Installing Rancho Quicklift Loaded Struts

[Reklaw]

I tried finding an install thread for these but could not so if there is one I apologize in advance.

2004 XLS V6. My Explorer is currently in the air, in my neighbors garage, because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the new Rancho Quicklift loaded strut into place. The bottom of the strut is wider, longer than the factory one and there is no room for it to slide up into the lower control arm. The sleeve on the front is catching the bottom of the lower control arm. And yes, before anyone asks, I have the RS999904 for the front of my Ex.

I had to work like crazy to just cut that stupid rusted fast bottom bolt on the driver side and now i'm ready to just go buy the cheapest strut Advance Auto has so i can get it installed and get back on the road on Saturday.
A friend of my neighbors stopped for a visit and then ran home to get a spring compressor because I thought if I could make the whole strut smaller there would be room to get it into place but the long bolts on the compressor didn't allow me to get the strut into place then. My goal as of now is to look at the spring compressors that advance auto has and see if they may work or like I just said, buy the cheapest strut they have to use in the meantime.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Reklaw]

*****UPDATE******

It appears as though everything has to come apart. I pulled the knuckle from the upper control arm, the tie rod end, and the sway bar link. I then was able to set the bottom of the strut in place with the bolt with the top of the strut outside the upper control arm. Then i used a crowbar to pry the upper control arm up while i used my foot to push the lower control arm down and slide the top of the strut back into place. Then it was just wiggling the top around to get the upper bolts through the holes and then putting everything back together.

I hope this helps anyone that thinks about doing this as getting the upper control arm bushing out of the knuckle is a pain and i forgot how I did it last time and eventually i used a 2 jaw puller to put tension on it and one good wack on the knuckle and it popped.

If anyone has any questions I'll be glad to try and answer them on this subject. I'm not going to head to my parents garage to try and do the other side. The rear will have to wait for another week.

 

[Drewmcg]

Thanks. I recently installed two Monroe Quickstruts in my '02 XLS, and don't recall having a problem. I was doing other front end work at the time, so I frankly don't recall whether I had the knuckles free or not when I put them in. I really like the Monroe's on front (they're monotube, too, which is supposed to be better than twintube design on the Ford OEM strut).

 

[RedFord77]

I am having a similar struggle to the original poster to get my Quicklift front strusts installed. The red adjuster knob hits on the lower control arm. I can rotate the strut 90 degrees to get the adjuster through the hole, but when I attempt to move the strut upward to line up the top three bolts, the red knob hits and does not allow me to turn the strut so that the lower bushing is in the appropriate position. I can never get the top three bolts of high enough.

Picture of the Quicklift with the red control knob above the lower arm.

IF there is a trick to getting this to line up at the top, I need the help.

 

[Reklaw]

RedFord,
I know it's only been a year but I honestly can't remember how exactly they went in. What I actually remember is that after I got that upper control arm disconnected it only took 45 minutes for me to get everything back together.

With that said, I just went out and looked at my Ex to try and remind myself. I believe the trick is to keep the top of the strut lean away from the vehicle while you put the bottom through the control arm and then rotate it. What I guess I really mean is that I think when the strut is rotated 90 degrees to get the bottom of the strut through the top of the control arm, you keep the adjuster knob above the top of the control arm, and the top of the strut leaning outwards you should have enough room to rotate the strut 90 degrees so that the adjuster knob faces front. I think what you want to do then is put the bolt through and like I said in my update post, use force to spread the upper and lower control arms apart enough so you can then rotate the angle of the stut into position and just wiggle the top around until the bolts get through the holes.

I hope what I just wrote not only makes sense but also works for you and let us know how things work out.

 

[RedFord77]

Reklaw,

That does make sense. I will play around with it tonight, and try completely removing the upper control arm. I have a heavy weight attached to the lower arm, and have removed the brakes and brake line so that I can pry it down to make space.

 

[drdoom]

I posted a tip on this about five years ago... I believe I removed the knob to do the install, replacing it after getting the shock in place.

 

[drdoom]

RANCHO Quick Lift Tips

 

[RedFord77]

Dr. Doom, I read your tip, and I was wondering if I could pull those two allen head screws out without the loss of gas / fluids. If they can be removed that would solve my problem. I had already pulled the knob off the valve. I do need all the space I can get.

 

[drdoom]

Yes pull them out, 1/8" Allen if I remember correctly. The valve is underneath, and is sealed.

 

[Reklaw]

RedFord,
I also pulled the adjuster knob off on the first one I did but then the second one I managed to get it in without pulling it off.
It's been a few days, have you got them installed?

 

[RedFord77]

I did get them installed. I removed the upper control arms and had to press down pretty hard on the lower control arm to get the strut into place. I did end up removing the adjuster like Dr. Doom suggested and also put some grease in where the adjuster goes to help keep water out.

The bushings for the upper control arms are supposed to be loosened and then tightened when the car is under load. I noticed by loosening the upper control arm bushing nuts temporarily it helped allot.

On the rear to get the Quicklifts in I had to loosen the bushing pivot bolts and then the lower arm dropped down. The stock struts I could remove and add without doing this, but the quicklifts needed the lower arm to drop down.