[VR-VS] VS strut removal

[commycrew]

Hey, giving this a go on the week end, any one have a diagram or picture of how the strut should look pulled apart?? And so you dont need to compress the springs until the whole strut is off the car?? Cheers.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

The easiest way to do this is to crack the big nut on the strut while the weight is still on the car, then remove it. Jack the car up slowly until everything is loose. Remove the wheel, undo the swaybar link and the two mounting bolts, then remove the whole lot.

Fitting lowered springs can be done without spring compressors.

Have a look here, http://forums.justcommodores.com.au...e-1993-1997/77210-correct-strut-assembly.html 3rd post has a picture of it.

 

[MADDNE33]

done this last weekend, was alot easier then i thought, followed these steps, only this i had trouble with was

1. taking the breaklines off the strut, finally realised i had to twist it off haah duhh
2. u cant just wiggle the strut round and remove the sway bar link, i had to get a jack under then and compress the strut to get it out.

apart from that was easy, the first one me and the old man mucked around for about an hour doing it but the second one i done by myself in around 30 mins and im a 16 yo with next to no mechanical knowledge haha and yes make sure u have a 22m spanner lying around for those 2 big suppoirt nuts. i had to get on me pushy and ride down to supercheap and get one haha

anyway thnx alot for the help mate, for all those people not sure about giving it a shot, just do it. if you have a brain you will work it out, saves u abita dosh awell haha

 

[commycrew]

Great write up, did it last week end, wasn't too hard, took about 3 hours all up (First time i've ever tried this) so if I can do this, ANY ONE CAN!!!

Also if you can get hold of a rattle gun, use it! Was impossible to undo the top couple nuts on the strut with out one (Had to take them around to the mechanics to quickly borrow theirs)!

GL to everyone else giving this ago!

 

[despo]

gonna give this a go this afternoon let u know how i go

 

[despo]

got all mine in tonight guide was a good spot on.. wasnt as easy as i thought and took most of the afternoon. the hardest part was taking off the top nut on the strut. for some reason one of them wouldnt come off so we ended up getting to grinder onto it. a few hours later after a bit of mucking around finally got it all in and connected and the new struts felt alot better than the olds.
here are the pics hope u dont mind :

 

[Jaymz]

Great right up mate! :thumbsup:

Just had a go at this tonight, in the past I had looked at it and had put it in the "too hard looking, do it later" basket.

The only issue I had was undoing the sway bar link nuts, what a pain in the @rse they are!!
Had to compress the strut with a jack to get it past the sway bar link.

I am having trouble getting the top nut off, any tips on the best way of getting it loose?

 

[5spdVS]

As im an apprentice mechanic, I was able to bring my car into the workshop and have a go at doing this myself. It was all pretty simple with the use of a rattle gun but the sway bar links were getting pretty frustrating. What i did though was turn my steering so that it was fully locked and used a leverage bar to help get the links out. Helped a lot. And like others said, you didnt need to undo the 6 bolts ontop, just the one ontop of the strut. Figured that out after my second time pulling struts out of a vs People think of it as a rediculously hard job but when you have the right tools, working on your car is a breeze.

 

[HoldenGal]

hey! just wanted 2 say thankx 4 your pic's and easy to understand directions on how to remove & replace the struts on your VS... I 2 own a VS & usually turn 2 my trusty but sometimes hard 2 understand workshop manual & being female,I get alot of smart-arse comments or just get "U CAN'T DO THAT,IT'S A MANS JOB... so now i've learnt & done "WITH THE BIGGEST HELP FROM U" how 2 remove & replace the struts in my SMOKIN VS... another notch in my DO-IT-MYSELF & SAVE A ****-LOAD OF MONEY belt... cheers

 

[greenvs]

My car had developed a rattle when i am under brakes going over a bumpy surface a low speed ( gfs driveway). could this be the sway bar bushes or am i looking at something else