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replacing front struts and lower control arms

No Title

I am thinking ahead to this weekend when I will have the chance to start working on the fronts. However, one thing that puzzles me is the top rubber hat on the front struts - the part that is above the strut well (see pic). The rubber hat is not shown in any teardown I have, and appears to be larger than the diameter of the hole in the strut tower. Do I just wiggle this part through the opening ?
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thanks,

Mad Dog
 

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No Title

I tried posting this last night, but it still hasn't shown up…so lets try again…
I am reading through the Haynes manual and the Ford manual on the front strut replacement, but I see something on my car that isn't explained in the manuals. Under the top strut nut, there is a rubber hat of a diameter that is larger that the opening in the strut tower (see pic). So how do I lower the strut ? Do I have to wiggle the rubber hat through the hole ? I can't remove the top nut because the spring is under compression, and none of the manuals state anything about using a spring compressor while the strut/spring is still mounted in the car.
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thanks,

Mad Dog
 

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No Title

Im partway through the passenger side strut and LCA replacement, but have a problem. I am at the part where I have to put the knuckle back on the ball joint. I can lower the LCA enough so that clearance isn't a problem, but I cannot push the knuckle far enough in towards the engine so that I can get the pinch over the balljoint. At best I can get it about 1" away, but no closer. It feel like the axle has no more push to it.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 

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If you're referring to getting the ball joint low enough to insert into the knuckle, I put a crowbar thru the LCA....and put my weight on it to get that one inch. Others have loosened the subframe bolts a little for the clearance but I'm scared of having the retainer nuts breaking free and spinning, and all the crap that goes with that.Make sure that your tripods are properly seated after you get it all together.

One thing you may run into is the ball joint going into the pinch point crooked. If that happens...use previously mentioned crow bar to take stress off the joint...push in on the strut/knuckle until it lines up.

If the axle won't go any further in...your tripods may not be lined up.
 
I can get the LCA low enough so that the knuckle will pass over it (ball joint) cleanly (using a pry bar). The problem is that I can't push the knuckle in far enough, towards the engine, so that the pinch and the ball joint are lined up.

When I took the LCA out, the LCA, and knuckle/strut all popped out, away from the car a few inches. I can't see a way to avoid that. COuld that of released some tension in the CV joints ?

I can rotate the hub a little in either direction, and the rotation seems to be getting transmitted back along the shaft. If my tripods aren't lined up, how can I tell for sure, or fix it ? I havnt done this sort of thing before, so I assume tripods = part of the CV joints ?

I am assuming that using a hammer to try and force the shaft towards the engine is a bad idea. I don't think CV joints like that.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
Already did, thanks for responding. I still can't get it close enough,not sure what to do. I can see the rotation seems to be transmitted all the back to the transmission, so if something is decoupled, it must not be all the way.

thnaks,

Mad Dog
 
Look to see that your axle is seated in the intermediate shaft. I wouldn't think that would come out any, but if there wasn't a d-ring on the end which keeps it seated, it might (but doubtful).

Sounds more like your tri-pods are not aligned. Basically a 3 lobed joint that fits into a cup with 3 indentions. The boot alone may be causing the axle to rotate. Look at the driver's side boot, and see how compact that one is. If your passenger boot has grossly more expansion...try rotating the shaft that fits into the knuckle while holding that tri-pod cup still...and see if you can get it to seat better in the cup.

Do you remove the axle nut or is it still attached?
 
When I put the car in neutral, the entire shaft rotates pretty smoothly. It doesn't appear that the boot is transmitting the rotation and I can't see the boot material torque. I did some reading on the tripods, and as far as I can tell, after a lot of rotating and pushing that the tripods are in place. Thats an educated guess at best. I had a friend come over who knows something about cars, and he can't find anything obvious that I did wrong or was missing, Our best guess at this point is that when the whole strut/knuckle popped out when released from the ball joint, it pushed something in the drivetrain about 1" out away from the engine. I don't have any way to reposition anything like that.

So, I have to eat crow and see if the local dealer can send a guy to look at it and give me an opinion. Right now the axle is still in the hub. I havnt touched that.

This sucks. I have spent 3 days and it was going great until I got to the point of trying to get the knuckle back on the ball joint.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
Nothing comes easy. I got the 32mm socket for the driveshaft nut and the hub puller tool. I put the brake disk and calipers back on, and discovered that with the strut/knuckle not on the LCA, its pretty hard to keep the knuckle from moving. I put the jack under the knuckle and that helped but then realized with only 2 foot of extension, I wasn't going to budge that nut. So, I have to get a longer cheater bar.

