i wonder if anyone could help, i was going to change the shock absorbers on the front of my fiesta, i got one side all stripped down and got one of the shock absorbers of the car and compressed up the spring to change the actual shock, the only problem was once i had got the shock sitting on the floor i couldnt undo the top bolt on the shock absorber that actually holds the spring in place, i take it ur supposed to put it in a vice or something to hold the shock tight, has anyone got any suggestions of a way to do it as i dont have a vice and at the moment i have had to put it back together as it was before which is really disheartening after progressing really well (well i thought so) in getting the old one out on my own only to then have to put it back together again! i am going to try again at the weekend but i dont know really how to go about it??

 

try slackening the nuts a 1/4 turn before you take the strut off, should be a piece of piss then.

 

Aren't you meant to use an allen key bit in the top of the shock to hold the shaft so you can spin the nut off, thats the usual way they have to be done........

 

as usual top quality advice from this site, i got the 1st one done without two much trouble, hardest bit was lining the spring up in the caps at the end, done 1 side now will do the other one tomorrow, im not pushing my luck today by trying to do both!

 

Was i right about the allen key in the shock shaft?

Glad you got it done

 

yeh basically the way i sorted it in the end was i took the top mount of in the car and then the bolt underneath that actually compresses the spring in i undid one turn before iactually jacked the car up and took anything else, it is easier to loosen with the weight of the car still on it

 

one thing i am a little concerned about is when i was doing the top of the shock up i put the allen key and yanked the spanner round, i heard a clonk and it all went loser again, tightened it up again and it seemed ok and put the rest of it back and it seemed to go tight ok, do u reckon this is anything to worry about or just something finding its natural position??