Struts are the easiest things to take off !

I had to loosen the subframe bolts to get the struts out when I changed mine. I loosened all of them some, but I took the ones on the side I was working on out to where there was only a couple of turns left holding them in. Then I pried the control arm down with a big 'ol prybar.

Oh, and while you have it torn apart that far, you might as well replace the sway bar bushings with some urethane ones. You need to drop the rear of the subfame to get at one of the bolts for the bushing mount, so you're pretty much there already. And you don't want to go through all of this AGAIN anytime soon, do you?!?

You might check your control arm bushings for cracking/tearing too, for the same reason.

Marty

What worked for me was to use a long pry bar (about 4 foot long), and sit on the end of the pry bar, while I used my hands to maneuver the strut out of the knuckle. It takes a lot of force to move that control arm.

Yep, key is a very long pry bar. Actually getting them out is not the hardest part and you can somewhat knock and pull to just get them out,, but getting new ones in is harder since you gotta get it going in right direction into the strut tower and into the knuckle.
This my help you: http://www.contour.org/mods/mods.php?s=howto&displayid=22

You kinda get the hang of it after you've done it a couple of times. The first one I did must have taken eight hours of beating, banging, prying, kicking, and jacking, using floor jacks, bottle jacks, pry bars, 2 x 4's, and anything else I could get my hands on. Like Kremit said, the problem is not getting them apart, but getting them back together. Just after I finally got my first one re-installed, I discovered that my driveaxle had slipped out in the process, and I had to tear everything apart again. Now that I've changed them about half a dozen times, instead of taking eight hours each, I can probably do one in 7 hours and 40 minutes.

Nah, two hours is plenty.

We did my suspension in about 5-6 hours. If we did it again, we could probably do it in 4 hours or less.

im doing my suspension this spring, cant wait to see how nong its gonna take

Originally posted by Russell-3L:
im doing my suspension this spring, cant wait to see how nong its gonna take

You did an engine swap,, if it takes you over 4 hours for the suspension, then u,,,, u suck.

The first time you do it on the front its a [censored]. but you find easy ways to get it done. on my 95 we had the front left come unsplined. which was a total [censored] to work with and gave us a horrible opinion of the uninstall/install. When I got my 99, I was gonna pay someone to do it, and my dad said hell no we will do it again. Took us 12 hours max to pull them out of my 95, pull them out of my 99, swap them and reinstall them into the other car. The only part that took lots of time was installing it into my 95s front left. The rest was very easy.

Unbolt the spindal from the A-arm and slide the spindal off the A-arm using some leverage to get it off. Get the biggest hammer you can and tap on the top of the spindal until the strut comes out. Make sure the strut is still attached to the strut towers so something is pulling up on the strut. Use lots of WD40. To get a new one in you'll want to sand out the inside of the spindal and sand down the strut a bit. Mine slid right back in after a bit of sanding but getting them out took a long time.

Originally posted by Blackcoog:
Unbolt the spindal from the A-arm and slide the spindal off the A-arm using some leverage to get it off. Get the biggest hammer you can and tap on the top of the spindal until the strut comes out. Make sure the strut is still attached to the strut towers so something is pulling up on the strut. Use lots of WD40. To get a new one in you'll want to sand out the inside of the spindal and sand down the strut a bit. Mine slid right back in after a bit of sanding but getting them out took a long time.

damn straight, I didn't want to put dents in mine so I put a board in between and hammered the board, works wonders. Also when putting it back on, you can hit the side or the top of the spindle until the strut drops back in too. Its the quickest easiest way.

Get a CD manual and follow the directions for suspension R&R. PM Todras for the manual!

-Andy

They guy who changed mine (after I got into it and recognized the limits of my patience and ability) had a HELL of a time with the front struts. What a stupid [censored] design.

Actually is pretty common to have to take off the lower ball joint to remove the strut. Just because you don't understand something doesn't make it stupid. At least our lower ball joints don't fail like most older hondas.

