Real quick strut question

[Devin]

I bought my SHO from a junkyard a while ago with no information on it. I was wondering if the struts were stock. All I know is that they are blue, under the grime, and I didn't know if that is the stock strut color or what, or if there is a better way to tell. Thanks!

 

[sdpatt]

The OEM Motorcraft struts are black. Tokicos are a medium blue color. The older ones have the Tokico logo on the inboard surface of the upper strut body.

 

[ohfosho]

my motorcrafts are blue...they are replacments...i dont know when though. on my rear strut, there is a sticker near midpoint on the housing.

 

[Devin]

Sweet, at least they may not be original. I'll look for stickers.

 

[SHO_Diehard]

my motorcrafts are blue...they are replacments...i dont know when though. on my rear strut, there is a sticker near midpoint on the housing.

I accidently got some of those blue motorcraft replacements, that was in 2000 IIRC. They were worthless, lasted about 3k with eibachs

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

They arnt worthless with the coils they are designed to be used with.

If you want performance coils, you NEED performance struts.

 

[Devin]

Is there any suggestions for getting the struts out? They are all nasty and stuck. The subframe is out of the car, so it complicates things a bit. If I really had to I could put it back in, but I would really prefer to remove them without reinstalling the subframe.

I hit the sleeves with PB blast and am leaving the assembly until this weekend. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[luigisho]

You mean the struts are out of the car or still on the car? Just remove the mounts and the pinch bolt on the hub. I'm not sure how the subframe being out complicates things. You might have to pry at the strut/hub pinchbolt area to get the tab to slide out of there. Blue struts can be Motorcraft oem. I've seen both black and blue housings. Blues may have been replacement or regular Taurus struts??

 

[Devin]

The subframe and struts are out of the car, but the struts are still in the knuckle on the subframe. Maybe I just need to be a bit more vicious. Those things are in there pretty tight, even though the pinch bolt is out and the sleeve is pried apart a bit

 

[twr]

Use a screwdriver and a hammer at the pinch point to spread it apart a little and slide the strut out. Be sure to insert the screwdriver from the top, if you go from the side, you risk puncturing the strut.