Hey peeps,

 

 

          I've got an issue with my car, the passenger side front strut top retainer nut has backed off and now the only thing keeping the spring from going twang is the limit of the suspension.

 

heres a pic:

This was taken with the car on jackstands.

 

 

Anyone have any ideas on how to get this out of the car without bad things happening?

 

 

thanks

 

 

Dave

Edited October 4, 201411 yr by ManYaiK

Have a friend help you..  one person guide (carefully) the strut top back into the hole while the other jacks up the lower control arm until you can put a bolt back on it. 

If that doesn't work, you might try and find a set of spring compressing clamps that fit up inside the wheel well, if there is such a thing.

 

Or try the opposite of what Mykeys Toy said. Jack the car up on that side, remove the caliper and rotor, remove the radius rod and sway bar linkage, this should lower the control arm as much as possible. Then loosen the top nuts on the strut and see if it drops. You might want to remove that axle first to get enough wiggle room. If that doesn't work, I guess as a last resort you could try to pop the control arm bolt out while everything else above is removed. That sounds a bit dangerous though.

If my strut spring compressor wouldn't fit in there, I'd put the cat on the ground, use chain or straps to tie the coils in place. At least on 2 sides. Then jack it up. Depending on how much wiggle room to get it out then remove things mentioned in the post above.

Then use the spring compressor to safely unload the makeshift clamp / strap. Be very careful, lots of stored energy there.

id probably put a spring compressor where you can, but don't try to actually compress it, just get it tight to help limit travel.  then a floor jack under the ball joint.  remove the sway bar and radius rod bolts and let down the floor jack.

 

I'm actually kind of in the air as to whether the spring compressor is safer or more hazardous in this case, id probably just use the floor jack.

 

make sure the jack goes at an angle so you are not right beside the wheel well when you lower it.

Put plenty of large cable ties on it to contain the spring forces (They are stronger than you think) then take the strut out of the car where you can use spring compressors safely to reassemble the errant strut and loctite the nut and if possible find a newer nut this one is probably damaged not so the thread on the hardened strut shaft.

Put plenty of large cable ties on it to contain the spring forces (They are stronger than you think) then take the strut out of the car where you can use spring compressors safely to reassemble the errant strut and loctite the nut and if possible find a newer nut this one is probably damaged not so the thread on the hardened strut shaft.

Cable ties? You're a braver man than me!

I'd use light gauge welded link chain and bolts, personally.

Uhh, Ohh.    Haven't heard from OP since Friday.   He must have used the cable ties.   Poor guy !

It's all good guys, I'm stil alive :-) Haven't had a chance to work on it because of school. but will be tomorrow if the weather cooperates.

Please be very careful and have someone there to call 911 should something go wrong.

SUCCESS!!!!

 

 

Got it out safe and sound. I couldn't get my spring compressors around the spring with the car on the ground, so I put it back on jack stands and put the jack under the ball joint for support. Then I disconnected the radius rod and tie rod from the knuckle but it still wouldn't drop far enough. So then I moved the jack to under the hub so I could disconnect the ball joint from the knuckle. That allowed the spring to decompress enough for me to get the spring compressors on the spring and be able to remove it from the car.

 

Thanks for the words of wisdom and caution guys, it was a bit scary.

 

 

Dave