[Shotimes] halfshaft removal from the knuckle

Wed, 30 Jul 2003 14:45:43 -0400 (EDT)

I went through the same agony very recently.  Could NOT get the struts out of the spindle.  I initially also thought about removing the spindle from the halfshaft, but ended up not doing it. So how did I do it? See my posting below from 4 weeks ago. I used a little trick with a 2x4 cut to proper length:

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Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 13:13:59 -0400 (EDT) 
From: Michael <molsen@excite.com>
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To: <ronporter@prodigy.net>, <vanOss@centurytel.net>, <shotimes@autox.team.net> 
Subject: RE: [Shotimes] Removing front struts 

I finally got both front sides done about a month ago. This was the first time I removed struts on my car. Gotta tell you, the front left, which I did first, took a loooong time. Days! Right side took 2-3 hours using all the experience I had gained from the left. Here's what I did to get the struts out:

First of all, I kept the LCA attached to the spindle (and to the SF too). But there was no way the tension strut would give me enough room to lower the spindle below the bottom of the strut. So what I did was to put a ~2.5' long 2x4 under the sway-bar-link bracket of the strut to keep the strut about 1-2" higher than in the relaxed state. Of course now the strut would be in tension when slipping out of spindle. So I used a strut compressor to relieve this tension to a minimum. When the strut slipped out of the spindle you can then guide it into the proper direction without any major accidents. I positioned the strut compressor on the side of the strut that's closer to the rear of the car.

Putting the Intrax/Koni struts on was quite easy since the length of this combo is about 1" shorter than the Eibach/Tokico. I disconneted the tie-rod so that I could tilt the spindle enough to the side to allow the strut to slip into the spindle. Then a little pushing is required to bring the spindle back into its upright position.

After driving around with the Intrax/Koni combo, the total drop in ride height has now settled to almost 1/2" per corner (same in all 4 corners.) The flat-road ride is not much different than before, except when turning and hitting bumps where it is clearly firmer. After driving with the Konis at minimum firmness for the first 300 miles, I adjusted the Konis for average firmness (right in the middle). The front-end bouncing up when driving over a "valley" or over a bump in the road, is practically gone. This bouncing always bothered me with the Tokicos.

Btw, adjusting the Konis in the rear may be done as follows. Cut the adjusting knob to size so that it fits under the seat bell cover under the rear shelf. I had to remove even amounts of plastic at both the key tip and at the bottom of the knob head. I probably removed close to 1/4". But don't cut more off than you really need. I also had to redrill the key hole which is no longer deep enough after removing 1/4". One more thing. The key hole is actually a round piece of plastic with a deep slit in it, and which is INSERTED into the knob. This insert may fall out after you mess around with it. My insert got stuck on the front strut after I pulled the know away from the strut. So that's how I know. Luckily this didn't happen on the rear strut where it could possibly get lost in the mounting cup. So what I suggest is that you deliberately take the insert out of the knob, and then glue it back into the knob.

Michael
94MTX,green,BOS+

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94MTX,green,BOS+

 --- On Wed 07/30, Justin Schick < jschick@aafp.org > wrote:
From: Justin Schick [mailto: jschick@aafp.org]
To: shotimes@autox.team.net
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 09:37:40 -0500
Subject: [Shotimes] halfshaft removal from the knuckle

Greetings all, I'm helping Rich (remember the Help in KC post?) replace the struts on this 95 ATX. We got the front passenger side done last night, and the driver's side 95% disassembled. We had to quit as we were unable to get the strut out of the knuckle with the halfshaft still connected. We barely got the passenger side out in the same manner; the only reason we could come up with is the driver's side has a shorter shaft between the joints, thus giving us less range of movement. He's going to rent the large socket (36mm?) to take the nut off the end of the shaft. The Helms also mentions a puller type device that bolts to the wheel studs. I have only seen this tool in use once, while at Tim Dahm's helping to extract my quaifed MTX. I've asked about renting it at parts stores in the past and just get blank deer in headlights stares. Is it really not needed? Will we be able to get the halfshaft out of the knuckle by just remo
 ving the nut? TIA for any insight, Justin Schick silver 92 SHO in KC MO 194k and counting quickly _______________________________________________ Shotimes mailing list Shotimes@autox.team.net http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shotimes

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