Replacing the front strut assembly on my 2013 Mazda3 I touring hatchback 155K miles. We are having a maddening time getting the new strut assembly in the steering knuckle. I ordered a steering knuckle spreader to try next.
We tried shaking, hitting, silicon spray, chisel ... It goes in maybe a millimeter.
Besides trying the steering knuckle spreader, I'm going to sand off the paint up to the where it will go in.
It's no wonder auto repair costs so much.
Any tips and tricks from the pros?
a photo of what you're talking about would be great.
We got the new one on. A combination of jacking up the passenger side, filing, the steering knuckle spreader, a metal bar to tap with a sledge hammer. We needed to tap it in for the last half inch.
Hopefully the passenger side will go smoother with all this experience.
Thanks for the help.
Well realize sometimes the replacement parts are the wrong size a little bit bigger so they won't fit in any of the slots in that case just get a file and file it down until it fits in nicely
Thanks! Filing and tapping from the bottom got the job done.