-Andy

i had no problems doing my front struts. i compressed them as far as possible and they came right out, no problems. I dunno why everyone has such a hard time doing them. A brass hammer helps alot too!!! If the strut is stuck in the knuckle you can beat the sheeit out of it and not have to worry about destoying the knuckle with the brass. Oh and PATIENCE is the key once you lose it FORGET IT!!!! Anyone that lives by the BFH isn't a mechanic. Oh and if these cars where Hondas everything would be easy to work on and they wouldn't break all the time

Originally posted by Andy W.:
Actually is pretty common to have to take off the lower ball joint to remove the strut. Just because you don't understand something doesn't make it stupid. At least our lower ball joints don't fail like most older hondas.

-Andy

I "understand" how it works and I "understand" that the strut is clamped into the spindle, but I "understand" that it very often refuses to come loose, much less come all the way out of the spindle, and it is also my "understanding" that the shop manual doesn't address having to undo the ball joint, so that as far as the factory is concerned, you shouldn't have to. And I also "understand" that most other strut cars out there use a simple but effective and relatively painless bolt-it-to-the-spindle method of attachment, which also provides a nice way of adjusting caster and camber if need be, unlike the Contour. So as far as I'm concerned, the Contour's method of attaching the strut to the spindle is stupid on multiple levels, not because I "don't understand" it, but because I DO.

Took 12+ hrs the first time...could definately do it in 2 now...The secrets to the job are a giant pry bar and a BFH. With those 2 tools, it's super simple.

With the proper tools, i.e. a wedge that is split like a tunning fork, they pop right out everytime! As for the Strut to spidle connection, a little PB Blaster, time, and patience, I've never had any problem. I've have more problems with Koni's being fat and having to pry it open a little! Again, a thin wedge and a hammer fixes that!

-Andy

Here is how I got mine out. I've done the spring/strut swap twice on a contour. The first time is took 11 hours because I/we could not get the struts out of the arm. The same problem you are having. The second time it took 3 hours using this trick below..hee hee

I supported the A-arm and the jack pushed the strut up just high enough to let it pop out.

To get them back in I/we dropped the subframe. I should have done that in the first place...live and learn.

Dude you are the Freakin Bomb.... I would have never thought of that !!!! that makes perfect sense....and when I get back from being underway....thats the first place iam going....The Hobby shop !
Thanks Alot bro,
George

I was thinking about doing my struts when I first read this post and I have since installed BAT Euro Struts on my stock SVT springs.

It really wasn't hard getting the strut off at all. I just hit that mother like hell with a BFH and it came right out every time. The problem was always gettin it back in. But by the fourth one it was cake.

First strut took about 6 hours.

But that includes 3 trips to sears to pick up a few things, a trip to pick up my sister cause her battery died, and an hour break at pizza hut.

Second one took probably 3 hours.

And then the rear two probably 1.5hrs for the first and we finished out the last one in under 45mins.

The most time was defintely spent getting the bottom of the strut back in the knuckle on each strut.

Originally posted by Shaun G:
Here is how I got mine out. I've done the spring/strut swap twice on a contour. The first time is took 11 hours because I/we could not get the struts out of the arm. The same problem you are having. The second time it took 3 hours using this trick below..hee hee

I supported the A-arm and the jack pushed the strut up just high enough to let it pop out.

To get them back in I/we dropped the subframe. I should have done that in the first place...live and learn.

Sorry but that is simply retarded! If you pop out the lower ball joint and slide the caliper mount backwards the struts pop right out! Get a manual!

-Andy

Quote:

Sorry but that is simply retarded! If you pop out the lower ball joint and slide the caliper mount backwards the struts pop right out! Get a manual!

-Andy

He is right, I printed off the how to here on CEG, it helped me out!

-Jeff-

I suspect there is a difference in replacing the struts on the early model and late model 'tours/stiques'. If you read the umpteen million posts about this subject, it seems that you have some people who say it is relatively easy, and some who say it is very difficult. I've had mine out 2 or 3 times, and even though it gets easier after you've done it a time or two, I would have to say that it is still a very difficult job.

