Need advice on replacing trunk strut

[captainjman]

I purchased two new trunk struts, removed the lower bolt (with the ball socket) and then removed the safely e-clip from the upper part...

Once removed I tried to separate the ball from the socket, and no matter how much I pulled and pryed it would not come apart....

Any ideas how to remove that ball from the socket? Do I need to purchase another bolt?

Thanks

J

 

[DocL]

So your balls are stuck. Well you have two options.

1) Cut them out of the strut and then reuse them, or,
2) Get some new balls. :biggrin:

This has been discussed in the past and a simple search beforehand would have saved you the aggrevation.

 

[snake11eyes]

captainjman, i recently replaced my trunk struts (about 2 weeks) ago and i'll save you the trouble of reading the extensive posts on the subject. the above post is correct in that you basically have 2 options:

1) try to shave the ball (e.g., with a dremmel) to release it from the socket
2) buy a new ball stud

from the posts i read, it didnt seem to be worth the trouble of trying to shave down the ball (especially since i dont even own a drill). therefore, i opted for buying a new ball stud. the ball stud part is 90102-SL0-003 and only costs about $10 each. it litterally only took me 2 seconds to snap each ball stud into each trunk strut socket is u only need to lightly push them in to get them to snap into place into the socket. assuming that u buy new ball studs, the who trunk strut replacement should only take you 10-15 minutes or so as opposed to an prob an hour or more if you try to shave down the ball stud. and even if i did have a drill, i dont really like the idea of shaving down parts. seems like that would comprmise the functionality, reliability, durability of the part...but thats just my opinion.

trust me, i think its worth it to spend $20 (for 2 ball studs) for the peace of mind and to save u the time and effort.

 

[captainjman]

I decided to go shave my balls, so I grabbed my dremmel and went down stairs to go do the deed... when all of a sudden I saw the future... me messing up the ball by accident, and not being able to reinstall the old strut.. or me in the hospital describing how it saved me 10 dollars to the ER doctor. LOL

I took your advice and got the part. Actually, its 10 dollars for a set of 2. Good deal, so I got em and the Eclips that secure the top portion (just in case).

Thanks for the advice. Sorry I didnt search for the info first... I didnt even think of that.

Jman

 

[snake11eyes]

captainjman, im glad to hear that you took my advice and the install went well (didnt want to end up with egg on my face :smile.

how on earth did you get a set of 2 for $10? i checked my receipt and i definitely got mine for $10 each. are they oem? were they new or used? where did u get them from for so cheap?

i normally get my oem parts from http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/ as they seem to usually be the cheapest. please let me know if you have a cheaper source. thanks!

 

[DocL]

Good job. It's much better having undamaged balls that can perform flawlessly. :biggrin:

 

[shawn110975]

Now remember only one will be bad, if you can slide the shaft in and out then thats the bad one. the shock that you cant push in and out thats the good one. keep it, one day if one of your new struts go bad, you dont have to wait to get the new one from the dealership, you can use the old one. so there is no down time.

 

[ftuhy]

This has been covered before. There is no need to do any cutting. A little patience and two good strong picks and you can pry out the wire c-clips inside the strut socket. The first one took me 15 mintues to figure out how to attack it. The second one took under a minute.

I did this a couple of years ago, and found a tip on Prime. I think the tip was from OLDMNSX, but I was unable to find it at the moment with a quick search.

A short description: rotate the wire clip in the groove of the strut socket until you find the ends. Hold one end still with one pick, carefully pry the other end up and out with the second pick. Its best if you can mount the strut end in a vice to hold it still. You'll swear a lot until you get the hang of it. :biggrin:

 

[NSXclear]

Or bet yet...

Send your struts to Frank at Strutwise and he will rebuild them better than new OEM ones. You will not have to deal with removing the ball socket.

I realize that it might be too late for you to do since you already bought a new set. But for anyone else looking at this thread and needs to fix their struts, rebuilding them at Strutwise is a better then OEM new ones.

 

[SUNEDAZ]

Thanks for asking the question..... I'm in the middle of the same project. I didn't buy the studs nor did dealer suggest buying them
BAD DEALER NO COOKIE

 

[dalybo]

Captain J Man...I concur 100% with the advice to send your used/tired struts to Frank at Strutwise in BC Canada. His rebuilds are excellent, a lower cost then new struts, and the install is quick and easy (like in 5 mins).