HELP! Suggestions needed! Strut not going into steering knuckle. CV joint broken??

[sumrandomguy]

Hi TM3,

I've been a long time member on the TOProtege board, and a family member recently picked up a 2006 Mazda 3 (2.3L, automatic). The front passenger strut was leaking, and it honestly didn't look that difficult to swap out the entire assembly. What I'm trying to replace is the entire thing (we got the Monroe Quick-Strut system). I referenced these 2 videos on youtube for the install:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5QPfPGgm4s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2nPufrj3bE

Needless to say, I over-estimated the amount of work involved, and now the car is sitting on jackstands with the quick-strut installed, but I can't get it to fit into the steering knuckle. It seems to be sitting on an angle, and not sitting flush with the fender like it should be. Here's what the situation looks like:

http://i39.tinypic.com/11h6qkk.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2lx9pw7.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/2l3qyh.jpg

In the second video, the guy removed the axle nut/cv bolt, but I did not (and the guy in the first video didn't either). As it sits on an angle now, did I screw up the cv joint/axle somehow when I pushed down to try and put the strut into the knuckle? It almost seems like its stuck in this 45 degree angle??

I'm in desperate need to advice here. Wasted at least 5 hrs in the garage today, when I should've just taken it to Jimmy at Street Performance in the first place to get this fixed. Now I'm worried that I did more damage than good, and I'll have to get it towed (if that's even possible at this point, since I can't put the wheel back on, car went into garage head first). Absolutely any help, pointers, confirmation, suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

[midnightfxgt]

Use a little muscle ;)

You need to pry the steering knuckle down, under the bottom of the strut, and rotate it so it lines up with the bottom of the strut. Sometimes I will push it down and have a spare jack under it. Once lined up, I use the jack to press it back up in place, and do the muscle work for me lol

-John

[sumrandomguy]

Thanks for responding, John. I am able to push down on the knuckle to get the bottom of the strut partially in but not all the way, mainly because the position of the knuckle is currently pointing downwards (pic 1). I can’t seem to line it up so that the entire bottom of the strut goes in.

Even without the strut inside the knuckle, it doesn’t sit perpendicular to the axle. Is there a possibility that I may have damaged the cv joint/axle? Is the cv joint/axle damageable in this case??

[midnightfxgt]

I don't think it's damaged. Sometimes they will move around, and bind on something making it tough to get back where you need it.

[Nikhil Pali]

I had the exact same issue. It did take some elbow grease to get it in.

What I did was jammed a crowbar in the slot in the knuckle where the bolt goes that holds the strut. It opened the hole a bit. Put the bar from behind the knuckle. Greased the strut and lined it up to get the bottom of the strut partially into the knuckle. They with a soft hammer lightly tap the knuckle where strut goes in. I also placed my scissor jack under the knuckle and used it to push the knuckle up. It is frustrating and did take some tries.

Also make sure that top bolts of strut are loose. I think I only turned those 3 bolt 2-3 turns in so that my strut would just hang thr.

[sumrandomguy]

John, thanks for confirming. It does seem like the cv joint is out of place or something. It may have been because I was pushing down on the rotor and it moved from its original position.

Nikhil, good tip on the top bolts that hold the assembly. I also found a tip about spreading the knuckle by threading the big 17mm bolt through the other side and using a quarter/washer to enlarge the gap. I'm hoping this will do the trick.

[midnightfxgt]

You would be surprised at the amount of play you get from it. Fingers crossed, but I really think you will be fine :)

[sumrandomguy]

That's a huge relief that I didn't screw anything up. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can put everything back together tonight.

[morganc]

Agreed, this is the best tactic. Additionally, it helps if you have someone lightly tapping the knuckle sideways as it keeps it from binding at an angle.


I had the exact same issue. It did take some elbow grease to get it in.



What I did was jammed a crowbar in the slot in the knuckle where the bolt goes that holds the strut. It opened the hole a bit. Put the bar from behind the knuckle. Greased the strut and lined it up to get the bottom of the strut partially into the knuckle. They with a soft hammer lightly tap the knuckle where strut goes in. I also placed my scissor jack under the knuckle and used it to push the knuckle up. It is frustrating and did take some tries.

Also make sure that top bolts of strut are loose. I think I only turned those 3 bolt 2-3 turns in so that my strut would just hang thr.

[midnightfxgt]

^^^ Also a good idea. However, I tend to think I can do it alone, smash it with a big hammer, and end up with bloody knuckles. Same outcome though! LOL

[Hyperion]

Line up the strut with the hole and use a jack to force the nuckle up. Just make sure you line up the j hook in the back.

[-cj-]

Which way are your wheels pointing? Keep them centered. Then put your hands on the studs and/or caliper (avoid touching the rotor) and push down on the knuckle. Get your weight into it. It will move easily and the strut should pop over and line up once the knuckle is below it.