I suspect that when Ford changed the control arms, from horizontal to vertical bushings (or was it the other way around?), that the change also affected the ease or difficulty of removing and replacing the struts. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd go back through all the posts, and see if the people who thought the job was easy/difficult drove a car with the early model or late model control arms.

It does seem that 98+ owners can get their control arms to go further down than our's, but it's still a relatively easy job once you figure it out.

Uhh, the first time I did have the manual. I returned the manual because I was so pissed off that I could not get the struts out after following word for word, that I wanted my money back.

Simply stated, the A arms just will not drop low enough to remove the struts. Even when you put on spring compressors. I'll say it one more time. The A arms will not drop low enough to remove the struts. You really have two options. One, push the struts up or two, lower the subframe.

And what lower ball joint are talking about? The steering ball joint? Cause if you look at the pic it's already out.

The early SVT's had different A arm bushings.

Originally posted by Andy W.:

Originally posted by Shaun G:
Here is how I got mine out. I've done the spring/strut swap twice on a contour. The first time is took 11 hours because I/we could not get the struts out of the arm. The same problem you are having. The second time it took 3 hours using this trick below..hee hee

I supported the A-arm and the jack pushed the strut up just high enough to let it pop out.

To get them back in I/we dropped the subframe. I should have done that in the first place...live and learn.

Sorry but that is simply retarded! If you pop out the lower ball joint and slide the caliper mount backwards the struts pop right out! Get a manual!

-Andy

I compress my springs as far as I can. Then I pound the strut free from the knuckle with a piece of BRASS. it usually makes it about right to the very bottom of the strut. Then I just tap the knuckle to the right or left and the strut will come right out of the knuckle. Installation is much easier with the lowering springs on. I'll be replacing my H&R's with GC's soon I should take pics

Originally posted by Shaun G:

Simply stated, the A arms just will not drop low enough to remove the struts. Even when you put on spring compressors. I'll say it one more time. The A arms will not drop low enough to remove the struts. You really have two options. One, push the struts up or two, lower the subframe.

Then please tell me and countless others how we managed to remove the struts without lowering the subframe or do what you did? PRY THE A-arm DOWN,,, it's that easy, just like the how-to on this site says to do. Though you gotta do some serious prying,, it's a helluva lot easier than dropping the subframe or trying to get a jack in there,, think about it, it's basically does the same thing. Now strut removal on a 98+ is most likely easier than on a pre98,, but still no need to put a jack in there or lower the subframe. Just put a pry bar to it (long one) and have someone strong pry the arm down, doesn't take long at all.

I tried that and it did not work..sorry... maybe we don't have the same A-arm bushings.

Next undo the lower pinch bolt from the lower ball joint (found under the knuckle). You will need a METRIC Torx-Bolt set to hold the pinch bolt form turning. Remove the bolt totally and then use a LARGE screwdriver or pry bar to separate the ball joint stud from the underside of the knuckle (place the screwdriver in the gap between the A-arm ad the bottom of the knuckle, but DON'T damage the ball joint boot). If it doesn't come out all the way, stand up, place you foot on the lower A-arm and step down hard , swinging away the strut and knuckle as it clears the ball joint.

lol...anyways.. I stood on the damn arm and it would not come down.

So you tried stepping or prying? We tried stepping but just not enough force can be applied that way... a very long pry bar, correctly used, does fine.

Well, I don't have a very long pry bar. So,to each his own and the issue I'm having is not how to do it but that the "manual" never says your need a "very long pry bar" to push the arm down.

Ok, here we go! Push the a-arm like that will only bend it or the frame element that it hits!

The ball joint I am talkin about it below the brake assembly right at the a-arm. It has a 7/8 nuts and retaining pin in it! If you had a manual you would know what it was! The steering ball joint is actually the tie rod end and knuckle!

