The previous owner of my '96 civic cut the springs and they've relaxed and now the car is too low to pass safety and emissions (Utah... bleh)

Anyways. I got some stock struts, pulled out the old one, put the new one in.

However, I can't get the bottom bolt hole on the strut knuckle to align with the bearing. The wishbone won't go down far enough to line up. It's about an inch too high.

Do I need to re-adjust the tie rod length in order to drop it down more?

I've could probably strong arm it into place with a couple people but I've heard that can damage stuff.

Thanks

Here's some pics:

 

I would take a floor jack and jack it up some under the fork to compress the spring and then release. It may stay compressed enough to get the bolt in.

 

Wow... that is so simple I feel stupid now lol...

I'll give it a go!

:D

 

Jack the fork up gently. I've had to do it a few times.

 

keeps sliding off to the side so the holes don't line up.

Won't stay compressed at all, although maybe that's a good thing.

Trying to tie the strut back so it won't slide so much, but can't get enough tension to keep it lined up right either :/

 

Ok, I got it.

Had to have my friend hold the rotor down. Used the jack to push the strut up. Used bailing wire to hold the strut to the chassis so it wouldn't slide out... Then finally used a pair of channel locks to twist that sucker into the right orientation.

What a pain in the butt!

Now to do the other side lol

Thanks for the help :D

 

Simple. Pry down on the LCA and push the bottom of the strut in.

 

I've had to stand on the rotor and bounce on it a little to get it to go into place...

 

Did someone forget to disconnect the swaybar before attempting this?

Swaybars tie the 2 sides of the suspension together through a torsion spring. If you're trying to force one side further into droop, the swaybar will fight against this...

 

Never had to disconnect a swaybar when working on the front of the car. Use the scissor jack.