While I'm waiting on heater hoses & related parts I decided to take a crack at removing the front strut. Before I order shock mounts I want to make sure I can really perform this repair.

I found two You-Tube videos that show different removal techniques for removing the strut assembly. The first one removed the upper A arm bolt. After reading about frozen upper A arm bolts I tried to loosen this nut and see if the bolt spins in the bushings. A-OK. But I'm not sure I have the strength to work the combined weight of the rotor/spindle/A-arm as an assembly in order to remove/reinstall the upper A-arm bolt.

The second video shows removing the inner liner and the sway bar ends at the lower A-arm. To remove the strut a pry bar is used to force the lower A-arm down to provide sufficient clearance to swing the top of the strut rearward into the opening in the fender. Then it lifts right out. I'm sure the trick to this method is getting the sway bar ends re-attached after the strut is reinstalled.

Any suggestions as to which is the best way to proceed? Especially since I barely have the strength to lift the wheels when I have to put them back on.

Thanks for the help.

 

Definitely second approach. The sway bar end is not hard to remove/reinstall if you raise both front wheels, resulting in no tension in the bar. You can even decide which end to remove (bar or link), both are easy. Once you remove the bottom shock bolt and lower the shock some more, there is juuuuuuust enough room to swing it out. The "hard part" is to work the 3 studs off the upper mount into the space available in between the bracing in the fender. You can rotate the strut assembly so the studs fit and the whole thing come out. If you have to use a pry bar/lever/helper, you probably are not using all the clearance options available, and you take the risk of those studs denting the fender from the inside if it slips out. The first side might take a bit of figuring out, but the second one will take you less then 15 min.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

I tried the above method and could not get the strut free. I appears some are able to do it with the A arm attached but not me. I used the method in the workshop manual where you have to remove the inner fender liner and then free the upper A arm (wishbone) by removing the long bolt that holds it. I think there is a current thread about having the frozen a arm bolt situation. Anyway I used a lot of light oil and jugging the a arm to get it loose. It took a impact driver to free up the bottom shock nut and bolt. The assembly weighs much less that a wheel and was easy to lift out with the A arm free. I hope you can get yours out leaving the A arm attached but if you can't then try freeing up the A arm. The hardest part is getting the A arm bolt out.

 

I tried this last summer, and gave up on that "easy" way. On my car the bolt through the upper wishbone was easy to get out, and I discover that it needed upper wishbone bushings, and a caster shim was missing.
So I would advice you to do the same, and get some grease on those upper wishbone bolts before they get stuck.
I used a jack under the lower arm when I reinstalled.

 

We have completed this chore both ways. First time (1)was to install the upper shock mounts, we removed the upper control arm Bolt and swung it out of the way (ball joint still attached) . Bolt not frozen so no problem . Next time (2) we replaced the front springs since the ride height was low and camber was off. This time we removed the inner liners and the sway bar link, shock lower bolt and the upper mounts. After tilting the shock assembly differently a few times, it came out easily. The job was quick and easy with the liner out and moving the shock into the well. The left side was easy even with the evap. assembly installed.
Nothing to lose if you remove inner liner and fail. More room to remove the bolt and then do job. Good luck!

 

I couldn't get them out the easy way either, but it's an opportunity to clean & lubricate the upper control arm bushings.

Either way, remove the inner liner as already suggested. There's only a few fasteners to remove in return for much better access.

 

+1 for pulling the upper wishbone fulcrum bolt(s). Despite wriggling them every which way I couldn't get either of my struts out using the so called 'easy' method. A big bonus for me pulling the wishbone fulcrum was discovering the bushes were shot on both sides and the caster shims were out of whack. If I had succeeded with the 'easy' method I wouldn't have known.

 

I just did this in my 02 XK8. An impact wrench is very helpful as is liberal use of PB Blaster. I had mine on a lift, so it was a little easier.

 

i did mine using the 'fmertz' method. a bit of wiggling to get them out but not hard to do. on jack stands. the worst part for me was compressing the springs

 

There are a few things on this car that are super easy IF luck is on your side and you just happen to get things lined up perfectly.

It's a tetris sort of thing.

Replacing the alternator without removing the radiator is about the same. If you orient the alternator just right, it'll pass right up and out the gap. It has to be by design that the gap is just the right shape for the alternator and its brackets.

So it is with the "easy way" of removing the struts. If you tilt the bottom just right for the studs to come down and then tilt and rotate the whole thing, there's just enough clearance to get it out without a prybar. From memory, because it's been a few months since I last did it, the trick is to pull the bottom outward to get the studs out and then push it inward, into the gap aft of the lower control arm to get the studs past the seam up in the arch.

