headache! Help. Putting strut BACK in. sway bar link trouble

VA_Brown · Post by **VA_Brown** » 21 Oct 2012, 19:17

I hope someone here can help me. I read up on this process so much I could do it in my sleep. When I actually attempted today, not so much. I needed to replace the strut spring seat. Once it was out of the car that was a piece of cake.
Now- getting the whole struck back in my car- proving impossible!
I have a volvo '98 s70 2.4L no turbo.

I cannot get the strut back in the car because the sway bar link bolt is too high up to fit into the hole when the 2 lower bolts are in and secured. Is there a way to do this without
#1 breaking something- namely the sway bar link
#2 having body bulider strength
#3 having a 3rd arm or another person to help.

The videos and picture guides I have seen make it seem like a breeze (kind of) to get the thing back in there.
Really appreciate any help! Good thing I have a 2nd car otherwise I would be SOL....or bribing the mechanic a block away to come fix it.

VA_Brown · Post by **VA_Brown** » 21 Oct 2012, 19:26

At 6min 13 sec in this video. Mine was not like that at all.

Could this be due to my car only being jacked up on one side??

Post by **Ben850** » 21 Oct 2012, 20:58

VA_Brown wrote:at 6min 13 sec in this video. mine was not like that at all

could this be due to my car only being jacked up on one side??

Absolutely.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 21 Oct 2012, 21:25

I did the same job yesterday, just set a floor jack under the control arm and jack the control arm and strut up together until the sway bar end link just fits right into the hole.

...Lee

Post by **wheelsup** » 21 Oct 2012, 22:39

I used a pry bar to pry the sway bar with end link attached down enough to slip it in up top and tighten it down. Using a jack would probably be a lot easier though.

VA_Brown · Post by **VA_Brown** » 10 Nov 2012, 15:51

Thank you for advice!
This job may have been a teensy bit out of my skill range, but now I feel like a pro! nothing like spending a cumulative 8 hours or something at a task!
All that work for one little spring seat. gosh! But I finally got it done today because the strut nut too came in. And I drove it..... and no more clunking! yay.
Thanks all, really appreciate the expertise here.

Jacking up the control arm made putting the sway bar link back up a breeze.

Post by **precopster** » 10 Nov 2012, 17:27

Well now it's well within your skill range and you can do it over again if you like with ease.