Panic Removing Struts on 1998 Tacoma - Need Help!

[skeezix]

Left wheel is off, truck is on jackstand, jack is underneath LCA, upper 3 nuts are off the shock tower, nut is off lower strut mount bolt, and the bolt is about 2 inches out.

Had to use hammer to get bolt out that far and that was my first sign that something wasn't right.

Cannot lower LCA low enough to push bolt out of shock eye bushing, and cannot align shock with lower mount enough to push bolt back in

Tried raising shock eye by using crowbar between eye and LCA to maybe force shock up a bit but no joy. Instead, the force appears to be transmitted to the tower and frame.

What am I doing wrong and how can I line up the shock bushing with the mounting flanges on the LCA?

 

[skeezix]

Panic mode off.

Used a piece of rebar to pry the shock up a bit.

 

[pillguy]

Be careful with the threads o! Shockeye bolt

 

[yotarunner98]

remove the upper ball joint going to the UCA and reliease that...that will allow enough movement to get the strut in and out easily without prying on anything ... to get it to release is the fun part...lossen the nut up all the way and turn it over so the castle side is facing down, then using a good hand held sledge (3 or 5 lbs) give the upper control arm a good wack right where the bolt goes through. after a couple times it should release, also put some penetrating oil in there first and let it soak in for a couple hours

 

[skeezix]

remove the upper ball joint going to the UCA and reliease that...that will allow enough movement to get the strut in and out easily without prying on anything ... to get it to release is the fun part...lossen the nut up all the way and turn it over so the castle side is facing down, then using a good hand held sledge (3 or 5 lbs) give the upper control arm a good wack right where the bolt goes through. after a couple times it should release, also put some penetrating oil in there first and let it soak in for a couple hours

OMG it was a struggle but I managed to replace both struts. Unfortunately I didn't read yotarunner98's reply until just this morning. Otherwise I would have popped the upper ball joint as he suggested. Oh well

How I did the job w/o boogering any threads is beyond me, but I did go thru a cheap spring compressor while releasing the first spring. Just have to go to Harbor Freight and get my $10 back

 

[brian2sun]

Future readers should note that the lower ball joint is much easier to remove than the upper and does not require pressing. The lower is just 4 bolts and it's off and will allow the same play in the control arm to get the strut easily in and out. No need to even mess with the castle nut that connects the LBJ to the outer tie rod.

 

[yotarunner98]

Future readers should note that the lower ball joint is much easier to remove than the upper and does not require pressing. The lower is just 4 bolts and it's off and will allow the same play in the control arm to get the strut easily in and out. No need to even mess with the castle nut that connects the LBJ to the outer tie rod.

If you do the lower just make sure you lock-tite the bolts when you put them back on! I've heard many horror stories bout these coming loose on the trails and f'ing lots of things up!

 

[brian2sun]

If you do the lower just make sure you lock-tite the bolts when you put them back on! I've heard many horror stories bout these coming loose on the trails and f'ing lots of things up!

Good call. I also used loctite on mine.

 

[skeezix]

Future readers should note that the lower ball joint is much easier to remove than the upper and does not require pressing. The lower is just 4 bolts and it's off and will allow the same play in the control arm to get the strut easily in and out. No need to even mess with the castle nut that connects the LBJ to the outer tie rod.

You know, I tried that. Can't recall if I read the suggestion here or in the TTORA forum. Anyway, after supporting the LCA I removed the 4 bolts, lowered the LCA but only gained about 1/2-inch clearance. That was last week and I can't remember what I was thinking at the time but for some reason I decided that removing those bolts was not going to help. Maybe I thought it would be a bitch to realign them... dunno.