Make sure nothing is stopping the suspension from travelling down. I don't know what that gray thing is in the first picture, but make sure there's nothing below the knuckle or on any suspension pieces that need to move.

[sumrandomguy]

Hyperion, that's what I was trying to do, but the issue I was running into is that the strut wouldn't go all the way into the knuckle. Only the back part of the strut would go partially in. Once its in the knuckle, it should be smooth sailing.

cj, under the knuckle right now is a bucket and a grey box to support the weight of the whole thing. I didn't want to put any unnecessary tension on the cv joint/axle because I'm not too familiar with that part and was afraid that I would break it. I pray this thing is going to go in smoothly tonight.

[Hyperion]

Hyperion, that's what I was trying to do, but the issue I was running into is that the strut wouldn't go all the way into the knuckle. Only the back part of the strut would go partially in. Once its in the knuckle, it should be smooth sailing.

cj, under the knuckle right now is a bucket and a grey box to support the weight of the whole thing. I didn't want to put any unnecessary tension on the cv joint/axle because I'm not too familiar with that part and was afraid that I would break it. I pray this thing is going to go in smoothly tonight.

You look like you're putting the stock strut back in. They do not go in without a fight. Anyone that has seen me work on their car can attest when I say, you need to hammer the hell out of the side of the knuckle to get it to slide the rest of the way in.

[-cj-]

Worst case, you can try compressing the strut a little to get you some more clearance.

[sumrandomguy]

So there's good news. With ALOT of muscle (for me), I was able to put the strut back into the knuckle. However, the tab at the back isn't completely aligned (off by about 1/2 inch) with the opening at the back, so the plan now is just to hammer the knuckle from side to side until the tab aligns, and then use my jack to do the rest of the heavy work. I'm almost there!

[JonsMazda]

Ooooh the suspense is killing me!!

[sumrandomguy]

so..an hour later and strut is in:
http://i40.tinypic.com/2ir8y20.jpg

I keep hammering the left side of the knuckle, but the tab still remains unaligned. Also, what I've noticed is that everytime I hit the knuckle, the strut keeps going lower and lower into the knuckle, and the tab will just rest right above where I insert the screw. Then I need to hammer the knuckle down again, and this cycle keeps repeating itself.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2ni5des.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/rkrhxd.jpg

What am I missing here???

[sumrandomguy]

I couldn't figure out how to edit my post, but here is a little more detail on what I am doing:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2q8t2qc.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/245lf02.jpg

[sumrandomguy]

I'm guessing I shouldn't be bending the tab on the strut, correct?

[peterm15]

No you shouldn't. Obviously that needs to be lined up(im sure you know that already). Pop the strut out of the knuckle and try again.

[sumrandomguy]

I thought about removing the strut from the knuckle, but it took so much effort to finally get it inside. If I remove it, I'm afriad I'll be back to square one. There's got to be a way to line the damn thing up. I'm so frustrated and tired at this point.

[peterm15]

All I usually do is line it up as much as possible. Jack up the knuckle and the strut and shake the strut until it kind of pops in.

Spread it apart a bit more as well.

[Hyperion]

This was way more complicated than it needed to be lol

[sumrandomguy]

I re-watched both the youtube videos and they make it looks so easy to simply push down on the knuckle, and the strut naturally slides into place. I tried lining it up as much as possible, and the tab was closer before I started hammering. Worst part is I cant move the car until this thing gets resolved. I'm going to try again and hopefully I'll get lucky.

[peterm15]

Once it pops in its going to be one of those facepalm moments.

[sumrandomguy]

Gave up for the night. Too tired after a day of work. I highly doubt I'll have a facepalm moment...more like "ABOUT EFFING TIME"

[sumrandomguy]

This was way more complicated than it needed to be lol

Fully agree. If it was only as simple as it looked in the video. Had I known it was this damn difficult, would've just brought the car to Jimmy.

[sumrandomguy]

UPDATE!

A HUGE THANKS to all the TM3 members who replied to this thread, providing guidance and tips on how to put this thing back together. After wrestling with it for another hour or so, I was finally able to align the tab at the back with the opening in the knuckle and then use the jack to do the rest. Car is now off jack stands, and my dad is happy to have the garage back in this cold weather.

A tip for those who have never tackled this job. What I found extremely useful is to enlarge the opening in the knuckle, where the strut is supposed to go in. I didn't have the right size crowbar, so instead I used a wrench and jammed it in there from the bottom (just like a member on here mentioned). I previously read that you can feed the large 17mm screw backwards, but that wasn't successful. Also, there is a possibility that you can mess up the threads (and then you're screwed, b/c at that point you would have to replace the entire knuckle). With the extra space in the bore of the knuckle, the strut had way more room to move around and it made the installation much easier. Don't forget to grease the bottom of the strut and inside the knuckle as that also helped.

Hopefully this tip will help future members reduce the amount of frustration required to complete the job.

Thanks again to everyone here!