Replacing front struts need help

Well thanks to ABNFDC I took off the lower ball joint bolts and was able to wiggle the lower control arm to line up with the lower shock bolt.

bad news is I am back to square one

I did not attempt to take it out yet, as it seems like a tight fit and it doesn’t help that my sway bar is not budging at all

I noticed the lower control arm barely budged though. I thought it would swing down more easy. Should I try loosing the lca frame bolts. It seems that will give me more room if I could get the lca to swing all the way down.

thanks

 

sorry to say, this job is not for you. Congrats for trying but leave it alone or get better hands on help.

 

Don't give up. I've changed these myself, so anyone can do it.
There is another thread on here where they were having the same problems you are having. I'm searching for it now, when I find it I'll post a link.

 

Thanks Dave

I understand I’m not a pro but I think I can handle most with some good instruction

I did the clutch fan and belt relatively easy yesterday before tackling the struts

doesn’t help that it’s a 15 year old truck with rusty bolts

and I’m not giving up quite yet

 

Keep in mind that the sway bar is still attached on the other side, which is why it not budging.

 

I haven't been able to find the thread I was looking for (some guy in Hawaii and it was his first post).
So I decided to take mine apart and take pics as I went along. However, when I was jacking it up to remove the tire I heard a bunch of creaking. After removing the tire and found the boot was nearly gone from the ball joint. Since today's temp is going to be 100 and I have to take it apart next weekend to replace the ball joint, that got canceled.

Anyway, while I was in there looking and remembering how I did it last time;

Put the floor jack under the hub (raise and lower it to help gain access and get the bolts aligned so you can remove and install them.
remove the ABS wheel sensor.
remove the brake line bolt.
remove the sway bar link completely.
remove the 3 nuts on top of the strut.
loosen the shock bottom nut.
remove the 2 bolts for the upper control arm (raise and lower the floor jack to help get them out).
lower the floor jack.
remove the bottom shock bolt.
pull the bottom of the shock out first (the shock extended a little bit on me and got wedged, but using the floor jack and a pry bar it came out).

I didn't touch the cam bolts on the lower control arm, so I didn't see any reason to get an alignment.

ABS speed sensor-Brush off loose dirt, remove the bolt and cover the hole with a piece of tape

Raise the hub, Remove the sway bar link and remove the brake line bolt

The upper control arm bolts were very tight

I drew the alignment line for reassembly

Make sure the end of the spring sits in it's pocket


Finally got around to the upper ball joint. Decided to do the shock while it's off.





The advantage of doing it this way is, I didn't mess with the cam bolts on the lca so I don't have to get an alignment when I'm done.

 

Have you tried using a pipe as a lever to push the the LCA down? I've done that a couple times and it's worked well.

Sadly, it sounds like the cams are seized in the LCA bushings.

 

Is it worth trying the other side? When I did mine it took a few hours for the first and the second was super quick. Maybe if the bolts on the other side Cooperate it’ll help. However, When I did mine I did remove the castle nut and knuckle so unless that can be avoided I’d solve that problem first.

 

My son and I just finished changing the front struts / shocks on my 2014. I bought a complete take out suspension from a 2017 a while back and we did the rear shocks last weekend. (Piece of cake.) I'm 99.9% sure my alignment cams / bolts are seized up, so we didn't mess with them at all. Here's what worked for us:

- Jack up front of the truck (both sides) and insert jack stands.
- Remove both front wheels.
- Remove 14mm sway bar link nuts from both sides.
- Remove front skid plate.
- Remove both sway bar bushings. (The front bar is now totally loose so it can be moved out of the way.)
- Disconnect both tie rod ends.
- Remove the 3 top 14mm nuts from each strut.
- Remove the 19mm lower nut & bolt from each strut.
- Remove the two 19mm bolts on the bottom of each LCA
- Using a medium sized pry bar, pry the LCA down so you can drop the strut out the bottom.

I'll get the alignment checked at work tomorrow and all we're going to be able to address is toe. I understand that.

 

this is all easy to say as good advice but the poor guy has further issues with rounded off nuts etc. this is when a knowledgeable hands on helper can really be of great help.

 

Valid point. I'm an amazing internet mechanic. Ask me, I'll tell you. Lol. We all are.

Playing Auto mechanic on an amateur level requires a mechanical aptitude, and to be creative sometimes. I know enough to get in trouble. And have gotten porked on more than one occasion. Thankfully I've managed to get myself out of trouble as well.

For the rounded ubj nut: it's a soft steel and will cut easily. Cut at an angle almost all the way through and a chisel and hammer should turn it.

Pay attention, take your time, pictures, labels, layout parts as they come off... When you get frustrated, walk away for a couple minutes.

 

Thanks all for the tips. I appreciate it. Good point about the sway bar on both sides. Don’t think any of the YouTube videos mentioned that so that def helps.

im still curious about the remove the two ball joint bolt method and jamming it. From my observation it looks quite a struggle.

 

When I've replaced my struts, I did not remove the tie rod or the upper ball joint. I just loosened those two bolts at the lower ball joint and swung everything out of the way. I did not even remove the sway bar just disconnected the link from the spindle. It is a bit of a wiggle getting it in and out but it does.

 

Thanks Larz, it looks I can do all that. I’ll give it a shot worse that can happen is I can’t get it out and just put it back in.

when I was messing with it this am should the cv axle be able to be pulled out towards myself? I had to push it back in so the bolts can line up.

I know I need to replace those as well eventually but curious if that should be the case

 

Trust me, with the entire sway bar loose and the tie rod end disconnected, when you drop those two 19mm bolts out, you can swing the spindle and rotor right out of the way. The strut drops out with absolutely no wiggling required. Even with virtually every single fastener on my truck requiring heat to bust it loose, the whole job only too about 2 1/2 hours. I'm all about making life easy for myself when working on my stuff.

 

@mrcheap there is some telescoping action to the CV axles to account for suspension flex and stuff like that.

 

Thanks!

 

of course the tie rod / ball joint is stuck and a hammer is not working

i guess i will need to get a separator now at HF

ughhhhhhh!

 

Leave it unless it's bad. You don't need to remove it to do this. If your set on removing it; 2 hammers, opposite sides of the TRE. Whack it! Hard.

But seriously. Do this.

 

don't let this get you down, I'm about to do my front struts, UCAs, and LCAs all at the same time. I have a few youtube videos saved and have taken the time to get a good hard look at my front suspension to see what troubles lies ahead of me....seeing what bolts will likely end up rounding off or other components being seized, etc. I'm buying all new hardware, bolts and nuts included, so if any those get rounded off or seized I'm taking my Hackzall to it. Got a whole bunch of carbide blades ready for it.