I almost had the entire car up off the cradle when I realized that the pass side of the cradle was hanging on to the car. Somehow, the spring/strut unit is still hanging up in its original position. All nuts are off the top three bolts, but the top of the spring is staying up there.

I can wiggle it around, but it won't drop. Anyone experience this and have a fix?

I'm going back out to play with it some more. I already dropped it almost all the way back down. Driver side came out just fine.

Thanks!

Rusted? spring caught on the frame rail due to rust? There is really no way this could happen unless it bonded together with rust, things are fairly smooth up there. Remember there are 4 nuts, but I am fairly sure you saw that.....

4 nuts? I only saw three.

This is an 88, btw - in case that makes any difference. The drivers side does not sag down like the 84-87. I guess the different 88 setup keeps it from dropping to the ground when lifted.

I can rock everthing back and forth, so I don't think anything is frozen or rusted together. It's like one of the bolts is hanginig in its hole, but they are all moving free.

quote Originally posted by darkhorizon: Remember there are 4 nuts, but I am fairly sure you saw that.....

what 4 nuts???

quote Originally posted by buddycraigg: what 4 nuts???

Yeah, I only remember seeing three on my 87, too. Perhaps dark horizon wasn't wearing pants the last time he did this and saw an extra nut or something...

since this is a 88 car, my experience has been:

remove the sway bar endlink!

the sawybar is holding the struts in a bad position, on 88's it will keep you from being able to remove teh cradle in some extreme cases, once the swaybars pressure is releaved, the struts will fold out and come down the frame rail.

give it a try.

matthew

quote Originally posted by m0sh_man: since this is a 88 car, my experience has been: remove the sway bar endlink! the sawybar is holding the struts in a bad position, on 88's it will keep you from being able to remove teh cradle in some extreme cases, once the swaybars pressure is releaved, the struts will fold out and come down the frame rail. give it a try. matthew

Will do!

This thing is not letting go, even though all of the top three bolts are lowered below the level of the holes. So, the bolts aren't hanging up, it must be the top of the spring.

I'll give that a shot now...

Well, there is that nut holding the grate mounts on......

I havent had a sway bar 88 yet, so I wouldnt know about that whole swaybar idea. But I could see it sorta locking in there, the 88s have a a bit more"rake" on those struts.

If the top won't come out, just remove the two bolts at the bottom and leave the strut in the car until you can rest it securely on stands and wrestle it out.

I'm going to quit while I am not ahead. Taking off the swaybar did not help any. It has me defeated tonight, but I have a few hours before work tomorrow to try taking the strut off from the bottom like you say. It's gonna be a bastard to take those two big ones off since they look rust-welded in there, but we'll see how it goes.

I guess a little penetrating oil on the nuts will help. Maybe I'll try some on the car, too (just kidding! It's not like I would ever put oil on my ... well, never AGAIN, I meant)

Thanks for the help so far, everyone!

dont remove the two big bolts they have adjustments in them and wil throw off your alligment also they suck to get out. Just pop it off the lower balljoint and outter "tierod end" Im not sure what the proper name is. Thats alot easer to do.

quote Originally posted by pontiacman63383: dont remove the two big bolts they have adjustments in them and wil throw off your alligment also they suck to get out. Just pop it off the lower balljoint and outter "tierod end" Im not sure what the proper name is. Thats alot easer to do.

My gut feel is that this car is gonna be needing an alignment before this ordeal is over anyway and removing the shock and spring will allow for easy removal of the cradle. Though I come from the camp that says get a bigger hammer and apply it to the top of the shock. Applying outward pressure to the shock as you're trying to lower the cradle has always worked for me. It would probably help a bunch if someone else was pulling that shock/spring out as you were lowering the cradle. Get some help, if nothing else, having another set of eyes will usually cause you to go, Crap, why didn't I see that! It usually works that way at my house.

------------------
Ron

It's the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us the freedom of the press.
It's the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us the freedom of speech.
It's the Soldier, not the politicians
That ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
It's the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag.

did you disconnect the brake hoses?

If you got the three top bolts off, I'd disconnect the Bottom two from the knuckle to the strut. Drop the cradle. Then inspect closer. There should be. 3 (like 14mm) bolts up top, the two 18's holding the knuckle on, and the brake hose clip. Provided all those are removed, hit that son-of-a-***** with a hammer on the top to 'persuade' it a little more.

[This message has been edited by RandomTask (edited 11-19-2007).]

On the '88s, the strut towers lean in at a fairly sharp angle and will drag so hard on the inner wheel well that it will scrape all the paint off. The drag will also make it nearly impossible to lower the cradle. The easy fix is to remove one of the bolts on the longitudinal link that goes to the bottom of the knuckle, this will allow that strut to lean out easily and then the cradle will drop right out.

JazzMan

quote Originally posted by darkhorizon: Well, there is that nut holding the grate mounts on......

that would be 4

Some things I could think of that would hinder the passenger side from dropping:

1. Heater core coolant line - I had to cut mine as I forgot to disconnect it before I dropped my engine and it would let the engine rest.
2. Dog bone - I know this should be silly, but worth a mention
3. Brake lines - The hard lines to your calipers connect to the frame so dropping the engine with the suspension is bad if these are still connected.
4. Sometimes the lateral links should be disconnected for easy removal - best suggestion would be to remove #8 and #9 in the diagram below, bottom of the knuckle
Can also remove all the links from the cradle (#13, #14, and unlabeled for the rear lateral arm)

Make sure that you move the cradle close to its original position or you might have a huge problem with bolts getting jammed due to stress of torque on the motor.

Diagram:



Are you sure that there is no contact with the motor and the engine bay? Mine wanted to come back towards the firewall as I lifted the frame off the car... Just a thought, but it's usually the easy things that cause these problems - then we spend way too much time over-diagnosing it.

Brian

On the 88's with manual transmissions, the passenger axle can hit the cradle before the strut bolts pass through the holes (unless you stand on it or otherwise force it). Might be your issue.

Anymore, I prefer to take out the lower cross bolt (to the lateral links) and the bolt to the trailing link and just pull the entire side (axle included).

Also, did you check that pesky return line from the heater core that runs right under the front passenger cradle bolt.... It is strong enough to pick up the passenger side of the cradle!

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 11-19-2007).]

I'm going to check all the things you guys mentioned ( and I REALLY appreciate the advice), but I think I really need to lower the entire thing back down and just pull out the pass side strut/spring so that it clears. I can shake the entire cradle on the dolly, but the top of the stut simply won't let go.

More to come, but it looks like the lower control arm on the passenger side is as bad as the driver's side, so I may be picking up a better cradle this weekend. These things are NOT cheap!! It will cost 1/4 of the purchase price!

It will be nice to have it on the road, though...

Saxman :
You have P/M!

Thanks, Norm. PM returned. I need one closer that needs no work. I appreciate the info/offer for sure!

quote Originally posted by RandomTask: did you disconnect the brake hoses? If you got the three top bolts off, I'd disconnect the Bottom two from the knuckle to the strut. Drop the cradle. Then inspect closer. There should be. 3 (like 14mm) bolts up top, the two 18's holding the knuckle on, and the brake hose clip. Provided all those are removed, hit that son-of-a-***** with a hammer on the top to 'persuade' it a little more.

I've checked all over the place - sliding the engine/dolly all around and it seems to be the strut/spring. I'll just try taking the tension off it and then lifting again as I pull out the strut.

The AC is still connected, but it has pretty much fallen towards the ground since I had the car up so high over the engine. The bummer is that now I have to tuck it back in its original position to get the car back down on the cradle to release the tension...