i am trying to put my struts back together and can't figure out why i can't get the studs on top of the strut mount to clear the inside of the wheel well. what i did was compress the springs, reassemble everything (boot, upper seat, strut mount), tighten the upper strut mount nut with a few shots from the impact wrench (just enough to hold the spring and everything else together), remove spring compressors, and then try and move the assembly into place. once inside the wheel well, there isn't enough clearance for the studs to get up into that cylindrical cavity where they mount to the body. i have the control arm extended fully down to the point where the ball joint contacts the control arm. the CA bushings are loose right now as i also replaced those and haven't torqued them down yet.

it doesn't seem like compressing the springs any more would help as they are just going to decompress to the point where the upper seat, held in place by the top strut nut is going to stop them.

am i missing something simple here? i compared the height of the studs on the new mounts and they are the same. i also compared the new strut insert with the old one and they are the same size.

the only thing that comes to mind is to really tighten down the top strut nut before the assembly is in place, but this doesn't seem like it should be necessary?