AE101 Front Strut Removal

[big-ben-007]

Right I am now lowering the front of my car this week and im having a basic problem

The front strut is annoying and I cant get it out

There is the bolt that goes into the top part of the hub and the other bolt that goes into the lower arm?, that is off to the side of the strut

Both bolts have been removed along with the top nuts, but I cant seem to get the strut free, I cant lift it up to get the thread from the hub out because the thread at the lower arm is holding it still, and I cant get the thread from the lower arm out because the thread from the hub is holding it, so I cant move it moving side to side

I assume I'm missing something really simple here, or I need to unbolt something else.

Also the car is a AE101 Levin S/S

To regain some dignity this is really the first Toyota I've ever worked on

[Voyeur]

I have the whole procedure step by step on the camera at home i will, post in the projects tonight?? But you need to "break" the top balljoint, and then use a bar to slide the bottom arm off, the bottom link. Both the balljoint and the bottom link can be real tight.

[20v FX-GT]

I have the whole procedure step by step on the camera at home i will, post in the projects tonight?? But you need to "break" the top balljoint, and then use a bar to slide the bottom arm off, the bottom link. Both the balljoint and the bottom link can be real tight.

Sorry for the thread hijack here but my girlfriend's GTZ (also superstrut) had a new lower arm fitted on Friday in order to pass a wof. Prior to this it didn't make any noises over bumps but now it does. Could it be that they did some damage to the top balljoint in removing it from the arm? Visibly everything looks OK but there is definitely a problem. It is partcularly noticable when turning.

Thanks

[Voyeur]

Was it the lower arm or the number 8 link. They should not have had to pop the top balljoint to replace either, and did they use genuine parts or crap aftermarket parts. I dont know about noise's, maybe someone with more experiance could help. Perhaps descripe type of sound and approx location (top of strut, hub, etc)

[big-ben-007]

I have the whole procedure step by step on the camera at home i will, post in the projects tonight?? But you need to "break" the top balljoint, and then use a bar to slide the bottom arm off, the bottom link. Both the balljoint and the bottom link can be real tight.

Please post those photos , I did everything you said (i think) and anything I pull/pull is tight, so I dont want to damage anything whist trying to get it off because I'm doing the wrong thing

[20v FX-GT]

Was it the lower arm or the number 8 link. They should not have had to pop the top balljoint to replace either, and did they use genuine parts or crap aftermarket parts. I dont know about noise's, maybe someone with more experiance could help. Perhaps descripe type of sound and approx location (top of strut, hub, etc)

Crap after market parts I'm picking. Part number is 48066 in the pic on this page http://www.geocities.com/bz20v/superstrut.htm

Which part do you mean by number 8 link?

From your previous post I thought you mean that you have to pop 43350 upwards and outwards first in order to undo the strut from the lower arm at 48066. Is that what you meant?

[Voyeur]

No worries, might be easier to do it at work in the morning, (only got dial up at home

[big-ben-007]

got the bottom thread/ball joint off

The top one right above the CV joint is a pain, because I can't use the same tool I used to get the lower part off, also managed to get a fat lip from a wayward steel bar

any hints from anyone??

[big-ben-007]

got the strut out

Nothing like hitting a bracket with a hammer as hard as you can to get things out