[JohnnyRed]

Help ASAP Please!!!

Ok, I have lowered several cars, neither being cougars......my friend and I start out, things are going well, then we decide to take off the steering control arm, and the impact wrench sheared it right off that's not the worst problem. We get the strut out no problem and put the spring on the new strut, strut top hat and all that jazz, now. We tried for hours to put the strut back in the knuckle no luck, so now the car is on jackstands, and not even able to drive to a shop to have them fix what we f-ed up. We tried Jacking it up, compressing it, standing on the hub, prying with screwdrivers, and getting the craftsmen 22oz.....Any help is very much appreciated, I have a temporary drive but really need this done tomorrow.

 

[Bexcat]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

install link
Try that link and also do a search on the suspension forum for "spring install" in the archived messages, you'll find plenty of info.
You'll find that there really isn't too much to remove to do this job. I've done a few of these so ask any questions, I should be able to help.

Here I did it for you. Research first then Wrench
search results

 

[JohnnyRed]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

....for some reason I knew someone would post about searching. Trust me I did, we have 2 different how to's, and followed them step by step. After sleeping on it I think I may try to find a smaller spring compressor that can fit in the wheel well better, or put a 2x4 on the bottom of the strut and try to compress more. Any other ideas?

 

[Guest]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

....for some reason I knew someone would post about searching. Trust me I did, we have 2 different how to's, and followed them step by step. After sleeping on it I think I may try to find a smaller spring compressor that can fit in the wheel well better, or put a 2x4 on the bottom of the strut and try to compress more. Any other ideas?

that is exactly what we did, we took a 2x4 and lifted it on the strut with the jack while it was using the tab of the strut, it will eventually go in.

 

[Bexcat]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

Also having a crow bar to lever the lower a-arm down to help clear the strut so it drops into the knuckle. There is no need to use the spring compressor while the strut/spring assembly is still in the car! The only time I've used the spring compressor is with the whole assembly on the bench. You remove and install the strut/spring as an assembly.

 

[JohnnyRed]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

ok, I'll try both of those some more, haven't used the crow bar yet, and also gonna try a different spring compressor. What about the steering arm bolt? Does that press out, we were hammering at it but no such luck? It would be easy if I could get it out, but might have to have a shop torch it out. Air tools can suck sometimes :banghead:

 

[OSUStallion]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

I say get the strut in the knuckle and use a small slege hammer and pound on the knuckle upwards to get it in. I highly doubt you;ll do any damage to it. I had to do that once to get mine back in there. Try lubeing the strut body and the knuckle were it slide in that may help.


Tony

 

[Bexcat]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

Steering arm? Do you mean tie rod end? If so becareful beating on it those threads are really soft and one tap with a hammer may mean you'll never get a nut back on it. I've used the special puller tool for it, it is worth it. If the threads are screwed up and you can't get a nut back on then you might try and file the damaged threads. Also notice my tip in my signature.

 

[Sled]

RE: Help ASAP Please!!!

It is a pain in the butt on some cars; Jeff and I have gotten pretty good at it but it seems to be a random problem; some cars pop right in and others seem like they have and inch or so less of suspension arm travel. I think we did the jack a 2x4 up on the strut technique last time. The times before that was simply 3ft crow bar and pure ninja strength. If you dont have ninja strength or at least a little ninja magic then I'd suggest the 2x4 technique...wish I was there to explain it better....well, no, actually I dont wanna do any more spring installs.

 

[JohnnyRed]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

yea I meant tie rod end....and that problem is now fixed, thanks to the ford dealership, only set me back 32 bills :banghead: So now back to my strut problem.....I'll be working on it all tonight, tell you how it turns out. We tired jacking several different ways, so we'll try that again, but this time just hammer the damn thing off the 2x4 and hopefully into the knuckle

 

[skinny]

RE: Help ASAP Please!!!

i just got done doing my cougar and my friends contour, we did the crowbar method and the struts went right back in... i actually had to stand on it to push down the knuckle enough and my friend slipped the strut in.

 

[OSUStallion]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

is both sides of your car off the ground when your doing this? If you dont have both sides jacked up your sway bar is putting a load on the side your trying to work on. I learned this the hard way.


Tony

 

[JohnnyRed]

RE:Help ASAP Please!!!

Done baby!!!!

one broken tie rod end, several hundered in springs/struts, and some blood, I'm done. Thanks to those all those who contributed the info needed, and the makers of the 2 how to's. here's some pics


Before (who's ready for off roading)

After baby (it looks a lot lower in person/blown up)

 

[Bexcat]

Nice! So what method (or tips) helped you?
What setup are you running? (struts/springs)

 

[JohnnyRed]

Well, what worked best was definetly the 2x4 and the mini floor jack. Make sure you have at least 2 2x4's becuase we split one. Then once you get it to about the nuckle level hammer it over and bam, it falls into place. The backs are not near as easy as everyone says. Make sure you dont break your tie rod end, like I did.

I'm runnin st200 struts and B&G springs. I love the look, it fells so much better. Speed bumps are a ***** though. I can feel a little more of the road which is good.

All in all I love it and was worth the money/time. Good luck to all

 

[Guest]

good job =] your springs will settle in a little while, then the front may be a little lower. when i did my cougar the back end is low its like i have no wheel gap in the back!

 

[99CouGSweetRide]

don't ya love working on the cougar? You think it's just like all the other cars you worked on then...BAM! Alternator is no where to be seen, the starter is hidden under jumbles of hoses, struts won't go back in the way they came out....I'm used to it.

Mike