How to take Front struts apart....84 4wd wagon

[84sr54wd]

So, I've got the entire front end out of the car laying on the floor in pieces. There is nothing in this thing worth anything, so it is all being rebuilt. I have the struts out, I ordered new ones from Rockauto and they are on the way. My question is this.....I have pulled the struts down, removed the spring....removed the large 2" nut on the top of the strut and from what it seems, I have to somehow remove the old strut from the strut assembly with the spring perch and insert a new one. I don't understand how to take the old strut out of the strut assembly? There appears to be a plate down in there with two holes in it that oppose each other. Is there a special tool that unscrews this plate so the hydraulic arm and rest of the strut will come out? If I tip the thing upside down with the large 2" nut off, oil leaks out. I am just confused as to what I need to do now......anyone done these?

One other question....In the front end....specific to the lower control arms....there are bushings where the stabilizer bar comes through the lower control arm on the drivers and passengers side. What are those bushings called? I have searched rockauto and they sell lower control arm bushings but that is where the arm goes to the frame. I need those doughnut bushings for both sides of the stabilizer bar on both sides. Any info on that? Thanks fellow Tercel gurus!! One of these days I will be able to drive this thing....once I rebuild the front end and suspension from the ground up. There is nothing on this car that is any good. Every component in the steering and suspensioin is beyond shot. The brakes lines are gone too.

[dlb]

it's hard to tell from your description but to remove the strut insert (the shock absorber that is encased in the strut housing) you must put the nuts and bolts in the strut-to-hub holes at the bottom of the strut, do them up hand tight, and mount the strut in a vice on those nuts/bolts. don't put any other part of the strut in the vice, you will deform it.

now put spring compressors on the springs and CAREFULLY cinch them down. compressed springs are extremely dangerous so use utmost caution with them. once the springs are compressed, undo the large nut at the top of the strut mount (aka bearing plate, whatever you want to call it). remove the strut mount, strut hat, and spring. don't drop the compressed spring on the floor, it'll kill you.

now get a big pipe wrench, put a cheater pipe on the handle, and put the jaws on the octagonal nut that retains the insert in the housing. this nut can be really stuck so be prepared to reef on it. once it's free, remove the old insert. you can leave the oil in there or pour it out. we've talked about this a few times here but haven't come to a consensus on what that oil does. no harm either way.

[dlb]

the bushings you are referring to are the sway bar end bushings and are not sold at most auto places for some reason. you can still get them from toyota, here are the part #s.

# 48674-16030 ......" cushion to arm ...2 @ $10.49 = ..20.98 __(front cushion)
# 48675-16041 ......" cushion to arm ...2 @..$8.70 .= .17.40 __(rear cushion)
# 90387-14007 ......" internal collar ....2 @..$5.51 .= ..11.02 __(internal sleeve/tube)

that's from this post.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6438

there are also aftermarket sway bar end bushings that are cheaper than the toyota ones but they are supposed to be lubricated regularly due to the material used. see this post on them.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6550

[84sr54wd]

it's hard to tell from your description but to remove the strut insert (the shock absorber that is encased in the strut housing) you must put the nuts and bolts in the strut-to-hub holes at the bottom of the strut, do them up hand tight, and mount the strut in a vice on those nuts/bolts. don't put any other part of the strut in the vice, you will deform it.

now put spring compressors on the springs and CAREFULLY cinch them down. compressed springs are extremely dangerous so use utmost caution with them. once the springs are compressed, undo the large nut at the top of the strut mount (aka bearing plate, whatever you want to call it). remove the strut mount, strut hat, and spring. don't drop the compressed spring on the floor, it'll kill you.

now get a big pipe wrench, put a cheater pipe on the handle, and put the jaws on the octagonal nut that retains the insert in the housing. this nut can be really stuck so be prepared to reef on it. once it's free, remove the old insert. you can leave the oil in there or pour it out. we've talked about this a few times here but haven't come to a consensus on what that oil does. no harm either way.

Ok...I've done all of that and I am down to the point where the octagonal nut is off. It was a BIT&^....but it is off. The question is....how the hell does the strut now come out of the housing? I cannot get it out? Is there something else down in there that holds the strut in the assembly?

[84sr54wd]

the bushings you are referring to are the sway bar end bushings and are not sold at most auto places for some reason. you can still get them from toyota, here are the part #s.

# 48674-16030 ......" cushion to arm ...2 @ $10.49 = ..20.98 __(front cushion)
# 48675-16041 ......" cushion to arm ...2 @..$8.70 .= .17.40 __(rear cushion)
# 90387-14007 ......" internal collar ....2 @..$5.51 .= ..11.02 __(internal sleeve/tube)

that's from this post.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6438

there are also aftermarket sway bar end bushings that are cheaper than the toyota ones but they are supposed to be lubricated regularly due to the material used. see this post on them.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6550

THANK YOU! Great info....going to look more into this. Mine need replacing while I have this thing torn down!

