Hello and welcome back to MOQ HUB!
Today we're talking shocks and struts replacement on a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe. Although I've performed this type of repair on my own in the past, I had my father, a retired journeyman automotive service technician, assist on this one as we were switching to winter tires on his car that day as well.
We started by jacking up the front of the vehicle using the tow hook as the jack point, removed both front tires and set the front end on jack stands. We checked the ball joints and tie rods for play and found no play then checked the k-frame bushings for cracks and excessive play and found they were fine. We turned the steering wheel so we could remove the 2 bolts that connect the strut to the spindle/hub assembly. Fortunately, none of my 4 bolts (2 on each side) were cam bolts which are used to adjust camber for wheel alignment. However, we still opted to reinstall each bolt back in it's original location, we did this by simply setting the top bolt on my workbench and the bottom bolt on the ground. If you have a cam bolt you'll want to mark the bolt to the spindle/hub assembly and realign those marks during installation and bring your vehicle to an alignment shop once everything is back together.
Next we removed the stabilizer link and brake hose from the strut. In the engine bay, we removed the dust cap and the 3 nuts that hold the strut in the tower. And pulled the strut assembly out of the vehicle.
We compressed the spring with a spring compressor, removed the nut at the top of the strut, and removed the strut from the spring.
Remove the tie from the new strut and bleed out the air following the instructions that come with the new strut. Install the spring onto the new strut, remove the spring compressor and reinstall the assembly in reverse of removal. We did the second one the same way as the first and I torqued my wheels to 105 ft-lb and sent dad home on his winter tires.
I continued to the back by jacking under the axle and setting on jack stands. Removed the wheels and both shock absorber fasteners and removed the old shock. Bled and installed the new shock and continued to the other side where I had trouble.
I found the bottom bushing was seized onto the stud, I applied a rust penetration spray which didn't help, next I used a 3 jaw puller then a pitman arm puller to remove the shock absorber. This only separated the rubber damper from the steel bushing but at least the rest of the shock was now out of the way. I filed the rest of the rubber material off the bushing and began to cut a V into the steel bushing with my angle grinder, being careful not to cut through it and damage the stud. Using my air hammer with a chisel bit, I was able to remove the bushing.
In an effort to ensure this never happens on this vehicle again, I applied a coat of antiseize onto the stud and top bolt prior to installing the new shock. I also removed the first shock and applied antiseize to that stud and bolt.
~Randy
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