"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
07/15/2017 at 16:45 • Filed to: None
6
29|
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
07/15/2017 at 16:45 • Filed to: None | 6
| 29 |
I spent the morning swapping out the springs & struts on my wife’s Explorer. I bought a neat package made by FCS Auto with new springs already loaded on the struts. This saved some time and effort, but more importantly, it kept me from having to fiddle with loading springs. It’s safer that way, but it leads to a problem (see the bottom of the post).
They were shipped just like this, no extra packaging required.
A lot of paper kept them from knocking around in the boxes.
One spring & strut combo, ready to be bolted on!
The next step was chocking the wheels, getting the explorer up on jack stands and taking everything apart.
The strut is bolted to the knuckle with two bolts secured by two nuts. The bolts are scored to prevent them from turning, so the nuts must be removed and the bolts hammered out. The strut also has a link to the front sway bar which has to be unbolted, but this one doesn’t have a bolt head on the back side, so it requires a wrench for the nut and a socket for the shaft. Fun stuff.
The strut is held in at the top by four nuts.
The strut bolts were too tall for my deep-well sockets, so it gave me an opportunity to try out my pass-through socket wrench. It works better than I expected!
Getting the sway bar link line up required judicious use of a jack. Yeah, I don’t have a floor jack. It’s on the list of nice-to-have tools, but it hasn’t made it to the must-have list yet.
All done!
Now here’s the conundrum. I have two old struts with loaded springs that need to go away. I can’t just toss them into the trash. Any ideas, Oppo?
XJDano
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 16:49 |
|
I put old parts in the recycle bin.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> XJDano
07/15/2017 at 16:52 |
|
No recycling here. Besides, the springs are loaded, i.e. compressed. I’d hate for it to cut loose inside of one of their machines.
diplodicus forgot his password
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 16:53 |
|
Scrap yard will take the old ones.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> diplodicus forgot his password
07/15/2017 at 16:54 |
|
That’s a good idea.
Frenchlicker
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 16:54 |
|
Quick struts are definitely worth the extra price.
|
XJDano
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 17:07 |
|
Or you can call up a shop, they recycle old parts. Also scrap yards also recycle. So eventually they will get reused.
How does your town not have a recycle center?
notsomethingstructural
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 17:11 |
|
Get a spring compressor with safety latches. Keep it oiled. Don’t install it backwards. I’m the biggest pussy in the world when it comes to fixing shit, but I spent $40-50 on a good set instead of $19 and was like “wow my fears were super overblown”
Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 17:12 |
|
Nice write up. I’ll try to follow your lead while doing my brakes. Also rad that you can buy those preloaded. That’s huge.
No guesses as to how to unload the old ones other then throwing them over the fence into a junkyard.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> XJDano
07/15/2017 at 17:18 |
|
There is a recycle center in Baton Rouge, but they don’t pick up where I live. I chaperoned one of my kids’ field trip to it last year. That center doesn’t take metal. One of their biggest problems is people dropping knives into the recycling. Everything is machine & hand-sorted. They’ve had a few accidents....
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> notsomethingstructural
07/15/2017 at 17:20 |
|
I’ve been down that road several times. There’s a reason I went the pre-loaded route. I just didn’t think about getting rid of the old ones.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief
07/15/2017 at 17:21 |
|
Thanks. I did the brakes on it last weekend, but didn’t take as many photos. New pads and rotors were a breeze.
|
XJDano
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 17:35 |
|
Interesting. I would never have thought of knives. The YouTube video I had seen is that the steel gets magnetized out and that’s less sorting by hand. I’ve put a lot of car parts in my recycle bin. It’s a single stream so everything gets sorted, not sure if metal stuff is sucked out.
Also toy story 3 I think.
|
XJDano
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 17:39 |
|
Also in close proximity to me this happened. Not sure how a live mortar round got recycled.
There are a few places that only buy furious metals, so steel would be out.
Good luck.
|
notsomethingstructural
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 18:10 |
|
Have you broken a latch before? Now you’re scaring me.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> notsomethingstructural
07/15/2017 at 18:29 |
|
I’ve had them slip before, but there are plenty of stories out there about them failing.
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/03/this-is-what-happens-when-a-coil-spring-compressor-fails/
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> XJDano
07/15/2017 at 18:30 |
|
Yeouch. Sorting is a dangerous job and those guys make minimum wage.
Shoop
> XJDano
07/15/2017 at 18:32 |
|
I wouldnt want to deal with angry metal either
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> XJDano
07/15/2017 at 18:34 |
|
The place we went to had several sequential machines with manual and automatic sorting stations at each. The owner said knives are a big problem because manual sorting happens before the magnetic conveyor and sometimes knives make it past the magnets. Sometimes sorters get cut by broken glass that isn’t supposed to be in the main line.
Sorting is not a job I would want.
Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 18:37 |
|
Make lamps out of them.
(This is my solution to everything)
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
07/15/2017 at 18:39 |
|
|
notsomethingstructural
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 19:00 |
|
There’s no safety latches, they also didn’t compress the spring enough and were fucking stupid to stick a screwdriver let alone their hand in there.
Urambo Tauro
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 19:28 |
|
Those pass-through ratchets are pretty cool, huh? I hardly ever use mine, but every once in a while it comes in super-handy.
merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 22:02 |
|
Leave them out by the curb, scrapers will take them.
shop-teacher
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 23:02 |
|
A scrap yard will take them and recycle them.
for Michigan
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/15/2017 at 23:32 |
|
Which Explorer is that? The suspension setup looks nearly identical to my Mazda3.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> for Michigan
07/16/2017 at 10:03 |
|
It’s a 2013.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Urambo Tauro
07/16/2017 at 10:07 |
|
I really like it. It’s also designed for both metric and standard. That means it’s a compromise for both, but as long as the nut isn’t too tight, it shouldn’t be an issue.
|
for Michigan
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/16/2017 at 13:29 |
|
Thought it must be the current gen. Makes sense that what is essentially a Taurus wagon would share suspension design with other Ford cars.
cluelessk
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/24/2017 at 13:10 |
|
Some body shop or similar might take them?
Our shop always has a pile of scrap we sell.