Yes, that too!
I didn't know that such a thing existed at AZ, and no one offered the choice, but the next time (if there is another) I will know what to ask for. Well done, and thanks!

 

Sadly no joy with the sway bar end removal method. I got the strut free of the upper and lower mounts but didn't have enough clearance to get the strut out of the a-arm. Major bummer. I couldn't get the lower a-arm to budge with a pry bar so I'll have to try the upper a-arm bolt. I'll remove the caliper, bracket, & rotor first. Hopefully that will make it possible for me to horse the a-arm around with bolt removed.

I'm also curious to know if lifting the lower a-arm after the strut assembly is loose will provide more maneuvering room to get the strut out using the sway bar method. I didn't think of this until I put everything back together.

 

Once having taken the weight of the strut off the lower bolt and removed it, I would have thought that lifting the lower A arm would have made it harder to get the strut out.
The other thought is that, as was the case with my 2005 at 60k, the upper arm bushings were in need of a change, so even if I had known about the sway bar method, I would probably still have gone the upper A arm route. Given the weight and awkward unwieldiness of the brake/caliper/rotor, once un-shackled, I would have been better off to have removed it all, and not have to have worried about holding the weight off the brake hose. However, it is still a bunch of work, no matter what. As already mentioned, watch out for the camber washers and their location.
I'm still interested as to why one person can succeed with the sway bar approach, whilst other struggle mightily and fail. Very puzzling.

 

+1 struggling to understand how come some folk can find the sweet spot to get the struts out, without detaching the upper A arm, and others (me) can't? I'm definitely a complete newbie to the XK but I'm definitely not inexperienced, with several ground-up restorations and decades of DIY auto repair on many marques under my belt. After several hours reading and re-reading (Forum) and watching and re-watching (You Tube) I felt I had a good grasp of the strut r & r job when I started. But, despite all that, after fussing and cussing for most of a morning, I still couldn't conquer the 'easy' method of strut removal. It really irritated me that I couldn't do what others were seemingly doing with no problem and I've pondered on it a lot since I finished the job last month.
From the descriptions of those who have succeeded with the 'easy' method, it does seem that the magic window for removal, while clearly found by them, is tiny. So, it occurs to me that, even within normal build tolerances, there may be enough differences from car to car that allows the 'easy' method to work on some but not others? As a manufacturing engineer I know how 'stacking' of tolerances can create problems in some assemblies but not others, built to the same dimensions and standards. A few thousandths on the length of the upper shock-mount studs, a few more on the shock tower weldment and maybe a few more on the sub-frame mounting points for upper and lower wishbones. Perhaps a few on the length of the damper rod, etc.,etc., All components can be within specification but some will be closer to one end or other of the tolerance range. If the right combination of 'in tolerance but off-center' parts happen to come together at the assembly point you could have enough of a difference to create the conditions we've seen? Perhaps there is a reason the workshop manual calls for pulling the upper A arm fulcrum to remove the strut?
OK....my $0.02 FWIW....ponder over!

 

TropicCat, I do hate your easy method didn't work and agree, best to check the bushing if the shock ones are gone, good chance the others are too.
When you get in there would you give me a PM on the measurements of the bottom shock perch? If your seats and plastic washers are good, great, if not give me a PM and I will see if you want to try a bushing I think is worth the effort.
Thanks

 

Were you guys able to push the bottom of the strut both inward and outward of where it bolts to the lower control arm?

Again, this is just from memory, but I think I remember that being critical for the easy method.

In fact, I'd installed a new sway bar link that has a Zerk fitting right in the way of moving the bottom outward. I had to take out the Zerk fitting so I could move the bottom out far enough to get the studs out of their holes. Then I had to push the bottom inward through its mounting location and past it to fit in the gap on the other side.

I wonder if you guys weren't able to do the easy method because you weren't moving the bottom end around enough.

 

Ok, I don't think there is any reason to pull the rotor and caliper. I assume at this point you have the inner fender liner, plastic removed? I supporter the lower a arm with a floor jack to take the weight. Make sure ot liberally lubricate the upper a arm (wishbone) big bott with PB Blaster or machine oil and let it soak overnight. Make sure you lubricate where the bolt will slide into the bushings. Remove the b olt nut and turn the bolt until it moves freely, let the lubricant perntrate the bushings. Also raise and lower the lower a arm to spread the lubricant.

