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Question on strut removal -
For those that have done it (drivers side), did you remove the axle from the knuckle? The how-to doesn't mention it, and the manual just says to loosen the axle nut. I don't really want to. Will the knuckle move down enough with it still attached?
Some days I hate my contour. Going to leave work Friday, pull away and hear a loud grinding noise. Get out and look, left side of car is way low. Oh great the spring broke and has slipped off the perch and is grinding against the wheel. Call tow truck, first one can't get under the front bumper (SVT), call a flat bed, neither can he. So spent a couple of hours today getting it good enough to drive home. Had to cut out the broken piece, then cut another chunk of the spring off. Then we managed to twist it back in enough. Oh and it's below freezing here 
Thanks
Last edited by GregCarter; 12/04/05 12:14 AM.
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no, do not lossen the axle nut as it is one time use and needs to be torqued to 200 -210 ft-lbs
to get the strut out loosen the strut mount bolt on the hub and raise hub as high as possible on the strut, then separate the ball joint, the hub then can be slid off the strut but becareful to not hyper entend the cv joint. support the hub and drop the strut out
install is the reverse
- 95 Mystique LS - Zetec/5spd
- 99 Contour SeVT Sport - Duratec/5spd
Official NE-CEG Contour/Mustang Family
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Originally posted by BrApple:
no, do not lossen the axle nut as it is one time use and needs to be torqued to 200 -210 ft-lbs
to get the strut out loosen the strut mount bolt on the hub and raise hub as high as possible on the strut, then separate the ball joint, the hub then can be slid off the strut but becareful to not hyper entend the cv joint. support the hub and drop the strut out
install is the reverse
what brapple said is the best way to do it, but I was unable to loosen and seperate my ball joint. I loosened the nut to give me some room and that worked great.
Originally posted by Who the F are You?:
does your family tree not have any branches on it?
99SVT
235hp @ 6550rpm
212tq @ 5350rpm
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Originally posted by RandyCSVT:
Originally posted by BrApple:
no, do not lossen the axle nut as it is one time use and needs to be torqued to 200 -210 ft-lbs
to get the strut out loosen the strut mount bolt on the hub and raise hub as high as possible on the strut, then separate the ball joint, the hub then can be slid off the strut but becareful to not hyper entend the cv joint. support the hub and drop the strut out
install is the reverse
what brapple said is the best way to do it, but I was unable to loosen and seperate my ball joint. I loosened the nut to give me some room and that worked great.
you need to open the hub up some to help the ball joint come out
- 95 Mystique LS - Zetec/5spd
- 99 Contour SeVT Sport - Duratec/5spd
Official NE-CEG Contour/Mustang Family
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the ball joint is held on by a nut and a torx head bolt. I can get the nut off. But the torx head bolt wont come out. Elky even tried to remove it with airtools and it wouldnt budge. If I ever need to remove the ball joint (i.e. replace LCA's) I am just gonna take it to a shop and play dumb about the stuck bolt. It can become their headache!
Originally posted by Who the F are You?:
does your family tree not have any branches on it?
99SVT
235hp @ 6550rpm
212tq @ 5350rpm
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Thanks, I'll try to separate. I took the nut off tonight, but the bolt didn't come out (even with some BFH help), so I sprayed some Release-All on it to leave overnight. See if that helps. I did a wheel bearing on the other side in the summer and the bolt came out with only a bit of BFH action BTW this is a '98 (early) SVT.
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The ball joint bolt required a bit more hammering than I would have liked, but finally got it out. I also need two sets of spring compressors to get the spring compressed, but maybe the one I rented (from Canadian Tire) just wasn't long enough.
Here's a picture of the the broken spring, after I had cut some of it off and twisted it back into position so I could drive home. You can see how it slipped off the spring pad.
Here is the broken piece, along with the piece I cut off, I had to cut the broken piece in two to get it out, but you can clearly see the break vs the cut.
Finally the damage to the rim, might be hard to see in this picture. But there is a gouge around the outer edge of the rim. Lucky didn't damage the tire.
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Originally posted by GregCarter:
The ball joint bolt required a bit more hammering than I would have liked, but finally got it out. I also need two sets of spring compressors to get the spring compressed, but maybe the one I rented (from Canadian Tire) just wasn't long enough.
They probably gave you a coil spring compressor as opposed to a McPhearson Strut compresor (which is really almost always two separate compressors packaged together).
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Originally posted by RandyCSVT:
the ball joint is held on by a nut and a torx head bolt. I can get the nut off. But the torx head bolt wont come out. Elky even tried to remove it with airtools and it wouldnt budge. If I ever need to remove the ball joint (i.e. replace LCA's) I am just gonna take it to a shop and play dumb about the stuck bolt. It can become their headache!
Spray PB on the torx bolt then get an airhammer with a point bit and shoot it out - it works EVERY time! That's what I use. An airhammer is under $30 from Pep Boys.
2000 SVT Turbo 295hp/269ftlb@12psi
#1 for Bendix Brakes Kits!
Knuckles rebuilt w/new bearings $55
AUSSIE ENDLINKS $70
Gutted pre-cats $80/set
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine!
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