You have to use a special tuning fork wedge and a BFH to break the ball joint loose. It will pop loose and be very easy to move. You then place a pry bar between the ball joint and strut assemble and compressing the spring enough to completely remove the ball joint.

-Andy

Please quote where is say's in "the manual" to use your pry bar and I'll STFU..k?

-Andy

Originally posted by Shaun G:
Please quote where is say's in "the manual" to use your pry bar and I'll STFU..k?

-Andy

You may be right, but it sure as heck says it in every post on removing struts... And Andy, I don't remember removing the ball joint to be that hard, just used the ball joint tool, no hammer and it came out easy.... and then the long pry bar came along.

The problem was not getting things apart, but rather getting them put back together. The only way I could get things back in place was to use a long pry bar to force the control arm down. I tried spring compressors, bottle jacks, and floor jacks, but the long pry bar was the only thing that worked.

Later on in life, I replaced the ball joints, and installed joints that bolt in place, rather than being riveted in. With the new ball joints, I can loosen the bolts enough to drop the ball joint half an inch or so, which makes the re-install much easier.

Originally posted by Shaun G:
Please quote where is say's in "the manual" to use your pry bar and I'll STFU..k?

-Andy

If I tell you to take off a bolt. Do you use your hand or get a wrench to give you better grip and more leverage. It's common sense. If you can't pull it apart with your hands, pry it apart. The manual doesn't tell you to get a wrench everytime it says to take a bolt off does it.

-Andy

Originally posted by Andy W.:
Get a CD manual and follow the directions for suspension R&R. PM Todras for the manual!

-Andy

You keep telling everyone to get a manual and it obivious that we have no clue about anything because we don't have manual.

I say, I've got a manual and no where in it does it say "then using a pry bar push the A-arm down". What it does say is that once you loosen/remove everything the A-arm will drop low enough and you will remove the strut.

On the 95's, I will guarantee that as long as the ball joint is in place, no matter what else you take loose, it will not just drop down so the strut can be removed. Maybe the newer models will, but the 95's will have to be forced down, or the ball joints removed. Otherwise, the assembly is just too tight to let it drop. As long as the ball joint is in place, you can use a pry bar, or a jack, or some Goliath with humongous muscles, but somehow the control arm has to be forced down.

Gotta remove ball joint and pry it down..... it's all easy stuff...

Oh man. I see so many wrong ways to do it. I am not sure the difference between the pre-98 to post. But It can't be that different. I haven't read everything but, I have not seen anyone mention loosening the rear subframe bolts

. I have never had to remove the sway bar or detach it in anyway. Just loosen the two bolts, and use your pry bar and a hammer and it works ever time like a charm. For the front, pry bar and a good beater and your set.

for a post 98 I don't need to touch the subframe. I just compress the hell outta the spings, and beat the strut outta the knuckle with a piece of brass. Then tip the knuckle to one side and it comes right out. I don't see why it'd be soo much harder on a pre98???

Okay, we may be getting to the root of the controversy here. I couldn't compress my springs until I got the struts out of the car. I rented a compressor (well, I bought it and then OReily's bought it back when I was through). There was not enough room in the strut tower to connect the compressor. If I could have compressed the springs, then I agree that the rest of the job would have been much much easier.

Is there some kind of special compressor for these cars? Maybe that's where a lot of the problems are coming from, but no matter how much I tried, I could not use the spring compressor while the struts were still installed.

You can't get to the top of the springs with the compressor. You end up having to compress like only 3-4 coils. But you have to comprewss them till they touch each other all the way down!!! I use some cheapees my friend has. They work great for the job, I don't know where he got them, but look for the slimest ones you can get. Once you compress the springs it's easy

Originally posted by livinsvt:
Oh man. I see so many wrong ways to do it. I am not sure the difference between the pre-98 to post. But It can't be that different. I haven't read everything but, I have not seen anyone mention loosening the rear subframe bolts . I have never had to remove the sway bar or detach it in anyway. Just loosen the two bolts, and use your pry bar and a hammer and it works ever time like a charm. For the front, pry bar and a good beater and your set.