[jimcrazy]

the prices are better out your way then here in nova scotia. I replaced mine this spring 4 bushings 2 sleeves 4 washers with tax cost me 162.00 and that's with my discount

[dlb]

if the octagonal nut is out, the strut should slide out. if it's stuck in there, i can think of two things:

one, the rubber gasket on the bottom of the octagonal nut came off and is binding between the insert and housing when you try to pull the insert out. i had this happen once. look carefully with a flashlight and pull it out with a small screwdriver if that's the case. two, a previous owner dumped the oil out of there and the insert is now rusted to the housing. let's hope that's not the case.

two, if a PO dumped the oil out before replacing the inserts, maybe this allowed corrosion to form between the housing and the insert. if that's the case, try spray penetrating oil down in there and tap all around the housing with a hammer. don't hit too hard though, you don't want to deform anything.

the bright side of this is that i can now think of a really good reason to keep the oil in the housing!

how is the condition of your sway bar ends and the tubes that slide over them? i've had some in great shape, others turned to dust. often the tube is so badly rusted it has actually fused to the end of the bar. only way to get it off was gently grind it off. eventually it came off in flakes. see this post.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7481&p=79257

[84sr54wd]

if the octagonal nut is out, the strut should slide out. if it's stuck in there, i can think of two things:

one, the rubber gasket on the bottom of the octagonal nut came off and is binding between the insert and housing when you try to pull the insert out. i had this happen once. look carefully with a flashlight and pull it out with a small screwdriver if that's the case. two, a previous owner dumped the oil out of there and the insert is now rusted to the housing. let's hope that's not the case.

two, if a PO dumped the oil out before replacing the inserts, maybe this allowed corrosion to form between the housing and the insert. if that's the case, try spray penetrating oil down in there and tap all around the housing with a hammer. don't hit too hard though, you don't want to deform anything.

the bright side of this is that i can now think of a really good reason to keep the oil in the housing!

how is the condition of your sway bar ends and the tubes that slide over them? i've had some in great shape, others turned to dust. often the tube is so badly rusted it has actually fused to the end of the bar. only way to get it off was gently grind it off. eventually it came off in flakes. see this post.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7481&p=79257

first of all I can assure you that these are the original struts never been touched by a previous owner. There is not one thing routine maintenance wise on this car that has been done. It is a mechanical front end disaster. the octagonal nut is off but recessed about half an inch below the surface of the top of the strut is a metal looking disc with a seal on it that has two holes in it. It seems to me that perhaps this has to be unscrewed before the stret can come out? there is something else keeping this unit together and it's got nothing to do with the nuts on top of everything.

[84sr54wd]

I have put the strut in a vice mounted the strut mount on the top of the hydraulic shaft and tried to pull with all of my force and it will not come out. I have stared at this thing for over 2 hours trying to figure it outand it will not come apart...

[84sr54wd]

there is a metal disc down around the hydraulic arm of the strut that you can clearly see once you remove the octagonal nut. it almost has the physical appearance of a bearing.There are two holes in this piece, one across from the other. Is a spanner wrench of some type needed to remove that piece before the assembly comes out?

[dlb]

can you post a pic of the metal disc with the holes in it? i've never heard or seen such a thing in the tercel struts i've worked on. you might double check the FSM to make sure it's not mentioned in there.

if you think it's threaded in, you could use a punch and hammer to tap the holes counter clockwise (unless the holes are in the seal and not the metal). or you could drill a few holes in a piece of steel roughly the same distance apart as the holes in the disc and slightly larger than them, put two course screws through the steel and turns those to pull the disc out, like a puller. again, that won't won't work if the holes are in the seal, obv.

this is really weird. i wonder what the disc is. a pic would be great.

[Petros]

I think what you are looking at is the factory dampener that is built into the the front strut. the replacement insert requires you remove all of the old dampener and shaft from inside the strut. You got the large nut off, the rest should just pull out, that is what happens when ever I pull off the large nut at the top. I do not recall any kind of threaded spacer or retainer under it. It might have been damaged if all of the hydrualic fluid has leaked and you have had metal to metal contact inside the strut for a long time, that would mean you have to force it apart.

If that metal retainer with the two holes in it look like it was threaded down into the shaft than you can perhaps try and unscrew it with a chisel. put it in one of the holes and tap it around with a hammer so it unscrews.

You have to dump everything out of the strut tube before you can install the new inserts that replace the original internal dampener parts.

If this does not help, take a picture and post it so we can see what is causing you the trouble.

[84sr54wd]

I think what you are looking at is the factory dampener that is built into the the front strut. the replacement insert requires you remove all of the old dampener and shaft from inside the strut. You got the large nut off, the rest should just pull out, that is what happens when ever I pull off the large nut at the top. I do not recall any kind of threaded spacer or retainer under it. It might have been damaged if all of the hydrualic fluid has leaked and you have had metal to metal contact inside the strut for a long time, that would mean you have to force it apart.

If that metal retainer with the two holes in it look like it was threaded down into the shaft than you can perhaps try and unscrew it with a chisel. put it in one of the holes and tap it around with a hammer so it unscrews.

You have to dump everything out of the strut tube before you can install the new inserts that replace the original internal dampener parts.

If this does not help, take a picture and post it so we can see what is causing you the trouble.

I agree with you and I have been tapping that piece in there with the holes on it and it just spins around and around slowly but makes no effort to come out. I am beyond irritated. I can't attach any photos to this damn site from my camera. I'm going to try to take another photograph and do it that way.

[dlb]

that looks like the top of the insert to me. there is a rubber ring around the outside of the inner tube. remove it and see if that helps.

[84sr54wd]

that looks like the top of the insert to me. there is a rubber ring around the outside of the inner tube. remove it and see if that helps.

Ok...finally got this SOB...I was not going to bed tonight till I did. I stuck the rod of the strut in a vise after draining the oil out of the tube and then just yanked the whole exterior assembly and the thing finally popped out. No rust, just whatever that piece is with holes in it that I showed you in the pic has a tight seal on the inside of the tube. I was able to tap it around and around a bunch of times and finally a piece of the seal popped loose and I was able to drab it with needle nose pliers and yank it out. That seemed to do nothing....so that is when I got rough with it. Now I know what I am facing on the other side. That unit is out of the car but I have not compressed the spring and torn it down yet.

Thanks to all for their help!