Creaking strut

[JayG]

The drop links come out really easy if you take the loading off them. Just use a jack to raise the LCA at the ball joint until the load is released. They will slide right out. I removed the lower bolt first and it made it easier to remove the upper one

Originally Posted by ttomtom

Update. Strut mount was changed yesterday. The rubber bushing as expected was parted from the inner ring. Probably I shouldn't have rotated it especially not with force. Otherwise it didn't look too bad. But since it was the source of the creak it must have been worn before I touched it. Other strut parts look ok, bearing ok. The shock needed a lot of force to push all the way down and it took about 5 sec or more to come back up which I think is ok.

Only problem was I couldn't pull out the bolt that goes through the strut base and ends in the sway bar drop link. I removed the nut but the bolt didn't budge. I tried to to rotate the nut on the drop link side but that didn't budge either I even stripped it a bit. I ended up changing the mount while the base of the strut was in place.

It also took some time to put the rings back to the rubber boot on both sides of the control arm (tuning fork) ball joint or whatever it's called. They came off when I tried to push the arm back to where it belongs between the chassis and that L shaped plate.