We were talking mainly bout the front,, by why remove subframe bolts on front or back? For the front, there are things you gotta remove before you start thinking about prying.

Yea I realized you were talking about the front after I posted. But as far as the front, disconnect the sway bar link up top and take the strut bolts out. You don't need to mess with the front subframe at all. That was just on the rear. But that was also the only thing I disconected on the rear, maybe pulling the brake hoses out of the slot to let it drop more, don't remeber. But Thats all I can think of now. Its pretty straight forward.

I just did the struts on my car. It would have been a pain in the ass to get the front struts off, but my buddy came up with a trick. We used a floor jack and a hammer (2x4 would work). We propped the hammer on the jack and put it under the spring mounting plate on the strut, then just raised the jack until the strut popped out of the bracket. OK, so maybe not the smartest idea, but it worked.

Originally posted by livinsvt:
Yea I realized you were talking about the front after I posted. But as far as the front, disconnect the sway bar link up top and take the strut bolts out. You don't need to mess with the front subframe at all. That was just on the rear. But that was also the only thing I disconected on the rear, maybe pulling the brake hoses out of the slot to let it drop more, don't remeber. But Thats all I can think of now. Its pretty straight forward.

We removed the brake caliper (and thus rotor) ball joint and the thing that connects the sway bar (end-link?) and then pried down... On second front side it took us 45 minutes to complete the job, so it's not too time consuming once you know what to do.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
We removed the brake caliper (and thus rotor) ball joint and the thing that connects the sway bar (end-link?) and then pried down... On second front side it took us 45 minutes to complete the job, so it's not too time consuming once you know what to do.

Well at least you improved your time

. On the 98+ I have never had to remove any hard brake componets(sp). Thus why I beleive I had all 4 struts removed in approx 30 minutes w/ air tools of course. I guess the early ones must be different.

Yeah, I think it all boils down to the different control arms in pre98s vs. 98+. I believe the 98+ arm drops down much easier. An air ratchet is definitely nice to have and saves a lotta time, though I may be changing my rear struts soon without the aid of an air ratchet, enclosed garage or nice tools

,, though definitely gonna use the air ratchet and the long pry bar again for the front.

I'm guessing the pre98's have the 4 bolt front control arms like the EO CSVT? I'm removing all 4 struts, rear subframe, and exhaust. All outside uncovered and it's only 30 degrees out

Heat wave this week though gonna hit 40

WooHoo

We used a two arm gear puller (with a nut on the point, naturally) and the rears popped out very easily without unbolting anything other than the sway bar. Pull it out, unbolt from the top, rinse and repeat for the other side. Putting it back in simply required a rubber mallet and a jack.

Beauty, eh?

Follow the Ford directions! You have to use a pry bar to loosen the ball joint from the A-arm to the knuckle and a foot on the arm to move the knuckle off of the joint. Then the strut falls out of the knuckle! Piece of cake, 45 min a side for installing H&Rs and BAT camber kit. Well, it would have been if we wouldn't have broken a set of spring compressors. Damn Harbor Freight!

I just removed all 4 strut assemblies, my exhaust system, and the rear subframe in less then 4 hours. I really don't understand why everyone has such a hard time with these struts??

Not everyone does,, rear is easy, and front is easy once you do one side and figure it out. Though you run into different difficulties on every car that my give you a harder time,, though you learn to work with those and it's still pretty simple.

LMAO I just installed one os the front struts with the Koni/GC setup

It's too frickin easy

I thought I screwed something up...I had to jack the kunckle up to get it high enough to start the strut into it. Man I love these already. BTW that was with them set as high as they go

Originally posted by Shaun G:
Simply stated, the A arms just will not drop low enough to remove the struts.

Yeah I can vouch for that!

