Rear suspension – Removal, strip, rebuilding and refitting

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The Arch Bishop

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Dec 22, 2010
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I take no responsibility for any injury or damage caused by the following of this guide. It has been written by an amateur home mechanic and may contain omissions and mistakes. I recommend that you have a copy of the Ford Fiesta 1995-2002 Haynes manual for reference as the layout and procedures are very similar to those used on the Puma.

This guide covers removing, stripping down, rebuilding and refitting the rear shock-absorbers, springs and top mounts. The springs that I used in this guide are Eibach 30mm drop springs which were a dealer-fit option and are very close to the original Ford items. The shock-absorbers are KYB gas struts. The top mounts are also KYB and are sold as ‘mounting kits’ to complement their shocks.

The first section covers removing the boot lining to gain access to the strut top mounting nut. Before stripping out the boot, peel back the trim to look at where the mounting nut is. I have been told that later Puma’s have a different build in the back that may allow the removal of the top nut without stripping out the boot. The car shown in this guide is an early ’97 model. It may be possible to remove the nut without stripping the boot if you are really determined, but for the time that it takes, it’s worth doing to make things easier later.

Stripping out the boot trim

Remove the parcel shelf (if it hasn’t already dropped into the boot by itself when you opened it) and climb in to the boot (really it’s easier).

Fold the rear seats down and prise of the plastic seat back catch trim on both sides.


Now remove the six plastic clips from the boot lock trim by inserting a thin flat edged screwdriver underneath the heads and gently prising them out.


Remove the boot lock trim.


Prise out the six plastic push-clips (three on each side) from the carpet side trim near where the seat-back catches are.


There may also be some yellow twist clips in the rear corner of the boot near the rear lights on both sides. Twist 90 degrees and carefully pull them out.

Pull the seat back remote release pulls from out of their brackets (one on each side).


Now remove the carpet side panels from each side. You will need to feed the remote seat release pulls through the hole on each one.

You should be greeted by this…


As you can see, there’s a large metal structure obstructing access to the top of the strut. This is the seatbelt and the back seat catch assembly.

Look underneath the plastic trim on top of the assembly for two screws. One is attached directly to the assembly…


…and one to the car body…


Using an 8mm spanner, remove them both.

Then there are three 13mm bolts to remove (be very careful not to drop these when you remove them as they will disappear into the deepest recesses of the body never to be seen again) …

One here…


...one here…


...and my personal fiddly favourite, in the depths here…


For this last one, I found getting my hand in behind the assembly worked quite well.

The assembly should now come away allowing you unhindered access to that strut top mounting nut.


While you’re in there, loosen the top nut off a little while the car is still on its wheels. The theory is that the weight of the car takes the strain off of the nut.

You will need a 15mm spanner (swan-necked is most convenient) and a set of mole-grips (or whatever else you can find to fit the top of the push rod) to stop the shock push-rod rotating while you loosen the nut. Loosen off a few turns.

 
Removing the rear struts

Please note that the car used is an early ’97 Puma. The shock/rear beam mount differs for later models. Early models have the ‘Fork’ fitting as shown. Later models have the ‘eye’ fitting which may need different sized sockets and spanners to remove than those shown in this guide.
It is also worth spraying the strut bottom mount bolt (to the strut) with a penetrating spray, such as Plusgas, GT85 or WD40, some time before you attempt to remove it.


Put the car into first gear and chock the front wheels. Jack up the rear on one side using the jacking points. Position the axle stand under the mounting point for the rear beam to the body and gently lower the jack.

Repeat on the other side.

Note - I have seen others using the sills for the axle stands, but due to the Puma’s reputation for rust, I decided to go for the safer option! Using the beam mounting may limit the movement of the rear beam meaning that the struts may be a little more difficult to remove from the beam later on.

With the car up on axle stands, place your jack under the rear beam and wind it up until it just touches the middle of the rear beam.


This is to make sure nothing crashes to the floor when you remove the struts.
Working in the boot space, remove the top nuts on both strut tops.


Remove the top nut cup.


The jack under the rear beam will stop the beam potentially dropping to the floor.
Now back underneath the car, using a 15mm socket on a large breaker bar, undo the strut bottom mounting bolt.

Later cars may need a spanner fitting to the other bolt – sorry, I don’t have a later car to check this with – please PM me if you know better.


Extract the bolt…


Now gently lower the jack until you can extract the rear strut assemblies. If the axle-stands are preventing it dropping enough, get someone to push down on the rear brake drums enough to get them out (thanks YOG for the help when doing this).

Struts removed!

