Front Suspension Struts

[normanh]

I have been preparing to replace mine in anticipation of Parcelforce actually making a delivery tomorrow - Tuesday. I have everything ready on the O/S bar the ABS cable which I will cut the backing nut off but the top nut on the strut refuses to budge- tried with full car weight on wheel. Those (many done in the distant past) have always taken an allen key/ have a slot or flat to hold the spindle whilst the nut is turned with a ring spanner. The Toyota fitted appear to have nothing on the top, is there a flat on the underside that I cant see or is it down to big Molegrips/Stilsons to hold the shaft when turning the nut?

I needed to apply a good bit of heat on one of the strut nuts -19mm and even managed to snap a good Elora socket before it yielded.

Norman

[Joesson]

@normanh
I had no problem with the fixing of the ABS cable to the shock but that has been off and on again while in my possession.
The OE top mount has an oval shaped slot, forming two flat sides that engage with the flats on the OE (and I now know KYB) shocks. This means that the top nut should be undoable on or off the car if you have a wide jaw vice to grip.
Again no problem for me with the ( lower) strut fixings, again they have been on and off in my possession. But, I did tighten those to only 55ftlbf, whereas they should be  103 ftlbf per Mr T info.
BUT, a bigger BUT, I have seen on a supposedly authoritative source a figure of 203 ftlbf. That would likely take some undoing.!

[normanh]

Cheers Joesson

The ABS cable bracket is just being a pig, it needs a third hand to stop the bracket from twisting. The brakehose bracket came off clean with bright plating on the thread of the bolt.

I didnt linger long on the top nuts as the clouds were picking up for a possible downpour so wasnt going to get caught and I didnt fully clean the grease away to see clearly.

Norman

[Joesson]

@normanh said: needs a third hand to stop the bracket from twisting.
Would a pair of Mole grips help?

[Gaz mr-s]

Do you need the strut nut undone?  If you plan on dismantling the old shock then you would, & it is easier to loosen on the car. An impact gun does it if you can get one.

Before doing the job did you spray everything with plus-gas or similar?

103ft/lb for lower shock is what I've seen.

[Joesson]

Further to my#1 post above:

This is what I found on   https://toyota-specs.com/index.php#carouselExampleIndicators
The new strut can be installed in reverse order of the removal. Starting with sliding the new strut into the strut tower and tightening the upper nuts to 25 ft-lbs. Then you can install the lower strut bolts and tighten them to 203 ft-lbs.

And I believe it to be INCORRECT!

[normanh]

Moles would help if I could remember where I put them mate, I believe the back nuts are welded on. The strut nut must come undone I am reusing the springs and I dont have an impact driver.

Norman

[Carolyn]

If you have access to a big vice, a sturdy (as in impact) six point socket and big breaker bar will shift it.  The top mount can be held in the vice.

As for the  bracket, it's part of the strut which you are replacing, so give it really doesn't matter if you bugger it up a bit.

[Gaz mr-s]

Moles would help if I could remember where I put them mate, I believe the back nuts are welded on. The strut nut must come undone I am reusing the springs and I dont have an impact driver.

Norman

How many miles have the springs done?

[TheTigerUK]

I saw this torque chart on facebook the other day, I do have to say though rightly or wrongly in the main I prefer to tighten up by feel rather than using a torque wrench.

[normanh]

I was looking at replacing everything last year due to an advisory on rusty springs, consenus then was just treat and paint the springs which is what I did, they still look in a very good condition hence why I havent replaced them. Maybe I should have looked at springs ordering now will only delay the repair further with Parcelforce grrr.
Third hand well more to the point is I have arthritis in my left and it can be difficult holding things tight. Vice yeah have a couple available in my workshop thats not an issue.
Gonna pop into my local Lidl as they had some cheap impact drivers on sale. Yeah I know about slackening the nut off on the car with weight on the strut, have always slackened it off in situ many a time in years gone by.

[Joesson]

@TheTigerUK

The point I was trying to make is that not all information that is available, particularly that  source mentioned in my post#5 is not correct.
Without further reference I can say that your provided figures are correct for front lower shock absorber bolts at 103 ftlbf and wheels at 76ftlbf.

[normanh]

I understood that Joesson no problem there, undoing those bolts was an effort and I would just tighten to the same. The nuts were seized and needed a bit of heat to release  but loose now. I doubt very much if I could ever do 200Ft/ibs even with a breaker bar thats a totally stupid value mate.

Norman

[normanh]

Completed just over 2 hours to replace both, my son brought over a 110 volt Ingersoll driver that took the 2 top strut nuts off with ease. Took her out for a quick test drive and the old sparkle is back with the handling. Just one thing over e days under the bonnet I left the doors open and had a flat battery this afternoon with just enough juice to start the motor. Not been used for some 3 weeks oh well.

Norman

[normanh]

Just a quickfoot note to this post for the future if anyone else contemplates this job. Consider the top plates which sit on top of the plates, normally should be ok but I found mine a tad corroded which cleaned up and finished in a quick coat of spray aluminium plate, more importantly consider replacing the rubber ring that interfaces between the top plate and the spring. No one seems to mention these items but they are offered for sale on some sites and I was looking for this information prior to undertaking th job.

Norman