Front strut removal

[ken182]

tried to do the front suspension today and couldnt get the front strut out

i couldnt get the hub to drop low enough. there is a small link from the wishbone to the subframe which looks like it may give a little more room. i couldnt get this slack though as it was so tight it would round off the allen key so didnt attempt it in the end


what exactly needs to be removed to give enough access to removing the strut? does the arm need to come off?

cheers

 

[ben_r1]

I've never had trouble with mine on the 197 however had problems on the 182 with getting the hub low enough to remove the strut. Turns out it was the anti roll bar keeping it up, try disconnecting it from the opposite sides hub or the very least jack the other side off the ground.

 

[Jonesy]

or use a jack to lift the strut up, thats what i did

 

[ben_r1]

or use a jack to lift the strut up, thats what i did

To compress it?

 

[ken182]

I've never had trouble with mine on the 197 however had problems on the 182 with getting the hub low enough to remove the strut. Turns out it was the anti roll bar keeping it up, try disconnecting it from the opposite sides hub or the very least jack the other side off the ground.

its on my clio 197 im having trouble with

you have to disconnect the roll bar anyway as it bolts to the strut

i rounded off the allen head inside the rod as they were so tight so am another £50 lighter now. pretty pissed off with it.

when you say jack the strut up you mean leave the 3 top bolts in and jack it through the hub assembly?

whats stops it firing out once clear of the hub?

how do you get the new strut in if you jack the old one out?


surely there is another way. i have tried to disconnect the short tie rods but theyre solid. soaked them in WD40 and they wont budge. i dont want to try any harder as i dont want to round the allen head on these too!

 

[Foxspeed]

the links will be on a taper so will need something like a ball joint seperator to split them

 

[ken182]

cant even get the nuts off for the tie rods. theyre absolutely solid. i have a ball joint splitter but dont need one for the tie rod anyway. its just the same as the drop link from the ARB

i think if the tie rods were off it would make all the difference as i think it is only them or the track rod end which can be stopping the wishbone dropping any further

 

[ken182]

just had a look at the diagrams in the workshop manual and the only thing i can see which could possibly be holding the hub up is either the track rod end or the small tie rid from the wishbone to the hub. i cant see how these could give an extra 50mm or so clearance i need but maybe they would.

 

[BenW]

I had the same problem on my old fiesta when trying to do the passenger side, the driveshaft is shorter on this side which means the hub doesn't drop as low as the drivers side.

In the end I took it to a garage and I think they just levered the wishbone down to give the 10-20mm Extra that was needed

If you need 50mm I think you need to look at disconnecting the wishbone, which sounds like a right pain in the arse

 

[ken182]

the problem with the 197 is that the strut sits in a 'cup' rather than clamped around the upright on 2 bolts like most cars.the strut sits inside the cup around 100mm so needs loads of room to remove it

i think that the wishbone to subframe bolts are the way to go. i dont want to split any ball joints on the hub as i dont want to disturb them so it looks like it needs loosening on the subframe side instead and lowered on a jack.

i am taking it to a garage tomorrow. sod it. its snowing outside and i wasted a full day yesterday dealing with rusty bolts etc.

one garage i asked ages ago said they lower the whole subframe down so they can do both sides at once.