strut wont come out, feels stuck

[Lyric]

So today I had someone try and help me put the spacers in. We had a hell of a time trying to get the front shocks out and finally used an impact hammer to hit the top metal plate of the strut which loosened it from the strut housing. We also had to loosen the lower control arms on both front sides because no matter what they would not move at all.

So finally we got the front spacers in and everything bolted back up

Butttttt

on the drivers side we couldnt get one of the bolts on the lower control arm to tighten up all the way

Sooooo

*When I go to get an alignment is this how the do the alignment is by tightening the lower control arm bolts? Because one of the bolts on the drivers side is not as tightened all the way.

My steering wheel is slightly cocked a little to the left as well now which I hope by doing the alignment will fix this.

So I did not put the back spacers in yet as we were running low on time and daylight. Right now the vehicle is pretty much leveled with only using the front spacers. Can I not put the back spacers in? or would it look better with the back spacers?

 

[Fletch888]

I just installed 2014 FJ struts in my 2005 4Runner today.

Had the same issue where the top of the strut didn't want to separate from the mounting plate. It was just plain stuck from years of being together and a little bit of rust.

Pulling and pushing on the control arms transmits very little force to the area that is stuck, because of the rubber mount between the shock and the plate where the studs are pressed in. You have to attack the mating surface directly.

Sprayed with PB-Blaster penetrating oil several times. Abused a wood 5/8" wood chisel by driving it into the separation between the top of the strut and the mount. I used the wood chisel over a cold chisel, because the wood chisel is flat ground; giving it a very fine edge to catch the parting line.

Leave one of the nuts loosely threaded on top to catch the strut when it comes loose. Whack chisel a bunch of times with hammer; while wearing safety glasses. Popped loose and came out with no trouble. Same procedure worked on both sides.

 

[Wingman707]

Oh Boy.

Trying to put spacers in with my Daystar lift kit I just bought. I have just thought with removing the lower bolt on the strut and the three top bolts on the strut would let me wiggle it to come out but no play or much wiggle. It seems to be stuck on the strut housing somehow and will not budge.

So I will be reusing the strut, spring and everything just needing to remove so I can place my spacer on it.

The sway bar links are not attached to the struts at all.

And it wont fall out in the morning as I had to put it all back together and drive home. I could not even get the first strut out to even move on to any other struts or spacers on the other wheels.

Putting in spacers is going to exacerbate the issue you are having now. Someone above mentioned disconnecting the front sway bar. I would agree. You are fighting the right vs. left side with that still attached. I removed my strut assembly by prying down the LOWER control arm. The strut will pop out like a joint in a socket. You then can rotate it to the rear over the lower control arm and out of the upper tower mount. (do not remove the center nut of strut assembly until you have the spring compressed, unless you don't like your front teeth.)
You are going to have to force this down even more with the spacer installed. It's worth it for the look you are going for.

 

[Dbrown8958]

Had the same problem tons of pb blaster and a wood chisel helped along with heating the top of it up. Once it was free the easiest way to get it out was pulling the a arm down, my driver's side was a breeze it fell down on its own after loosening it up. The passengers strut came out but the a arm wouldn't move much so since doing this alone I wrapped a ratchet tow strap around it pushed down with my foot and anchored the strap to the jack stand. With my foot putting pressure I tightened the tow strap and it helped hold it down for me since I did this solo.
I knocked the fronts out in about 3 hours, but I was running on no sleep had just worked 12 hours the night before and been up well over 24 hours.

If at first it doesn't work get pissed and knock the crap outta the top with a hammer. That's what really broke mine free.

 

[tombugg]

In the same spot..

Installing the spacers but realized that the struts have never been replaced.. does anyone​know if the 2003 struts will fit??

 

[NeutronJon]

I had the same problem a couple years ago with my 05. Took the dealer 3-4 hours of work with an air hammer to break them loose. He still only charged me $300.

Worth... every... penny!