thanks buddy im planning on trying this again. if i give the strut to a shop to compress the springs do you think theyll perfectly align everything so ill have a easier time when reinstalling?

and does it matter in the rear if the top of the spring didnt go in the indentation? i got the bottom of the spring in the indentation

 

No and no. If you give it to a shop in pieces they'll have no way of knowing for certain the proper orientation of the top mount to the bottom unless you tell them. Even if they take them apart themselves some techs won't understand the need to reassemble them with the proper orientation.

Same applies in the rear about the rubber piece. The springs you're using don't have the exact same number of coils or end positions of the coils so they won't fit into the rubber indentations exactly like the OEM ones. On the rear though, you can rotate the rubber at the top so that it does line up if you want to.

 

whats the best thing to do next time if i let the shop unassemble and reassemble it. and i run into the problem of it not lining up.

 

You have to tell or show them exactly how you want it lined up before they put it together. If it s is correctly assembled, make sure that they know it has to be put back together oriented the same way. If they assemble it and it's not lined up, the only way to fix it is to disassemble and put it back together aligned properly. Mark on the top hat and the bottom mounting hole that are aligned (just run a yard stick straight down one side and make a small mark with a sharpie) before they take it apart and check that they are lined back up right when you get it back.

 

got it. would it be better to take out that whole bolt thats also holding the swaybar endlink in

 

if you go to a shop just ask to go in the back and watch them do it. That''s what I did. We still screwed it up of course cause we thought the coil end needed to go into the pre-existing indentation in the rubber at the top, but Black Betty came to my rescue. BB, wasn't it 1 stud from the top plate needed to be directly perpindicular to the whole at the bottom of the strut? That means two of the studs at the top will be towards the middle of the car and only one stud will be towards the wheel, right? That advice you gave me was perfect too. Once we ligned it back up that way the bottom bolt slid right back in.

 

100% correct. I stated it backward above. I edited it so that anyone reading this subsequently doesn't get it wrong. One stud should point outward directly at the wheel perpendicular to the direction of the bottom mounting bolt.

 

OMG, NO!!!

If the top nut is left 1 turn loose, you can mount the upper part, twist the bottom by using a large screwdriver through the hole to rotate the strut and line it up.
Then when all done, set the car down on its own weight with the wheels on.
You will be able to tighten the top nut by using and offset box wrench, and holding the shaft with a pair of visegrips.

 

Holding the shaft with vise grips will damage it. It must be absolutely 100% smooth and intact or the internals can be damaged. This will void any warranty claim when the seal starts leaking. Even minor scratches on the piston shaft can cause damage.

 

I meant the top cut out of the shaft.
We had a thread about this a while back.

 

OIC. That makes more sense. You can also use an open end wrench, I think it's 8 mm.

 

are you talking about the top center nut the one that keeps the strut assembly together?

 

yes, that's what they are talking about. Not a bad solution if a shop is going to switch the springs out, just leave it a little loose then turn the strut to line it up. Man the suggestions just keep coming.

 

front springs on thanks to you guys for your advice. we did both sides at once. i found it way easier to just take off front sway bar end link completely then everything was loose. gave the struts to my mechanic to swap the springs for me. told him to try to keep it in line. when i tried to put it back together i lined up the struts tightened the nuts on top a lil then reinstalled the endlink. took an hour to install both sides.

removal on the driver side was a bitch since we had problems with that last time not going back on straight so that strut was stuck to that bottom endlink bolt because it was sitting on a bad angle perpendicularly.

 

Yeah I just fought with my passenger side front and I couldnt get the big 19mm or the bottom 17mm bolt to budge for ****.

Used an impact gun and the first two bolts backed out no problem and it got me excited. Then BAM hit a wall. I eventually gave up, did the rears ( in 12 minutes or so) and am bringing the car to a shop tomorrow or Tuesday and paying $100 bucks

I used a three foot breaker bar and the floor jack handle and neither bolt would budge even with wd-40.

I've never lost to an easy to reach bolt