At tthis point using the floor jack I took the weight off the lower a arm and the bolt is easy to turn. I took a long thin piece of wood and a rubber mallet and tapped out the bolt. When it got hard I rotated the bold to make sure the lubricant was working. Also keep the bolt lubricated going into the bushings. Also make sure the rotor and caliper and not putting weight on the bolt. As the bolt comes out remember the position of the washers and spacers. More that likely the bushings are worn out.

Good luck.

 

Thanks all. I did try my theory of lifting the lower a-arm after the lower shock bolt was removed and the strut was free. I still couldn't get the assembly out of the 'v' in the upper a-arm. Bummer. I'll have to go the upper a-arm bolt route. Like it or not. But for now I'm stalled on the shock mounts. I need to finish my heater hose replacement effort before I can move the car under the carport to start the strut removal effort. I found a shop owner nearby that agreed to see if his strut press will work on my struts. It's a manual press (screw type) so it may not have enough oomf for the job but if I can get the struts out we'll find out. I've also decided to try the 'blackdog' urethane mounts from motorcars ltd in Houston if the parts really exists and I can purchase them. They seem a little pricey but I'll give them a try. The website lists both rebuild kits and rebuilt assemblies. I'll call them later today and find out if they are real and how to proceed. Since I don't know how the strut mount rebuild operation works I'll probably just buy the assemblies.

Answers to a few questions above. I was able to move the lower shock mount out away from the mounting bracket/a-arm when removing the assembly. After I removed the thee studs from the fender well at the top I was able to move the shock both in and out along the a-arm but it only has limited travel due to the angle of the a-arm and the proximity of the spindle/hub assembly. I thought lifting the lower a-arm would give me more freedom of movement but ... not so much. The problem is getting the lower shock mount to move towards the front of the car so it can drop down enough to clear the void at the top of the fender to get the 3 studs clear. Then you can tilt it backwards and lift it out. I was unable to move the lower shock mount forwards or backwards enough to clear the lower a-arm. Lower a-arm all the way down or lifted. Another thought that is VERY tempting is to bend or cut the fender seam to let the studs clear it and get the strut out. It's all I can do to fight the temptation.

As far as the upper a-arm bolts are concerned I've already gotten both of them them loose and can twist them easily enough after the nuts are off. I had the driver's side half way out of the a-arm when I realized that the weight of the suspension assembly would overwhelm me and I'd never get it put back together. I also realize that the metal washers/shims in the a-arm assembly must be replaced in the same places and same order as when removed. This is also another tricky part in the a-arm removal method. I'm sure getting them out is VERY easy (since the just fall out when you're not looking). But getting them back in must be a @^%$*!. I have a magnetic pick up tool that I will try to use to remove and reinstall the washers. Hopefully it will work. I'm also planning on removing the caliper/bracket & rotor to lighten the assembly as much as possible before removing the upper bolt. I'm not sure if removing the sway bar end from the lower a-arm will make it easier or harder to lift the a-arm assembly when I need to put things back together.

The rubber bushings in the a-arms seem OK. I haven't been able to examine all of the bushings completely since I never got the bolt all the way out. Part of the effort is getting the bolt to slide through the rubber. It's tight enough on mine that I couldn't just pull the bolt through. I had to use the ratchet to twist it as far out as I got it before I quit. I did lubricate the bushings but with silicone lube instead of blaster. Not sure which does less damage to the rubber though. I'm sure neither does the rubber any good.

Stay tuned. I'll keep you up to date when I return to this ... project.

Thanks all.

 

What is the 'bottom shock perch'? Is the the mounting bracket on the lower a-arm? or is this the mount at the bottom of the spring as shown in the diagram below?

Here's an graphic I found on the strut assembly...

 

TropicCat, If that is anything like your setup, you have a multi dollar upgrade. That said, if that's your system, the mounts you are going to buy will be wrong.
The perch I'm talking about is the round metal part the bottom of the spring rides on. The outer edge should be around 4 inches and your shock is 2 inches.
There is a shelf the seat for the spring rides on and a round cylinder inner area that drops down about a 1 inch or so. If you can, the outer edge and the outer edge of the cone. The flat area I'm hoping is 5/8 or 9/16 inch.
Thank you and will await the final results on your adventure.

 

Tropiccat,
Replacing shims.

Getting them in is easy, aligning the holes harder.

Wedge shims in, of course center hole will be misaligned. Grab something long thin with pointy end. Small phillips head screwdriver, knitting needle, metal hanger, nail,, etc.. poke the object into the hole. Move object in circles to spear the center hole(s) of the shims. Once speared, same circular motion aligns and moves then into position.