So, if I understand this correctly, the collar on the intermediate shaft (we are talking about the passengers side here) prevents it from disengaging from the transmission, which means it must be the CV axle that is extended too far out (1" ?).
Once I get the CV axle out of the hub, this gives me more freedom to try and wiggle the inner CV joint back into where it should be. This raises a few questions:

1) assuming I get the tripods back into place, do I have to keep it compressed to prevent the tripods from popping out again ?
2) If I can't line the tripods up is the next step to slit open the inner boot to see inside ?
3) how difficult is it to get the CV axle back into the hub ? Is there a puller tool that helps you lock the axle back into the hub ?

If I can't the the CV lined back up, I think I will have to pull the axle completely off so I can get a strut back on the balljoint so I can get a tire on it, so I can get it towed out of my garage (grinds teeth). I could get a new CV axle, but I am completely in deep water at this point.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
No Title

I hate to keep spamming the forum, but I got under the car and put the mirror under the intermediate shaft, just to confirm that when in N, the entire thing rotated back to the transmission. Confirmed. I took the pic below, which is where the CV joint mates to the intermediate shaft. This shows me (I think) that the CV is properly seated to the intermediate shaft. I can use my hands and pull the CV out, maybe 1/2" at most, but thats it. Ford manual says you need the special tool AND a slide hammer to get it out. So, I am pretty sure thats not the problem.

fetch


I tried raising the knuckle and outer CV up and then try to reseat the inner CV, but the boot is so firm, I can't get any rotation. I tried in N and in gear, with no change. I tried pulling the joint out some, until the boot started to deform. Then I tried twisting. Still no luck. I _swear_ I can feel a tripod wheel through the boot, and if Im not crazy, thats totally not where it should be. Maybe the tripod is hung on tripod housing insert (part 9 on the ford diagram) and I can put the car in gear to prevent the intermediate shaft from turning, and try and rotate the tripod so it snaps back into the boot.

or I could cut the boot and know for sure.

I could pull the whole CV axle out, but I fear its a PITA to get back in. Anyone have any experience installing one ? The Ford manual is laughably concise:

"Install the Right Halfshaft" (graphic of someone putting the half shaft onto the intermediate shaft)


thanks,

Mad Dog
 

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Tom - one of your earlier pics depicted the CV joint boot extended. My "best guess" is that a CV joint has indeed become "uncoupled". Someone suggested a comparison to the passenger side. I agree - tape measure may help as well. Compare that which has no issues with that which is not "playing nice".
 
I finally got it in place ! After looking at the Haynes manual pictures for this and the Ford exploded part diagram, the only possibility was that the shaft had to have been fully disconnected (just like you guys were telling me). Since I could feel the tripod through the boot, and the tripod was lined up with the sockets, there was only one possibility left - it was the boot that was the problem.

When I removed the strut and LCA, the unit was under pressure and the shaft fully disengaged from the tripod sockets (popped out a few inches away from the car). The boot then contracted quickly, and blocked the tripods from socketing back in. By poking and prodding the boot, the shaft slipped right back in immediately.

It was then pretty easy to get the knuckle back on the balljoint. I won't be able to run all the bolts down and test the car until Friday, but I think this is solved (fingers crossed).

At least I now have the feeling I could replace a CV axle if I had to. Live and learn.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
That's good to hear...and TBH...a lot of us have been just where you were. Frustrated as hell and then bam...it lines up and falls into place.
 
I was more scared when the problem cropped up. It took me a while to nerve up to doing the fronts by myself. When the problem happened, I was beginning to wonder how I was going to get the car out of the garage (I have a steep, curved driveway).

So, fingers crossed, I can run the car tomorrow, then replace the strut on the drivers side on Sat.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
No Title

OK, got it all back together, and just rolled it a bit back and forth. So far so good. Longer test in the morning. I was wondering, with the BAT struts, should I be tightening the top nut down further ? See pic. THe OEM strut had about 1/2" of thread showing. Right now, with the nut as shown there is a very slight play in the top hat, about what the OEM side feels like.

fetch

thanks,

Mad Dog
 

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No Title

OK, got it all back together, and just rolled it a bit back and forth. So far so good. Longer test in the morning. I was wondering, with the BAT struts, should I be tightening the top nut down further ? See pic. The OEM strut had about 1/2" of thread showing. Right now, with the nut as shown there is a very slight play in the top hat, about what the OEM side feels like.
 

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