Ahhhh

[97LSi004]

so i took off my front right wheel today.. i felt like i had to jack the car pretty high to get it off the ground. (i took it off just to examine the strut i thought is bad)
once i got the wheel loose, i noticed it was just a litt stuck to the surface. i gave it a litte yank, then WHAAM down comes the whole strut, brake assembly.. resting on the tire now (the top of the strut is still attached to the upper mount, and the strut piston is in two pieces at least). oh sh*t i think and try desperatly to jack to think up somehow.. i eventually got the spring compressors in there and got the tension of the spring off and got the wheel out with only a coule scrapes.. i have never seen a strut completely in pieces like this. i can't believe the ride wasn't worse.
now i am sitting here waiting for my new strut to show up..
i just hope nothing else got damaged

Sounds a little scary.........

Good luck on the repair.

-Mark

[mbtoloczko]

How about a picture?

[SVXer95]

Yikes!!

I would like to see a picture of that as well.

[RSVX]

Originally posted by SVXer95
Yikes!!

I would like to see a picture of that as well.

[svx_commuter]

Wow It's a good thing you kept the wheels on the ground when driving. It could have come apart after going over a large bump.

Did the shaft break? Did the top of the strut casing come out?

Watching that spring pop out would have scared me. You may have to reset the lower control arm aftre you get it all back together.

[97LSi004]

yeah, been working on this all day.. waiting and wainting for airborne express.. i guess guaranteed before 5 pm, gives them until then, but damnit i need to get this done so i can get my new tires mounted and get an alignment, then get inspected tomorrow.

Anyway, i will have some pictures of the strut later, my gf has the digital camera.

Luckily i already had the spring compressor in place some what, i at least had straps around the spring, so it didnt go flying out anywhere.
And it was easy to take out the strut in two pieces.. lol. there is some mangled metal that used to hold the rod into the case of the strut. (i think thats what i've heard rattling around)

The control arm didnt move very far, but did get a slight ding in the bottom..
anyway, what do you mean by 'reset' the control arm?

Anyway, once the strut gets here, it will all go back together.

[97LSi004]

I got my new struts in, what a difference.
I guess that front strut in two pieces really was changing the ride, LOL... And what a difference the right tools make. I borrowed a friends spring compressor, one of the big ones, instead of using ratcheting compression straps.. I'll post some pics of the destroyed strut in the morning..

[97LSi004]

pic

[97LSi004]

another