silver9962002

I am trying to replace my rear struts and in the installation of the new struts, I am getting hung up. I am using a bottle jack to press the strut up so that I can get the lower bolt through. The strut moves to the outside, so that the cup where the sway bar link mounts gets hung up on the mount, which causes the strut and the mount to move up together.

Any suggestions on how to compress the strut a bit with out moving the axle up as well? The three mounting bolts at the interior are loose, If I tighten them up, would that hold? It seems like a lot of leverage against the mounting area if it tries to splay outward. Could I losen some control arms to allow the axle to swing lower, I can really only move it down an inch or so with out being too aggressive. Not enough to line up the bolt. I tried a couple piece of wood to lever the strut inboard as I jack it up, but that is not quite enough, the bottle jack moves around when I do that. A floor jack moves in a arc, which pulls the strut outward.

Any advice would be appreciated. All the videos make it look easy and I am wondering if it is possible that the strut mount is rotated in a fashion that is causing it to splay outward at the bottom of the strut.
Thanks in advance.

bnh996

I agree most videos make it look easy. Not so for me I had same troubles you describe. I wouldn’t mess with control arms. I had to beat the strut into submission, failing several times when it looked like everything is lined up but the bolt still hangs up in the shaft. Frustrating but keep working and eventually it will work and surprise you when the bolt goes through. You could try using a spring clamp in the wheel well to manipulate the length of the strut, and/or use a separate jack with a block of wood to compress the strut and move it in place.

mffarrell

When I got the strut aligned I inserted a long bolt from the opposite side, then pushed the correct mounting bolt on the other side while wiggling the long bolt. This worked perfectly.

silver9962002

That is what I ended up doing, using a couple spring clamps to shorten the strut enough to jam it in there. I used a punch to line up the holes and was able to get the bolt through just fine. After I figured the clamp trick on the one side, i thought the other side would go much more smoothly. Of course not, but it was easier than it might have been.