Front Strut Issue

[greenacc]

You should replace your rubber strut tops everytime you replace struts. Collapsed rubber will be present in 99% of cases!

 

[BlackoutSteve]

Good idea.. ..and I know that.. now! :embarrass
Working on these is new to me, and I remember when I bought the struts some time ago, the GM guy said he could get the bushings for me, but they are not really required unless mine were "bad". I had no idea they collapsed like that and thought a "bad" bush was where the rubber itself had perished or worn or something else ..perhaps..

 

[lowandslow]

Why did you buy stock rubber ones which will collapse and will need changing again?

I've put these in my ute near 90,000kms ago and are still as tight as a drum.

Superpro Holden Commodore Strut Mount Bush Bearing KIT VR VS VU VT VX VY VZ VE | eBay

 

[greenacc]

Haha I know what you mean Steve, they always acy like Wow did your strut tops compress? give us a look i've never seen that before LOL.

 

[BlackoutSteve]

Why did you buy stock rubber ones which will collapse and will need changing again?

I've put these in my ute near 90,000kms ago and are still as tight as a drum.

Because it's a cushy Statesman and I don't like or want urethane. Besides, the bushes that just came out I think are still the originals that have lasted 370,000.
..and they'd still be in there without any collapsing if I hadn't just replaced the struts. They were tight with no clearance when I removed them.

 

[Jeremy F]

was it a hard job to replace them??

 

[BlackoutSteve]

Not sure about your VE (if that's the car you're referring to in your sig), but it was pretty easy on my VT/WH.
You need a pair of external spring compressors and the rest are basic tools.
Jack the car up and place stands under the front frame rails. Remove the wheel/s. Remove the brake caliper and tie it up (never let them hang on their flex-lines). Remove the brake rotor. Disconnect the brake line and ABS cable from the strut's retainer bracket. Undo the 2 bolts that secure the strut to the hub assy. Undo the top retainer plate nut, and allow the strut assy to lower out of the car.
The manual I have suggested to compress the spring/s before removal, but this is not only difficult with obsticals, banging your head and getting a sore back, it's simply not necessary. The spring is still retained by the top plate, so compress the spring/s easily with the strut/s out of the car.
With the spring compressed enough until all the load is off the top plate, undo the top spring retainer plate and swap your bushes.
Assembly is reading this in reverse.
You'll need a torque wrench too.

 

[greenacc]

Nice job, but you don't need to remove the calliper or rotor from the hub to do this, just unhook everything off the strut and support the whole 'braké assembly' as one piece.

 

[BlackoutSteve]

Trust me, I was looking for short cuts, but I couldn't get a socket and spanner onto both sides of the lower strut fasteners (both the nut & the bolt) with the brake caliper and rotor in place..

 

[greenacc]

I'm very surprised to hear that. I've never had a problem getting a socket or spanner onto those bolts. When i changed the struts on my VE which i'm guessing is the same assembly as yours, virtually all commodores are the same, I think i used a ring spanner on the bolt head and a good socket with a 400mm breaker bar on the other. The breaker bar has a pivot on the end so the handle can be used at say 100° rather than 90 to clear an obstruction. This is with the car jacked up and supported by stands to the point where the tyre leaves the concrete. You only need the breaker bar to begin with and you can turn the steering full lock whichever way helps get clearance.