I'm in the process of doing mine now, we're putting on the BAT/Bilstein combo. Both rears didnt take too long, but we COULD NOT get the strut on the front out until we popped the knuckle off the ball joint. We used a Pickle fork, drove it in with a BFH and then slid a giant pipe over the end and pried the CRAP out of it and that finally got it off. Of course we couldnt seem to do this without tearing the boots on the joints so now I'll need new ball joints.

But ... what's even worse is trying to get the lower balljoint back on. Even with me practically hanging off of a huge screwdriver with a 3' pipe over the end, the arm can only go so low before it just hits the subframe cutout and stops, about 1/2 inch too high to slide the ball joint stud into.

After a ridiculous amount of prying, while jacking the knuckle up and PUSHING it in we *somehow* managed to get the stud back in.

It seems to me that Ford could have just cut the contol arm cutouts in the subframe a little lower, maybe just 1/8", and that would let it swing low enough to clear the knuckle and make this job a HELL of a lot easier!!

If I knew how to set up a poll on this site, I would try to find out the year of cars (i.e. the type of control arms) that people say are easy to work on, and the type that is driving people crazy. My 95's were a royal pain.

I'm guessing the 95 has the 4 bolt fornt control arm. If so It's like the EO SVT. My car is a 98.5 it has 2 bolt fornt control arms, which aren't too hard to do. I'm guessing the 95-98 contours( 4 bolt control arm) are the hard ones???

I agree with you - I just dropped my sub frame for a clutch change and there was NO WAY you'd get the ball joint or strut apart or together again without compressing the struts. I have grooves in the sub frame from trying. Then I read the service procedure for removing the steering rack and it straight up tells you to lower the subframe slightly before prying the ball joints out.

Mine's a 97 V6.

Quote:

Allow subframe to lower slightly... Carefully pry the lower control arms from steering knuckles and steering gear coupler from steering gear. Lower and remove subframe.

OK we just got my front end back together using a cool little trick.

Since the ball joint on the right side of the car was held in with bolts instead of rivets, we simply unbolted it, took a new one and popped the stud up into the knuckle, and then pushed the arm down enough to line up the bolt holes on the Ball Joint and bolted it in.

On the left side the original joint was still riveted in, so we cut the tops off the rivets with an angle grinder and then used an air chisel to pop the joint off, rinsed and repeated what we did on the other side.

Now if I ever have to do this again, I'll simply unbolt the new ball joints to get the knuckle back into the lower arm.

Yeah, I did the same thing the last time I had mine apart. The first time I took the struts out, I still had the original ball joints, and it was a pain. Later on, I replaced the ball joints, and I found out the same thing you did. That extra half an inch or so that you gain by loosening the bolts on the replacement ball joints makes a world of difference.

Ive been working on the same thing, tryin to get the struts out of my 96 to put the coilovers on. But after busted tools, fingers, and words that the cuss word fairy wouldnt even say I quit. Trying to find someone to help me that knows what there doing.

we put a pry bar in the control arm then had barge bounce on it a few times, popped right off.

This thread is over 2 years old, BTW.

Originally posted by TourDeForce:
This thread is over 2 years old, BTW.

It's great isn't it, having people searching in the forum and bringing up appropriate posts instead of starting new ones.

C'mon Wes, you don't get to over 6k posts by reading, you get there by starting new threads!

Bringing this back up again.

98+ (vertical bushing LCAs) are EASY. Not as easy as say a honda or escort, but compared to a pre98, which really isn't that hard with the proper tools and knowledge, the struts are easy and quick to remove.

It would be hard for me to do a pre98 by myself, but I did my svt tonight with no problems. Pry bar makes it simple.

i have to say that it can be a pain, but strength prevails! hopefully, haha. but ive got to replace my struts even though i dont want to.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

98+ (vertical bushing LCAs) are EASY. Not as easy as say a honda or escort, but compared to a pre98, which really isn't that hard with the proper tools and knowledge, the struts are easy and quick to remove.

I have to agree. My Dad and I just installed new struts a few weekends ago in under 4 hours. Neither of us had ever done it before, but it was actually pretty easy.

Air tools rock