If you are able to do repairs and maintenance by yourself on your car you can save money. “If you do maintenance on your car you should be sure that you do it right. If necessary ask a professional before you start.”, says Daniel from the site Bilforsikring.
Today’s topic is how to replace a strut. It is important to change your strut when it is worn. A worn strut can cause a bouncy ride, wheel shimmy, vibration after hitting a speed bump and worn tires. Here are some of the common tools you will need to change a strut. First, you will need a good spring compressor. I recommend getting a spring compressor that has a locking mechanism. Since springs are under load it is dangerous when compressing and it can fly out and injure someone. A locking mechanism will hold the spring in place and secure it. Second, get yourself a good set of tools consisting of sockets, ratchet and extension. You will also need a breaker bar, floor jack and jack stand.
First, with the vehicle on the floor, break loose the lug nuts but do not remove it. Next, raise the vehicle by using the floor jack. Lift the vehicle and safely place the jack stand underneath the lifting points. Make sure to chuck the back wheel to prevent the wheel from rolling back and set the hand or foot brake. Next, remove the lugs and remove the wheels. Usually, the strut will be mounted. There will be a few mounting nut on top of the strut tower. Remove the mounting nut. Moreover, remove the strut that is bolted to the steering knuckle. Afterward, you may need to remove the axle and remove the tie rod to make more space. Moreover, you may also need to remove the brake caliper, brake pads, and remember to safely secure the brake caliper with a bungee cord or hanger.
Remove the strut and place the spring compressor on each side of the spring. Make sure to compress each side while at the same time alternating each side slowly. Now the spring is compressed; point the strut away from you and remove the top nut holding the spring in place. Replace the strut. Install the strut in reverse order. Make sure all bolts are tight and tires at torque to specification. In addition, you may want to take the vehicle for a test ride and make sure it is no longer bounce and vehicle vibration has gone away. Moreover, conduct a quick bounce and rebound test. On each corner of the vehicle press the vehicle downward. The vehicle should go down once and go up once. If it does that means the strut is good. If it bounce more than once that means the strut is bad.