Well, we've driven it a year that way with no issues....and the P/O did for a long time too. :D Struts are pricey....it will have to wait. Especially since it will be an all at once repair (tie rods, center link, struts, alignment)....that's a lot of $$ :eek:

It's my wife's car, and she doesn't drive all that much or all that fast. :D It's mainly a 5-6 mile a day in the city car. So handling isn't critical....max speeds are usually 30-35mph.

I have the tools needed, just no parts.

There is a 300E in the junk yard here that was a money pit for someone, maybe I can score a new-er set of struts off of it.... I'll check their condition when I go there.

I disagree.

The struts do not pop out because the gas pressure has dimished, which has little effect on the damping.

The gas pressure is there to raise the boiling point of the fluid, and to prevent cavitation in the valves. At high speeds and high rates of damping this becomes important, a single quick swerve or stop is almost unaffected by low gas pressure.

If the damping is still adequate, which is a completely different test and different property, then the dampers/shocks/struts are still effective for 90% of their purposes.

Still should be replaced IMO, but they are clearly not just for show based on low gas pressure.

Nice, Evidently, I did not get the car up high enough. Now I'm stuck with a loaded spring and the jack is all the way down. What a nightmare. Going to have to raise the LCA back up and bolt the strut back on before I do anything else. Then I'll go get a spring compressor.

You don't need a spring compressor. Just loosen the big strut nut, remove the mount nuts and raise the car. The strut mount will come out and you will then have to remove the strut nut and pull down on the strut shaft to get the old mount off. Put the new mount on top, paying attention to it's orientation so that the studs will go back in place. Screw the strut nut on finger tight and then lower the car SLOWLY while guiding the mount into position.

I do this with a lift. With floor jack raise the car underneath the center crossmember for this. A reliable helper to lower the floor jack while guiding the mount in place will be a big help. I can lower the car in increments with the lift and jockey the mount in place, but even with a lift, a helper to lower the lift will speed up the job and do away with the frustration of getting the car in the perfect position height wise.

Good luck with it.