Front Strut Bearings

[weo38]

Anybody here changed the front strut bearings on their G.A.? I have to do it on my wife's car and was looking for any tips to make the job a little easier. I am also going to change the struts. I figured while I was in there it would be a good thing (110,000 miles).

[GTP Dad]

I don't want to sound condescending but I suggest you take the car to a shop and have the struts and bearings changed especially if you don't have the proper spring compressor. If you decide to do the job yourself you will need a spring compressor that has locks on it to prevent the spring and strut from coming apart while the spring is compressed and the bearing is off. Failure to use the right one can cause serious injury or death. Second, once you have changed the struts you will need to take the car to an alignment shop before driving it very far or you will wear the tires out rapidly.

[thephantom1492]

I would suggest to go to a specialised place. Many garage has stopped to do it due to the risk associated with it. One garage owner that I know actually stopped to do it when the spring slipped out of the compression tool, flew about 50ft in the air before touching the ground, bounced off about another 20 ft.... and it ended up on the other side of the street... about 200ft from where it was initially.... That was their last one they did, they are lucky that the mechanics that was moving the coil was unhurt (could have been seriously injuried or decapited!) and that there was no car in the parking lot (they also serve gas) and that somehow the busy street had a quick time where there was no car...

Now what they do is: have the coil removed by a specialised place, have the car tow back to the garage, they do the repair, the specialised place tie the coil with a few turns of metal strapping and send it back to them, then they install the compressed coil then cut the strapping. When the straps break the car almost jump off the ground. That should give you an idea of the strength of the spring.

I personally can do lots of things on car, I did many dangerous stuff too. I'm affraid of working with coils, I saw the tools (think of a V with a screw in between, and a clip on the end, you just put the 2 clips on the spring and turn the screw, which bring the V closer... if the spring go ( it can get out, or if the clips slip....)

Specialised shops have a machine that grab the spring on both side, they compress, strap it, then remove it....

when I had to do the job on my cavalier 1993... I did researches, but I opted for safety. it took the garage only 1 hour for both side, very well invested money. That is the only repair that any garage has done on my cars.