PAULD
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posted on 16/4/10 at 04:00 PM |
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Help!
I need to change the front springs on my sons '98 mondeo. Mr Haynes says that I need to remove the whole upright/strut assembly. Is this
necessary or can I just separate it at the split clamp at the top of the upright and leave that on.
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mcerd1
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posted on 16/4/10 at 05:19 PM |
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not done a mondeo myself (done a few other cars like them though) I'm sure you will need to take it off
on the other hand it shouldn't be that big a job though, and its easy to swap the spring once the struts in vice
I'd guess the strut is only held on by 3 or 4 small bolts at the top +the bottom balljoint +the track rod end
have you got some decent spring compressors ? (they make the job a whole lot easier)
[Edited on 16/4/10 by mcerd1]
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Mark G
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posted on 16/4/10 at 05:36 PM |
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You won't have room to remove the spring with the strut still in the hub. IIRC it's only 1 more bolt and the drop link to remove the strut
from the hub anyway.
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adithorp
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posted on 16/4/10 at 06:08 PM |
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The leg has to come off. Be very,VERY carefull. Mondeo springs are rather long with few coils and require compressing a long way. As a result like to
escape from the spring compressors... and when they do, they break anything that gets in the way, including your limbs.
Unless you've got a very good spring compressor I'd advise against doing the job.
adrian
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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rusty nuts
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posted on 16/4/10 at 06:53 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by adithorp
Unless you've got a very good spring compressor I'd advise against doing the job.
adrian
Have to agree with the above!
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nick205
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posted on 16/4/10 at 07:45 PM |
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Experience on other FWD cars says it will need to come right off, upright and all.
As above - be careful!
Brother in-law still has a scar on his lower leg where a Chevette spring escaped from the compressors many moons ago. Had him of his feet for a
couple of weeks and he was very lucky it hit him in the calf and not the shin/knee.
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ChrisW
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posted on 16/4/10 at 08:07 PM |
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It's a right b£$%rd of a job on a Mondeo. You'd be better off getting a pair of 'new' legs from a write off and just swapping
everything over.
(I've got a pair of Mondeo legs with knackered shocks gathering dust in my workshop for this very reason!)
Chris
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mangogrooveworkshop
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posted on 16/4/10 at 08:16 PM |
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Boing no fingers....has to come off and a good compression tool not the hook ones but the horse shoe ones. When they slip the go off like a bomb.
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PAULD
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posted on 16/4/10 at 09:06 PM |
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Thanks for all the replies folks, I'll have serious thoughts before takling it!
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prawnabie
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posted on 16/4/10 at 09:13 PM |
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I have a "proper" coil spring compressor if you need to borrow one - although I am in birmingham
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UncleFista
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posted on 17/4/10 at 01:12 AM |
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I did a pair on a Mondeo with Clarke machine-mart cheapo spring compressors.
I didn't like it....
[Edited on 17/4/10 by UncleFista]
Tony Bond / UncleFista
Love is like a snowmobile, speeding across the frozen tundra.
Which suddenly flips, pinning you underneath.
At night the ice-weasels come...
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PAULD
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posted on 17/4/10 at 12:22 PM |
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Just been quoted £160 to do both sides. Probably go with it. I value my fingers more than that! thanks again folks.
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