Front struts?

I have done dozens of front struts on Contours&Focus', and got to the point where I could do them in about an hour. Today I had a '97 with the 2.0L, and it took me 4.5 hours to do the struts! I was just wondering if there's a difference between the '97s and the '98-up. It looked exactly the same as the others I'd done, but for some unknown reason, I just could not get the struts into the steering knuckle. The old ones came out hard as well. I had the same problem on both sides. The replacements were the exact same length and diameter (they were even tapered a bit on the bottom). Has anyone else ran into this? Was there damage to the lower a-arm area (that was my only thought, but it looked ok). I'm just not feeling too great about taking 4x longer than usual for no apparent reason, and on something with a total of 3 nuts and a bolt.

I'm doing the front struts on a '97 Mercury Mystique and believe me I know what you mean. The driver side spring was broke, so I was able to get the old strut out without too much problem. But I can't get the new one compressed enough to get back into the steering knuckle. What did you do to finally get it back in? Any help would be appreciated. This is the first front wheel drive car I've had, so hopefully messing with the cv joints and half-shafts isn't part of the answer.

Yeah matt I agree! I am a heavy equipment mechanic and have turned wrenches for 25 years on a little bit of everything including gm dealerships early in my career and I have never had so much trouble with a job. I worked on my wifes 95 mystique for about an hour and a half before I realized I need some advice here. Getting the old struts out was very easy with a torch if you don't need the springs. (i didn't) But getting the new ones back in is.....well....um....pissing me off! lol. I have a couple different types of compressors and they won't work. I have seen a OTC tool for removal and replacement and I may buy it but I don't want to because I won't be doing this regularly. There must a shortcut, I just don't know it yet. Does anyone else? I will post it here when I figure it out or when I get help on this forum from someone else. Anybody???:banghead:

If you are having trouble getting the strut/spring assy back into the spindle, try lossening the subframe bolt a little on the side giving you trouble if it's not too rusty.

I only had luck using a wall-mounted compressor with those Contour springs. That is why I use "QuickStruts" which are complete drop-in units.

Thanks for those responses, makes me feel better :)

What I ended up doing was wraping a chain-wrench (like a strap-wrench but with a chain if you are unfamiliar with one) around the A-arm and puting a 5' long pry bar through it underneath so I could pull down on it to get the tube close to where it needed to be in the steering knuckle. Once it was half in, but still crooked, I lowered the hoist and put a floor jack under the ball joint and jacked it up while hitting the strut in the direction it needed to go with a 5 lb dead-blow hammer. Eventually (after lifting the front of the car off the hoist 1/4") the strut twisted into the steering knuckle. Once I figured that out, I got the other side in in 20 minutes.

What I did was: removed the brake caliper assembly, then the tie rod, then the sway bar link, then removed the steering knuckle from the lower ball joint. Now, using a turnbuckle anchor the a-frame down as low as it will go. I placed my jack stand directly behing the a-frame and attached the buckle to it. Now, place the steering knuckle into the strut. You will probably have to force it back into place by using two bottle jacks, one on either side and a piece of flat metal stock between the two. Use a hammer to tap on the knuckle as it presses into the strut.
Once the strut is in place you can tackle the CV Joint which has been probably been lengthened. Move the joint back and forth using the rotor. When you feel the little balls inside the cv joint are lined up....give it a swift kick with both feet. This will shove it back into place and gain you those precious inches you had lost, which didn't allow you to line up the knuckle with the strut. Now maneuver the lower ball joint back into place, its tricky but once you slowly loosen the pressure from the turnbuckle that is holding down the A-Frame you will get it.
Trust me, the next one you do will only take you about an hour.
Vince