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I am replacing the rear struts on my RX330 AWD. It seemed like a straightforward project and the left rear strut went in with no problems. I then remove the right rear strut without any issues, but when I tried to install the new one the lower strut mount did not align vertically with the rear axle assembly mount (see pictures - I moved the strut slightly to the right to show the vertical misalignment). The old strut came out without any force, not sure why the new one is not lining up with the rear axle mount. I laid out the old and new struts side by side and the mounts/location seem to be close to the same.
I tried using force (no luck yet), but is there something that I can loosen or adjust to line this up?
Patrick Geraghty
Last edited by pgeraghty1; 04-21-22 at 09:47 AM.
Reason: clarification
The old and new struts are pretty much an exact match - I purchased theses from AutoZone - made by Duralast. Checked out a few sites, all were priced about the same and these said exact match and were in stock. I even tried to reinstall the old strut and it doesn't seem to line up with the axle assembly mount either.
It looks like the angle of the axle assembly mount needs to be rotated to the right slightly to match and fit into the strut mount. There are tie/control bars plus the drive axle that seem to limit rotation the of axle assembly mount - not sure if I can loosen or disconnect any of these without causing any problems. On the bottom photo, the tie bar shown at the lower right side - was thinking of disconnecting it to hopefully allow me to rotate the axel assembly - would this help?
Ok, this is a new area for me - the spindle is the drive shaft, correct? So put my floor jack under the spindle and raise it slightly, then try to connect the mount on the strut?
And thanks for your help, I told my wife (it's her car) this would be a piece of cake project - and now she's just shaking her head....
Got it - I jacked it up and it helped align but not enough. The tie/control bars seem to restrict the rotation - I'm going to try loosening or disconnecting them to see if I can get a little more rotation, so the strut mount will align properly.
If this works, I'll take it in and get a rear alignment.
Got it - I jacked it up and it helped align but not enough. The tie/control bars seem to restrict the rotation - I'm going to try loosening or disconnecting them to see if I can get a little more rotation, so the strut mount will align properly.
If this works, I'll take it in and get a rear alignment.
Thanks
Patrick
Hi friend, shouldn't have to mess with the control rods.
With a helper slam the strut up into the strut tower and have a helper install the nuts on top.
When the bottom doesn't line up into the bracet it may be necessary to give the bottom of the strut a twist one direction or the other and bolt it in place.
Like lex2k above is saying, find a safe place to jack up the bottom knuckle/spindle(but not the axle) because it drops too low to get the bolts in.
How is this going.
I just changed all four struts yesterday.
The front went in and out easy-had to cut off a couple of the links and replace, but I expected that.
The rear passenger was the hard one.
I left the top bolts a little loose so I could move the strut.
I also used a long 3/8 extension in the bolt hole to get leverage.
The jack is a good idea, but I agree, make sure you jack in a safe place.
Other than it being time consuming, the whole job wasn't that bad.
I could probably cut time by a third if I had to do it again.
I used kyb and had to reuse springs, etc.
I reinstalled my old strut on the right side - so I could use the car. But honestly, I did not try very hard to twist the bottom of the strut - that might do it!
04-21-22, 09:22 AM
Rear strut replacement - 2006 RX330
