Strut stuck in most compressed position! Help!

[ericlee303]

Exact same thing happened to my friend herei n London.

I was driving along, and after I hit a fairly big pothole, I heard a 'clank' and after that, the car rode like it was on bricks. I got out and looked, and noticed that the car was tucked in the left rear corner, which either meant that a spring busted on me again, or something worse.

Turns out that the strut has locked itself in the lowest position...I think you can lock them that way so they can be tied down more easily on transport carriers.

Does anyone know how the heck to unlock them???

Thanks!
Eric

[Nick]

take pliers or a wrench and turn ccw, there should be a flat part right by the threads at the top

[ericlee303]

Thanks Oldman. I'll try that one out. Was I right about it simply being locked by accident, or do you think it's screwed?

I found a used one at the wreckers for $50. I'd get GR2's like I have on the front, but I actually found that the rear struts worked really really well with the spring rate I have.

[Nick]

i guess it could lock itself but i think that's a once in a lifetime kinda deal

at a junk yard you should be able to get a whole strut/spring assembly

[ericlee303]

What actually happened was the strut simply froze. My rears are stock still, and over time the oil leaked out and water leaked in. Finally it froze and it was like driving in a rally car.

Thanks!

[Nick]

even good struts will be extremely stiff in the cold, -25 yesterday and my struts were rock hard