Front strut won’t line up

I’m having trouble lining up the hole for the front strut up to the lower control arm. I was told just putting a screw driver in the bottom whole and just forcing it to rotate against the 3 screws in the top hat but I’m having trouble. Is there another way to get it to rotate or a technique to use the screw driver that I’m not getting? It keeps “jumping” and it doesn’t slowly rotate to a better position.

 

Are you using a jack handle to leverage the lower control arm down further? If not, give that a try so that you push the lca shock mount down further than the bottom of the shock itself. Then you might be able to rotate it.

The 3 bolts up top shouldn't be preventing you from spinning the strut itself. Maybe loosen the upper shock mount slightly (the nut in the center between the 3 bolts). That might help things spin.

 

I already have the strut in the mount with the 3 bolts however it doesn’t seem to rotate. I tried using a jack stand handle and ended up bending the handle. I’m going to try loosening up the center bolt as you say and see if that works.

 

Pictures

 

Loosen it a little bit. Not all the way.

 

Are your struts pre-assembled or are you doing the no compressor method?

 

So I tried loosening the top nut almost the entire way, being careful not to kill myself but it still doesn’t let me rotate the lower hole easily. It still “jumps” and isn’t allowing me to do small adjustments

 

So your struts are pre-assembled then, right?

 

Somewhat? I got a local ntb to assemble them for me

 

I don't have experience working with pre-assembled struts so I'm not sure if there are any tricks or tips to get it to rotate, other than what's been mentioned already. Maybe someone who's done that type of installation can chime in.

The only thing I can think of is to safely disassemble the struts (only if you have the capability to do so yourself) and then install the struts and coils using the no spring compressor method. That way you'll have the ability to spin the shock and coil into place while you're right there. If you can't disassemble them safely, then have the shop that put them together do so.

But hopefully someone experienced with assembled struts will chime in.

Best of luck.

 

Take them back to ntb and have them align it how they need to be. Best safest option.

 

Did you figure this out @typark ?

 

Yes I did, thanks for checking up on me! I ended taking dark knights advice and I just took them back for them to readjust them. Going to discount tires tomorrow to finish the build with new tires and rims