Removal of front struts

Mike

well, I can attest that you can remove the strut without removing those three bolts. I hate to admit it, but on my first suspension change, I cross threaded one of the three and didn't notice it until it was too late, so I just torqued it down, thinking, I'm not going to change it again. I have since changed it three times, and its very easy to get the strut out without removing them if you unbolt a lot of other stuff.

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tjlazer

Can you please give me some more info on what to do to remove it without removing that bracket?

Thanks!

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ChrisSlicks

Must of been a whole lot of stuff. Removing the bracket is certainly the easiest way possible. Compressing the spring might yield enough clearance to get it out of there without removing it. As I recall the angle on one of the bolts was kind of weird and I couldn't get an impact wrench in there (for removal).

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Girald

I just removed mine to swap springs...
How i did it, you might do it differently

With the car off the ground and front wheels removed..

You start with the sway bar end links ( which attach your struts to the assembly at the bottom).

One those are out, put a jack under the lower control arm and add slight pressure...

Then open the hood, remove the strut mount 3 nuts and ring...

unscrew the brake line nut, unmount the brake line from the strut / and unhinge the rubber line grommets held by the strut

unbolt ( be careful to neutralize the spindle or you can wreck the threads) upper control arm spindle and push it all the way up

Lower the jack or remove it completely if you dont need it

push down on the lower control arm until you can free the strut from the top or from the bottom (removing the strut by pulling the lower end out worked for me



that should be it... I had to pull mine twice since I needed to adjust my upper control arm a few times to 0 camber the wheels.. This order of steps should be fine so long as a jack is supporting assembly right under where the strut is connected, just so it stays in place to make removing the top nuts easier... the strut didnt jump out at me during the process.. the spring is contained withing the strut itself, so it was like removing any other part on the car. The rear oem spring is another matter.



BTW your retorque specs should be:
(Info contained in the FSM in the FSU section)

120 foot pounds for the end link nut that connects the shock absorber to the "transverse link"
62 foot pounds for the end link nut that connects the swaybar
41 foot pounds for the nut/bolt that locks in the control arm spindle
22 foot pounds for the 3 top nuts with the black ring (accessed from the engine bay)

Dont forget threadlocker...

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