Rear Strut replacement - brake hose disassembly?

[forester2002s]

2002 Forester 5MT 210,000-km

 

I am ready to replace my rear suspension struts.

The FSM says to disconnect the rear brake-hose from the caliper, and to tape the hose out of the way.

 

Is this necessary?

I would prefer not to have to re-bleed the brakes after I've finished.

So can I leave the brake-hose connected to the caliper, and just support the rear-axle and brake hub/rotor assembly? Will this give me enough room to remove and reinstall the strut?

 

I haven't done Subaru struts before, so any help would be appreciated.

[upnorthguy]

I'm not sure on those Forester struts, but on the Legacy the brake line runs through a little bracket mounted on the strut.  To remove the brake line you need to disconnect it from the caliper and slide the line through.

Many people, like you, do not want to bleed the lines if they don't have to so they cut the bracket a bit to bend a tab to get the line free without disconnecting.

 

In this pic the retainer clip that holds the brake line stationary in the bracket is being removed.  If you remove that clip you can make a cut and bend the tab to allow the brake line out, and then you can do the same thing on the new strut so you can slide the brake line in and then use the clip to hold it in place again.

The person that posted that pic emphasized to make sure not to cut the brake line when cutting the tab.  

[john in KY]

Should be no need to cut the holding bracket. Reason will be obvious once the clip is removed and the line pulled slightly in one direction. 

[Gloyale]

Should be no need to cut the holding bracket. Reason will be obvious once the clip is removed and the line pulled slightly in one direction. 

 

NO! 

 

You will need to either cut a notch in the bracket to slip the line out (and cut new strut bracket to reinstall line)

 

Or you need to disconnect the brakeline from the caliper.

[Fairtax4me]

How old is your brake fluid? This is a good time for a flush.

 

Find a rubber plug the correct size to fit in the end of the banjo line. When you unbolt it from the caliper plug it off to avoid fluid loss.

[heartless]

2002 may have the style that unbolts from the strut (i know 06 does), but if not, it is easiest and fastest to to cut/clip the bracket to get the brakeline out.

 

There are 2 common ways to accomplish this.

One is to use a hacksaw or dremel with a cut-off wheel to cut the bracket - has a high risk of damaging the brake line.

The other is to use a pair of bolt cutters - small ones will work - to clip the bracket - much lower chance of damaging the brakeline

 

leaving the brakeline attached does make it a little more difficult to wrestle the old strut out around things, but not impossible.

[forester2002s]

Thanks for the responses. Very helpful.

I've just finished replacing the rear-left strut. I'm doing the right side tomorrow.

 

I chose not to have to re-bleed the brakes, and so left the brake-hose attached to the caliper

Having removed the holding-clip, I then cut the hose-bracket (on the old strut) with a single hacksaw cut to the side of the bracket. And then I twisted the bracket open to release the brake-hose.

 

Then I modified the new strut, by hacksawing two cuts 15-mm apart, on the top of the hose-bracket. That way I could slide the hose-fitting in place, and reinsert the clip. Worked like a charm. I was going to also to zip-tie the hose in place, but I didn't need to, as the clip appeared to hold the hose in place securely.

 

For others attempting a strut replacement, the other tricky procedure is to get the nut off the top of the piston-rod.

Since I don't have Subaru's 'special tool', I did it this way:

- 17-mm socket placed over the nut, and held on its O/D using a pipe-wrench;

- then insert a 6-mm hex-wrench through the 1/2" sq. hole in the socket, and into the hex hole in the top of the piston-rod;

- and turn as required.

It's a bit tricky, but it works.

 

Thanks again for your helpful comments.

[Fairtax4me]

The old strut is going to the scrap yard anyway most of the time, just grab the strut rod with a pair of vice grips.

[forester2002s]

"The old strut is going to the scrap yard anyway most of the time, just grab the strut rod with a pair of vice grips."

 

Yes, I tried that. But the piston-rod is so hard and so smooth, that my vice-grips wouldn't hold on it. Maybe I need some better vice-grips!

 

But, in any case, that wouldn't work when reassembling the new strut. I wouldn't want to damage the new piston-rod with vice-grips.

[heartless]

a set of 'pass through' sockets is a worthwhile investment if you do a lot of your own work. saves wear & tear on the regular sockets.

[forester2002s]

Thanks for that suggestion, Heartless.

 

I see that Harbor Freight have a set of pass-through sockets on sale for $19.99, including the driver.  Wow!

http://www.harborfreight.com/combo-go-thru-socket-set-sae-metric-21-pc-67974.html

[heartless]

that looks very much like the set we have, comes in a plastic storage case. I know there are those that will knock Harbor Freight, but some of their stuff isnt too bad.