Personally, I recommend the "easy way" because there have been so many stories of complications reported in the forums. If my upper control arm is working fine with no squeaks and no alignment concerns, I wouldn't want to risk causing a problem there. But if you just want to check out your upper bushings out of curiosity, sure, it's a fine excuse to pull the bolt.

 

I agree with Volkus and fmertz the second way wasn't that badI just had trouble compressing the springs but after I borrowed it was easy.

 

As an older (and getting weaker) enthusiast, I can make the following observations, having struggled with this project:
I used 'the harder way' of removing the strut/shock/damper/spring thing. Getting the strut off that way is easy enough, but the unwary need to be, well, wary of the reverse!
Be sure to note the location of the camber shims when removing the long bolt; keep them safe and remember which end and how they fit. After trial and error and frustration, I put the stack together and ran some painter's tape around the perimeter. Trim the tape flush with a razor or Exacto knife. Now you are dealing with only one washer.
Compressing a conical spring without a 'Jag conical spring compressor' (I got a loaner pair from Autozone) is the stuff of nightmares, especially if you have ever seen how far and how fast a road spring can travel around a garage. It might be helpful to borrow a second compressor set, so as to get three compressors on the spring. Getting a wrench onto the compressors becomes increasingly difficult as the compression progresses. I had a lot of trouble keeping the cone 'straight' with two compressors.
Having detached the upper mount, I then drove out the lower bushing using sockets and the vise. The new bushing stopped me dead. Cleaning, lubing, filing, fettling, heating; not a chance. Cocked and jammed every time. Many hours later, I took the job to a specialist shop and paid to have them use their 20 tom press. Or was it 40?
Pay attention to the bushing orientation with respect to the three studs before putting the strut assy back in the car..
On reassembly, I found that I did not have the strength or flexibility to hold the strut up into position, locate the studs in their holes, orient the bushing, start the nut on the shock stud, and get the three mounting studs to appear. Eventually, I tapped out a lifting eye and attached it to the shock stud. I could then lift the assembly from the engine side with a rope.
I agree 100% with the comments about using an impact wrench with regard to the shock stud nut.
Tropic Cat may not be as old and feeble as I am getting, but I also cannot lift my 19" wheels (I made a castor wheeled dolly just for that reason). I found that doing the shock mount job gave me quite a workout; I was feeling the effects for a while.
Good luck.

 

So interesting to read all the various experience reports and perspectives scattered around the Forum and You Tube on ways to r&r the front struts. There are a lot! For the new owner and/or first timer (me!) researching ways to tackle the job, and seeing so many different opinions, it was difficult not to fall into a spiral of 'analysis paralysis'. I dithered for a week while watching/reading....re-watching and re-reading before I finally pulled the trigger. Like some other Forum members, I'm pretty ancient and not as fit or limber as I was, so I'm always looking for the easy solutions and I first opted for the 'simple' method. As noted in my earlier post (#7 above) I fussed and cussed for quite a while before accepting defeat and deciding to pull the upper A arm bolts. (lucky I did....bushings were shot!) I did however 'adjust' the procedure a bit. I didn't relish the idea of muscling the weight of the whole hub/knuckle/disc/caliper assembly and hanging it on a bit of wire so, in the interest of making things easier, at the expense of more steps and more time, I pulled off the brake and disc assembly first. In addition to slashing the weight I had to deal with, I now had gobs of room to maneuver the struts, better visibility and it made the whole A arm/fulcrum bolt/caster shim reassembly very easy. Better yet, my confidence was high as a result of successfully completing the job and I wouldn't hesitate to jump right in to do it again next week......which I might have to do if my new URO mounts disintegrate as rapidly as has been predicted by many here on the Forum....LOL. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks I guess.

 

I would like to know why it seems that few people seem to have struggled with the compression of the conical road springs, whereas I still remember it as a lengthy, exhausting and threatening experience. I have done similar operations before, albeit on cars with cylindrical coil springs, and although wary at every moment of the power of said compressed springs, I had no trouble at all ompleting the job. The only time I have ever had trouble is with the Jag cone springs, the amount of compression required, the ability of the coils to trap the compression clamps, and their ability to prevent either getting a socket on the tool, or then getting it free of entrapment.
Please, fellow enthusiasts, what is it that others know about this operation that I clearly don't? Who knows, I may live long enough to have to do this again!