 
Stripping down the rear struts

Cheers to my neighbour Rob who turned up with beer and offered up his skills as camera man during the strip and rebuild making my life easier!

Important - It is not advisable to re-use the wire circlips. These are part number 1479634 and are 60p from Ford (at the time of writing) and you will need one for each strut you are rebuilding.

Note before you start - If you are stripping down both struts, are reusing your existing springs and have only two spring compressors - strip and rebuild one strut at a time. This saves time on the most time-consuming part of the process which is compressing and releasing the springs.


Position your spring compressors opposite each other on the spring and wind them in evenly a bit at a time on each side.

Warning – when the springs are under compression, they are very dangerous! Do not muck about with them and treat them like your mum’s best china. You know, that china that makes the tea taste a bit weird…


You can stop when you are able to get to the circlip that hides just beneath the top of the top-mount. Using a thin screwdriver, prise off the circlip from under the collar on the shock pushrod and remove.


Lift off the top-mount…


…and the spring seat…


…the spring…


…and the bump-stop and dust gaiter.


You’re done!
 
Rebuilding the rear shocks

Note – This shows rebuilding the shocks using the KYB shocks and top mounts and Eibach Springs. The shocks are a popular replacement to the Ford items. If you are using original standard Ford parts, only the bump-stop and dust gaiter parts differ. The rest of the rebuild process is the same.

If you are using the KYB Excel G shocks for replacement, you will probably find that the bump-stop/dust gaiter is positioned right below the circlip collar on the push-rod. This makes it impossible to fit the top spring seat and the top mount to allow the circlip to be put on. The bump-stop is very tight on the push-rod, so use some spray lube on the push-rod to allow you to slide it down a little as shown in the below image.


Test-fit the spring seat and top mount to make sure you can see the push-rod collar with them on.

Fit the compressed spring and position it so that the end of the spring butts up against the step on the bottom spring seat.


Fit the top spring seat and make sure that the end of the spring butts up against the step on it.


Fit the top-mount.


Slide your new circlip down the push rod and lever it into position below the collar. This tiny wire circlip holds the whole assembly together when the spring is released so make sure it is properly seated!


You can now evenly wind out the two spring compressors making sure that the two spring ends are kept butted up against the steps in the top and bottom spring seats.

You’re done! Note the tab on the top-mount in the image below which will become important later.


Now crack along with the other strut! You've done one - the other will be easy…
 
Refitting the rear struts

First thing to do is to line up the little tabs on the top mount with the welded on bolt at the bottom of the strut as per the picture below;


This is because this tab needs to sit in a little hole in the body where the strut fits (thanks to YOG for pointing this out before I started). This hole is visible inside the boot;


With the tab carefully lined up, wrestle the struts up into the wheel-arches and onto the rear beam.


Using the jack under the rear beam, raise is up until the top-mounts are seated in the bodywork. Don’t jack it up too hard!

Inside the boot, run your finger around to the holes where the top-mount tabs needs to sit and ensure that the tabs are indeed in the holes (you may find some spongy tape over the outside of the hole).

Place the top-cups over the top of the push-rods…


…spin on nice shiny new top-nuts…


…and tighten using a set of mole-grips (or small adjustable spanner) to stop the push-rod spinning and a swan-necked spanner.

Please note that different strut manufacturers use different sized and threaded nuts. In this case, the KYB’s came with a 16mm nut whereas the Ford items are 15mm.


Next, feed the bottom strut bolts through the struts and the rear beam…


Tighten the bolts up (we’ll torque them properly when it’s back on its wheels)
Remove the jack from the rear beam.

Refit the wheels, jack up each side and remove the axle-stands. Lower the car back on to its wheels.

Now you can torque everything up to;
Strut top nuts – 25 lbf ft
Strut bottom to rear beam bolt – 89 lbf ft


Fully tighten the wheel nuts.

Finished!

Well, almost! You still need to refit the boot trim but refitting is the reverse of removal! Make sure you tighten the seatbelt/seat catch assembly mounting bolts good and tight (sorry I don’t have the torque setting).
 
Hi, I don't mind inching off the nut which is preferable to removing trim. Trim rarely goes back the same way and is prone to rattling. I always shy away from trim removal.
A pair of mole grips on the pushrod in the wheel arch should suffice.
If it all goes pearshaped cutting the pushrod close to the rubber mount from underneath will sort it as I am replacing the shocks.
 
Umm.. still showing the same thing on my phone.. Doesn't appear to have been sorted. Only asking cos I've got lowering springs to fit and I mind this a as great.. with lots of.. pics.
 
Hmmm, I get the same if on my iPhone, just numbers...
 

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