Complete spring seat failure or something else?

[JRL]

Oh it can, I've seen it
His is very bad, that car should not be driven until his front end is FIXED

[Teddy1975]

I'm not sure how are you going to remove the strut assy from there.

Easy? With car jacked and wheel off, takes off the two strut to knuckle bolts, 3 top bolts, and brake hose bolt and the entire strut assembly is free.

+1.

That's how I've done it. There's no need to try to compress the spring or breaking loose the top shocks nut while it's still on the car. With an impact gun it's a 15 minute job per side to take off the strut assemblies.

[abscate]

Dont forget the hour to undo the rusty, crappy, stabilizer bar link rod from the strut, too.

[erikv11]

I'm not sure how are you going to remove the strut assy from there.

Easy? With car jacked and wheel off, takes off the two strut to knuckle bolts, 3 top bolts, and brake hose bolt and the entire strut assembly is free.

+1.

That's how I've done it. There's no need to try to compress the spring or breaking loose the top shocks nut while it's still on the car. With an impact gun it's a 15 minute job per side to take off the strut assemblies.

+2

And even if the whole assembly is so ruined it doesn't hold together at all (very unlikely), that just means the spring will fully decompress when you jack up the front end an no spring compressor will be needed at all on that side. The only safety issue here is once the strut tower is out, be very careful about where the spring is "pointing." Get a compressor on it ASAP.