 

I've used a basic pair of compressor rods several times now with no problem, although I did find that a little care has to be taken in positioning them to avoid the coil binding issues you describe. The positioning window is quite small but a little trial and error got me in the right spot each time. As the spring started to compress it soon became obvious if a clamp/hook block or locking pin was going to bind up, so I would back off and re-position. After a couple of 'resets' I was pretty much able to eyeball the correct spot right away. The other thing that I did was buy rods that had a 1/2" square drive socket as well as the regular hex head. That enabled me to use a ratchet (Yes, I used hand tools....I don't have an 'ugga dugga') with a short wobble extension directly into the rods to avoid interference at the lower spring perch. It's not a fun job but I never felt I was dicing with disaster.

 

This is the type of spring compressor Jaguar uses. This is right out of the workshop manual. As you can see it is very different then using "stick" type spring compressors. Most shock and bigger repair shops usually have a tool like this, wall mounted. I had my shocks done at a shop but there are also members who have had success with the "stick" type.

 

Thanks for the reply and the info. Your compressor looks the same sort of tool as the one I borrowed except for the square drive socket. I can see how useful that would be!
It may be, as you report similar, but less severe, issues with coil jamming and repositioning, that the thickness of the individual rod type hooks might be greater with some brands than others. It wouldn't take much to turn a nuisance into an all-day affair.
Having been forced to switch from a socket to an open-ender, I also found that I could barely get a turn of one flat at a time. The major constraint seemed to be that more compression was required to attach the upper bushing than the tool I had would allow without binding. Trying to move (beat) the tool around to a wider spot caused the spring to bow out. Hence the concern!
The 'Jag' compressor is obviously the ideal device; presumably the upper bushing assy is compressed along with the spring, so the attachment of the stud nut and accommodation of the flange must be provided for?

 

Some notes and more questions please.

I have decided to attempt the sway bar end removal procedure first. I loosened the sway bar nut on the driver's side and it was easy to remove. I started to remove the bolt but the tension on the sway bar caused me to stop. I didn't realize that I MUST lift both front wheels off the ground and remove both wheels to relieve the stress on the sway bar BEFORE removing them. But I've also been researching this process and to re-install the ends the suspension must be "loaded" to install them properly. I'm not sure how to approach this step. It seems that I need to place a separate jack or jack stands under the lower A-arm and lower the car onto the jack stands to place a load on the sway bar before tightening the end links to the lower A-arm. Is this correct? And how much "load" is correct?

I have removed nuts on the upper A-arm bolts on both sides and turned the bolts to check that they are not 'frozen' in place. I started removing the driver's side bolt but before I got it half way out I realized that the weight of the spindle, rotor, caliper, A-arm, etc might overwhelm me when I needed to reinstall it. So I stopped. I haven't checked the condition of the rubber bushings on the A-arms because I need to remove the bolts in order to perform this step. I have considered removing the caliper & rotor to lighten the weight some if I need to go this route.

After watching a few videos on compression the springs I'm a little concerned. The only spring I've ever compressed was a cylindrical shape, not a conical shape like on this car. It looks like these springs are MUCH stiffer than the one I've worked on previously so I'm going to buy an impact gun for this repair. Assuming I can get the strut assemblies out of the car.

If I fail to get the struts out I'll have to take them to a shop and have the mounts replaced. Not my preferred option but I'm man enough to admit when I'm fighting out of my class.

Thanks all.

 

I have to believe that the strut loading means that the weight of the car has to be on the front wheels. Or where the wheels would be, if they have been taken off. Technically, the car would then have to be horizontal, although I don't know if that is all that critical.
The impact wrench was very useful for spinning the damper upper stud nut (the damper wants to turn along with a normal wrench), but I found it worthless for the task of compressing the springs. As Old Matelots pointed out and shown above, if the compressor rods have 1/2" square drive sockets in the end, you may be able to get a wobble bar or even a universal to work with the impact wrench. It's an essential tool for DIY anyway, so great to have, even if it doesn't work in this situation.

 

My biggest problem with spring compression was setting the orientation of the studs correctly once I let the springs go. As the spring would decompress it would rotate the top mount leaving it a good 20 degrees out of alignment. For one of my struts I had to recompress/re-rotate about half a dozen times before the top mount was close enough to alignment to go back in the car.

BUT since I did that over and over again, I got a little better at compressing the springs with just two stick spring compressors.

At one point one of the compressors slipped off the coil, and thanks to the safety retaining pin, nobody died even a little . But seriously, it made a loud noise, but nothing even approaching catastrophic happened. That gave me a lot more confidence, and I was able to tackle the compression with more gusto. Yes, the main challenge in compressing with the stick compressors was aligning them and compressing evenly so that the spring doesn't bend over.

A tip: a few times I borrowed a compressor from AutoZone that was closer to the Jaguar style. See the link below. It was still a challenge to get it between the coils, but it worked. In the end I'd say the pluses and minuses mean it's about even with the stick compressors.

https://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tool...sor/537058_0_0