replace the control arm mount and the sway bar if you chose to remove it, slowly let the car down and watch that the strut stem goes through the mount hole. You can move it around with a stick while you're letting the car down slowly, but it will pretty much line up on it's own. Install the upper bearing nut, and you're done. (I didn't include the brake line stuff, I'm sure you can figure that part out.)

If you have the struts off the car as a package, removing the springs can be done with an impact and your foot. Stick the impact on the nut, put your foot on the spring, and twist the nut off. The strut cartridge will, obviously, fly a little ways, so do it against a wall/fence/tire/whatever where it's not going to hit anything or anyone. To reinstall the springs after you've done that, look at the reinstallation above.

A spring compressor may be easier, but good ones aren't cheap, and I never think about getting one until I have to do the job again... so I just get it done and don't worry about "special tools".

Another thing you can do before removing the springs is tie them down. Feed a decent piece of rope through the spring a couple times while someone's putting pressure on the car to compress it, then remove the assembly, swap the (still compressed) springs over to the new struts, put it back together, and cut/untie the rope. Doesn't take as much patience.

^^^I've done that with heavy zip ties (a lot of them) before, too. Not as safe, at least in my estimation. I'm sure they weren't going to pop, but I was a bit uneasy with just those little plastic tabs holding the pressure of the spring down. Prefer rope or chain.

[Bert]

I suspect that Zoom Zoom is talking about the long bolt that holds the rear shock to the trailing arm. When they're seized/frozen on to the sleeved rubber shock absorber bushing it makes men out of boys in trying to get them off without breaking. I've dissassembled 4 sets of these (2 Aspires, 2 Festys) over the past year and in all (with only one exception) cases had to resort to a friend's cutting torch to burn through the shock mounts. If the bolt survives all that it can often then still be 'turned out', or, as long as there is even a 'nub' left sticking out of the trailing arm it can be heated-up and vise-gripped to remove it. In all cases I had tried to remove these bolts politely (ie like in the manual) but just couldn't do it. Good old salt action over 10-15 years will do that to car parts.

When it comes time for reassembly, obviously you're gonna get smooth new bolts (ideally higher than common metric 8.8 strength) and grease that sucker (the bolt and the shock sleeve) thoroughly so that situation does not arise again!

[Icedawg]

zoom zoom is indeed talking about ^^ that bolt. And heavy fire to burn it out seems to be the only choice, acetylene torch fire, not propane torch, that just makes it smell. The impact fails because it is impacting on the rubber trying to turn, and that sucks up the torque so it does not get applied to the seized bolt. Maybe a monster 600 ft pounder impact would work, don't know. Cutting is hard, because you have to cut on the inside and the outside and you can't really get at both. A grinder on the strut metal frame around the rubber seems hopeful until you get to the rubber, and then all it does is smell and burn and go no where. Not that I know from experience or anything. Anyhow, that's why you start with prayer... and when you get it apart so you can put a new one in you use antisieze on all parts of the bolt, or grease and antisieze.

[denguy]

I had the same issue with those lower strut bolts rusted in place. Ended up using a long bladed sawsall to reach in and cut everything free, including cutting off that welded in nut. Wasn't easy or fun but that was all I had to work with and it got the job done.

[Bert]

It is often frustrating to the extreme to get stuff loose or apart on what appears to be a simple task when you're a novice or backyard mechanic with only rudimentary tools. I'd only gotten the opportunity to get more ambitious since having access to a shop and friends with air tools, trade experience and torches. Some of these guys can make anything look easy.