phil
CEG'er
I spent this past Saturday replacing all four struts on my '95 Contour GL Duratec, so I thought I'd share what I learned.
First, some background: I've got a fair amount of mechanical experience, but I haven't done a strut/spring replacement before this project (my '86 Mustang has struts in the front - but separate from the spring, so no spring compressor required).
- I've got a decent selection of tools, including a 1/2" impact wrench (which really helps on this job). I got the cheapie Harbor Freight spring compressor - on sale for $8.99 last week! It works fine for Contour struts.
- I replaced my struts with stock units and the original springs, so my experience doesn't address performance or lowering issues. I re-used the original strut mounts and related hardware.
- The 'How To' procedure is invaluable. It's worth reading through several times before doing the job, but I must admit that several sections didn't make sense until I actually got in there and did it.
- When doing the front struts, I found it very difficult to get the end of the ball joint out of the knuckle. The procedure calls for loosening the bolt on top of the strut first - but I found that I had to tighten it back up to create some clearance to get the ball joint end out. My A-frame was *barely* able to swing down far enough to get the clearance I needed. In retrospect, I probably should have used the spring compressor to gain some extra clearance (which probably would have required modifying the compressor slightly to be usable while the strut was still in place).
- The rear struts are easier than the fronts. I used the 'shortcut' method documented in the procedure (i.e., remove the strut unit from the car without first compressing the spring). It worked fine.
- The impact wrench makes the bolts on the end of the strut rod easy: No need to fool with finding a way to keep the strut shaft from turning; just let the impact wrench do it all.
- Use penetrating oil on all fasteners before trying to remove them! I used PB Blaster.
- I was replacing all four brake rotors at the same time, so I spent some extra time dealing with that hardware.
I spent about 12 hours on the entire project (which includes, at one point, cleaning up and heading out for a parts store run). A very long day. It would have been shorter had I done this before, but it's still a time-consuming project.
I'd be curious to see the tricks and shortcuts that real shops use when doing this job; no full-time mechanic could make his pay taking as long as I did on this job.
First, some background: I've got a fair amount of mechanical experience, but I haven't done a strut/spring replacement before this project (my '86 Mustang has struts in the front - but separate from the spring, so no spring compressor required).
- I've got a decent selection of tools, including a 1/2" impact wrench (which really helps on this job). I got the cheapie Harbor Freight spring compressor - on sale for $8.99 last week! It works fine for Contour struts.
- I replaced my struts with stock units and the original springs, so my experience doesn't address performance or lowering issues. I re-used the original strut mounts and related hardware.
- The 'How To' procedure is invaluable. It's worth reading through several times before doing the job, but I must admit that several sections didn't make sense until I actually got in there and did it.
- When doing the front struts, I found it very difficult to get the end of the ball joint out of the knuckle. The procedure calls for loosening the bolt on top of the strut first - but I found that I had to tighten it back up to create some clearance to get the ball joint end out. My A-frame was *barely* able to swing down far enough to get the clearance I needed. In retrospect, I probably should have used the spring compressor to gain some extra clearance (which probably would have required modifying the compressor slightly to be usable while the strut was still in place).
- The rear struts are easier than the fronts. I used the 'shortcut' method documented in the procedure (i.e., remove the strut unit from the car without first compressing the spring). It worked fine.
- The impact wrench makes the bolts on the end of the strut rod easy: No need to fool with finding a way to keep the strut shaft from turning; just let the impact wrench do it all.
- Use penetrating oil on all fasteners before trying to remove them! I used PB Blaster.
- I was replacing all four brake rotors at the same time, so I spent some extra time dealing with that hardware.
I spent about 12 hours on the entire project (which includes, at one point, cleaning up and heading out for a parts store run). A very long day. It would have been shorter had I done this before, but it's still a time-consuming project.
I'd be curious to see the tricks and shortcuts that real shops use when doing this job; no full-time mechanic could make his pay taking as long as I did on this job.
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