Either use something larger to perfectly center, or it'll already be good. Insert bolt, work on next set of shims.

John

 

Tropic Cat - Where are you in Florida? If you were nearby I could swing by and give you a hand --- having done the chore multiple times over the last 10 years...

 

You will find it a lot easier to 'spear' them if you tape the camber spacer washers together, around the perimeter and trim the tape flush. I mentioned this earlier in the thread. It take 5 minutes, at most, and has an immediate beneficial effect on the amount of hair you are pulling out!

 

Just in case someone else comes across this thread later, here's the YouTube link that I bet TropicCat was referring to, and the same one that taught me the "easy" method.

I just quickly reviewed it to refresh my memory for tips. The first thing I remember is that I didn't have to use a pry bar at all, though he might have used one just to make it a little easier. That might speak to variation between cars or even struts, though.

Anyway, the only other thing I noticed from the video is his rotating the strut. I don't doubt that TropicCat rotated his all over the place too, but I remember that being key to getting the studs past the seam up in the fender well. The guy in the video looked to rotate almost 180 degrees frontways, which sounds about right for walking those studs over the seam.

I don't think I'm adding anything new to TropicCat's adventure, but just wanted to mention these things for anyone else in the future.

 

Here is a diagram of where the shims and washers go on the "fulcrum" bolt. Take Care

 

It's part #6 in this diagram, and sits on the shock as cjd777 describes:



I remember that video. Looking down the barrel of a loaded gun ...and he'll have been back in there not much later to replace the shot lower bushings

 

Thank you Michael, just haven't had time to place that here and thought it was explained earlier, but you did it better. Again. LOL
Sure hope TropicCat has a bit easier go at this than it's started out. The second side should be a little bit for sure.

 

So I finally finished the radiator and heater hose extravaganza. I took a look at the struts again yesterday. Here's the pics of both sides:

Driver's side


You should see the 'perch' at the bottom of the spring. It seems to have black plastic shims or bushings between the 'perch' and the white plastic ring below the spring. Here's a close up but the focus is a little off...



What is troubling me now is the the passenger side shows no black plastic shims/spacers/bushings below the white ring under the spring:



Here's a close up of the 'perch'. Again the focus is a little off, but you can see that there's Nothing below the white ring except the metal 'perch' itself.




So I'm now REALLY confused. I have no idea why the bottom of the spring mounts are different. Are the shims/spacers on the driver's side intended to match the overall height of the compressed assembly due to variations in the fabrication of the springs? Slightly different spring rates? Or were they installed during a front end alignment to compensate for the deteriorating condition of the upper strut mount? Or is there no rational reason for them being in there? Or, are they missing from the passenger side?

For grins here's a view of the top of the mounts from the engine bay. You can see the driver's side mount is completely shot. The passenger side is in better shape but it won't stay that way much longer.




I'm even more convinced that I'm in way over my head on this project. If it simply boils down to removing and replacing some parts with a wrench I think I can handle it. But if it requires engineering a solution I'm way over matched. Not to mention the fact that handling the weight of the front suspension assembly after the upper a-arm bolt is removed scares me. And the use of a manual strut compressor on this spring scares me as much if not more. I may have some help with the spring compressor if the guy who owns the shop nearby is willing and able to replace the mounts for me with his manual/screw type press. But that assumes that I can get these ridiculous things out of the car to begin with.

Yikes.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone.

 

Blindside, Thanks for the offer. I REALLY could use some help. But I'm in Inverness. It's about 100 miles north of Tampa. The easiest way to think of it is that we're at opposite ends of the Florida Turnpike. I know this because I bought the car in Ft Slaughterdale. I drove the length of the turnpike a few times over the course of a few days while deciding to buy the car & waiting for the ABS module to be replaced. It's a big ask to drive the length of the turnpike. But thanks for the offer.

TropicCat

 

BlackDog Urethane Bushings for Front Upper Shock Mounts.

I called MotorCarsLtd in Houston to find out about the 'Blackdog' urethane bushings in their on-line catalog. I had sent a few e-mails but never got a response. Turns out that these bushings are NOT really available. The sales guy I spoke with said that they were a discontinued item. Apparently they once offered a completed mount assembly in addition to the kit but they have both been discontinued and are no longer available. Just so you know.

It's only the Welsh Urethanes or the foam OEM types available in the market for now.