My strut rebuild has gone well so far. Using three of the rod type spring compressors the spring compression went safely and felt stable and secure...so far.

Now I am trying to remove the spring seat and washer from the top of the coil and they are stuck, one to the other, and the washer to the top coil.

I have tried gently prying with screw drivers but admit that it is making me nervous prying on a compressed coil spring. Any suggestions?

This is holding me up big time and I am worried about damaging the spring from leaving it compressed for too long. Should I decompress the spring to get the thing off?

Thanks

I assume you removed the top nut. They are stuck due to rust. If the strut is laying on the ground (per FAQ instructions) you should be able to spray with PBlaster and use a screwdriver and hammer to gently free the top pieces. If this does not work, try de-compressing the spring, remove it, and knock them off.

Thanks for the reply. I apologize for using the wrong term for the problem part, it is the spacer not a washer, and all is disassembled but for these two parts stuck to the spring.

The gland nut came off with a little heat and PBB, and I sure wasn't expecting this to be a problem. There isn't any rust on the coil spring and the big black spacer is rubber, so I don't get what's holding them. If I decompress the spring it won't be a problem to get them apart, just a step I was hoping to avoid.

Dear AVL940T,

Hope you're well. There might still be a corrosion bond between the top of the spring and the underside of the support plate, against the underside of which the spring rests. I'd saturate that area with a penetrating oil (PB Blaster, Kroil), etc. and wait.

You can tap the rim of the support plate, from the underside (the side that faces towards the ground, when the unit is installed). That will drive the plate in the direction that the spring "wants" to expand, so will not reduce tension on the spring compressors.

A sharp rap or two is likely to free the support plate from the top of the coil.

At the risk of laboring the obvious, stand beside the compressed spring when you rap the underside of the support plate. If the spring should be released - extremely unlikely - you do not want to be in front of it or behind it.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

I agree with Spook.. the rubber washer just sits in there, fitted into the spring. Some PBlaster and a few knocks with a hammer on a punch or screwdriver should get it out.

It was bonded to the coil, I suppose by time and heat. I eventually had to decompress the spring and get on it with channel locks. The metal spring seat bent before the rubber broke loose from the spring. I hope the other will be easier. I will soak it earlier and more often.

That took more time than I realized it would. The spring decompressed beyond its installed height and with three compressors each turning a little at a time. But going back together I am having the problem of not getting the spring compressed enough.

I am already compressed to 10.75 inches but the new rubber spacer is not allowing the top nut to thread. Please have a look at these photos and tell me if the compressors look to be reaching a safety limit. Could I have better positioned them on the spring? The FAQ says the spring should be compressed to about 12 inches...does this apply to 940s?

There are no shops in my small city that will let you bring your own parts for a strut rebuild or I would have done it. I am only interested in not making stupid novice mistakes at this point. Thanks.

Dear AVL940T,

Hope you're well. Not having done this job, the best I can suggest is to position the compressors one coil further towards the top (in the upper photo, one more coil on the right sight of the photo). That should allow enough compression, to allow the nut to be seated.

If you're not going to reuse the spring seats, heating them gently might ease separating the spring from the seat.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

For the sake of those doing a future strut rebuild on a 940, I had to take the spring down to 10.25 inches and the space between the compressor blocks to 1.5 inches in order to start threading the top nut.

I would have really been flipping out had I only used TWO of those spring compressors :)

Dear AVL940T,

Hope you're well. Thank you for posting: (a) the specific measurements as to the amount of spring compression needed to allow the nut to be installed and (b) your view that three spring compressors - not two - should be used.

Can you set forth the exact position of the spring compressors? I presume each was on the coil closest to the top and bottom plates. Were the compressors equally spaced around the outer diameter, or were two compressors closer to each other and further from the third? If so, what were the positions? I'd use clock hand positions, i.e., one a 3 o'clock, one at 7 o'clock, and one at 12 o'clock.

These points should go into the FAQs. Given the perils of compressed springs, these specifics will make the work far safer and easier!!!

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Thanks Spook.

Thanks Spook.