I tried to replace a strut, now the steering knuckle won't reach it

[Timmmo57]

Like the title says, I took the old strut out and let the steering knuckle/brake assembly hang and did not think to restrain it while I was putting the new shock in. Now, the steering knuckle won't budge enough to go back into the new stut. It seems like the CV shaft is disengaged/pulled out, but when I turn the hub on that side, with the car in gear and both wheels raised in the front, it makes the other side turn also. Doesn't that mean that the splines and everything are engaged? I tried all amounts of pulling, pushing, wiggling, turning the hub back and forth and no luck. At this point, I'm ready to pull everything apart and remove the CV shaft to make sure its not pulled apart internally inside the boots. Any suggestions are greatly welcome.

 

[Geebs]

You need to jack the knuckle up. A small bottle jack is perfect for this type of job. Place it under the ball joint (control arm)_...I doubt you pulled the CV out....it just takes more force to lift the knuckle than you may think!!

 

[Intuit]

The strut not only turns but moves in/out and back/forth on its mount. Sand off any corrosion/build-up on the old knuckle's contact surfaces and anti-sieze or grease the contact surfaces. You'll need to turn the strut a bit in the process of lining them up. Use the shaft of a long 3/8" socket extension to help pull the holes into perfect alignment for the two bolts. IIRC I also had to use a floor jack as Geebs mentioned.

 

[Sam4]

"It seems like the CV shaft is disengaged/pulled out"
Thats exactly what has happened - not that its happened to me...twice . The cv joint is distended, if it was a knee it would be Linday Vonn's - they're (relatively) cheap from Rock Auto. I must not have supported the shaft and let it droop while doing struts...

 

[Timmmo57]

You need to jack the knuckle up. A small bottle jack is perfect for this type of job. Place it under the ball joint (control arm)_...I doubt you pulled the CV out....it just takes more force to lift the knuckle than you may think!!

Already tried that.

 

[Timmmo57]

The strut not only turns but moves in/out and back/forth on its mount. Sand off any corrosion/build-up on the old knuckle's contact surfaces and anti-sieze or grease the contact surfaces. You'll need to turn the strut a bit in the process of lining them up. Use the shaft of a long 3/8" socket extension to help pull the holes into perfect alignment for the two bolts. IIRC I also had to use a floor jack as Geebs mentioned.

Thats not the problem I'm having. I can't even get the strut to touch or go near the knuckle right now.

 

[Timmmo57]

"It seems like the CV shaft is disengaged/pulled out"
Thats exactly what has happened - not that its happened to me...twice . The cv joint is distended, if it was a knee it would be Linday Vonn's - they're (relatively) cheap from Rock Auto. I must not have supported the shaft and let it droop while doing struts...

Sounds right. How did you fix it?

 

[Geebs]

Thats not the problem I'm having. I can't even get the strut to touch or go near the knuckle right now.

Sorry about this Timmmo57, I think I understand....so it's not simply that you can't get the knuckle up high enough, it's that you can't get it IN far enough? I've seen videos where people repair the CV....but to do it they always remove it from the car, in which case I would just buy a new one. Trying to get it to line up perfectly while still on the car is not easy, and if the bearings inside have moved, it will damn well be impossible.
If you think this has happened, your going to need to remove the knuckle anyway so when you do it's worth a shot to see if you can re-engage the CV by hand.

 

[Timmmo57]

Sorry about this Timmmo57, I think I understand....so it's not simply that you can't get the knuckle up high enough, it's that you can't get it IN far enough? I've seen videos where people repair the CV....but to do it they always remove it from the car, in which case I would just buy a new one. Trying to get it to line up perfectly while still on the car is not easy, and if the bearings inside have moved, it will damn well be impossible.
If you think this has happened, your going to need to remove the knuckle anyway so when you do it's worth a shot to see if you can re-engage the CV by hand.

I think you are on point. I took the boot off of the end of the shaft where it goes into the trans, and it fell apart. I have to get it back together at least for now as it's at my work and it CANNOT be here come tomorrow morning (its inside one of the buildings). But for the life of me, I cannot get the ball joint to seperate, nor can I get the axsle to pop out of the knuckle, so its not easy at all.

 

[Geebs]

If you got the nut and bolt out of the ball joint but it won't separate, carefully jack up the KNUCKLE (not the control arm) and rap the ball joint area with a mallet or hammer. You can hit it pretty hard, hit the the bottom under the ball joint. If you want to rap on the side of the control arm, use a block of wood or something so you don't bend up any metal. If/when you get it off, you should be able to pull the knuckle off the axle. Obviously, you already removed the spline nut...