GENIUS! And here's my own genius contribution: I hate spring compressors, so I bought a 2nd hand strut off ebay including the spring for just £30 delivered (a new spring alone will be at least £15!). The ebay pic looked like it was in good (non-rusty) condition and it was, and it looked like a newish spring on there too, Bottle jack was brilliant. but putting the new strut on without compressing the spring was not so obvious. In the end, all I had to do was lower the sub frame - just two 22mm bolts and a small bracket. This dropped the hub assembly down far enough to easily pop the strut in (no, I didn't need take off the track rod end!) Then jacking up the hub assembly with the strut greased and located and the strut just popped right into place - wow! magic!

I would like to thank you very much for mentioning that arrow heads should point to outer holes. I've been searching that information quite a long time. There's plenty of videos without any hint of correct positioning - great job!

Impressive that you managed this, without having to remove the hub from the wishbone.

This is a great video that really got me out of the sh*t after my front nearside spring snapped on the Friday when I was due to be doing 1,000 ish miles of driving the following Monday. For others attempting this just beware that depending on the design of your spring compressor, you might find that if you don't remove the hub assembly then it's physically impossible to get the bottom of the strut into the hub clamp due to the threaded bar of the spring compressor hitting the top of the wing and preventing the top of the shocker from seating right at the top. I ran into this problem and the only way around it other than taking off the hub was to angle grind about 5 cm off each end of the threaded bar of my cpring compressor. It's made it useless but I just didn't have time to drop the hub so desperate measures instead. Something else important to mention that I was able to work out from the video is that if you jack the car up using the jacking point on the sill rather than using the subframe like in the video, you'll probably struggle to remove and refit the anti-roll bar link due to it being under tension and therefore out of square.

This video made my day!!! I got a stuck shock in the arm and was using the hammer for 2 hours continuously today, is the end of the day and I am exhausted! But I saw that you used that pneumatic pump or how is called and went to buy straight away a small bottle jack! It popped out in 20 seconds, straight away. Man I love you, I never thought about using similar idea! Bright! Btw, the jack was only10gbp in UK.

Having had to do this recently on a Colt and a BMW, and about to do a Mondeo Mk3, I'd add this: (BMW E46 is very similar) 1. Use a 4" angle-grinder with a thin cutting-wheel to cut away any spring that's in the way, but be careful as it can still be under tension if it's jammed against the body. I cut the BMW springs into five pieces before dismantling anything. 2. Wire-brush and spray everything you need to undo, especially exposed threads. You may need heat, but watch for rubber components. 3. Loosen (not remove) the shock top-bolt before taking out the lower clamp-bolt. If you have ANY problem removing the lower clamp-bolt, be very careful. I snapped one. It's hardened, (10.9) and a nightmare to drill out and replace. 4. Take off the track-rod end nut and pop it out, ideally with a ball-joint separator. That lets the hub assembly drop further, as does... 5. Lift both front wheels off the ground. You can then easily swing the hub assembly to the best advantage. It also stops the roll-bar from fighting you as it's full relaxed. 6. If you can, use a three-arm set of spring-compressors, like the Sealeys. Makes it far safer. If you drop the hub assembly right down, remove the compressors before fitting the shock back in place. 7. Use a bottle-jack to push the hub assembly up into the lower shock mounting. 8. Practice swearing. Having watched multiple Russian car-crash videos, my new outburst is ' Suka Bylat!! ' 9. Ideally, pay a garage.

The same spring recently broke on my husband's Mondeo and after watching this brilliant video took it to the local garage for repair. He said compressing the spring was a bit too scary to tackle!!

one word, GENIUS!🤝

Great video. Now i am no longer afraid to change the spring on my own Mondeo. 👍👍👍 And its Well done in your drivay, with no lift. You have me respekt. 👍👍👍

Having watched this, I'm happy that the garage earned their money today doing mine. Blimey . . . What a job!

I've done this several times on Mk3 Mondeo and fwiw here's my tips for the DIY mechanic, especially if you live in Scotland where everything is much rustier... don't try to remove the shock from the knuckle either on the car or with whole leg off (unless you have a spare knuckle with a new wheel-bearing and rotor in it). The pinch bolt will probably snap in the knuckle and it's very difficult to get it out. Best thing to do is disconnect the caliper, plastic roll bar link (just top end), tie-rod, bottom ball-joint and driveshaft nut. Then push balljoint down while pushing bottom of strut in. this helps the pin stay upright and come out easily. if you have a helper here it would help but I can do it and weigh less than 10 stone. After that you can tap the driveshaft out of the hub. finally take the 3 nuts off top and lift strut away from car. use up to 4 coil-spring compressors for safety and allow 2-3 hours to compress spring, remove clamps and compress new spring. then re-fit. tricky part is getting balljoint pin to go back into knuckle. It will tilt and jam so again it helps if someone can push the leg in as you guide pin into the hole. banging with hammers to get pin in and out does nothing as the rubber bushes absorb the movement.

I never thought of just removing the floating part of the caliper. I've always removed the frame from the knuckle but your way makes more sense as it's easier to do.

Good video. I'm replacing struts today on my ST220. I'm glad someone does these videos so I can be somewhat sure what I'm doing.

I like the idea of using the hydraulic press to separate the strut, it saves the hassle of removing the lower ball joint which is an absolute nightmare!

great video and job made quicker by use of buzz-gun and what seems like no rusted fasteners. if you're a DIY guy and car is rusty allow full weekend to do it and it's a good idea to have all the new fasteners before you do the job (bottom pinch bolt+nut, caliper mount screws, knuckle pinch bolt). the caliper screws can be very hard to get off but I have found if you round off the heads you can hammer on a flank-drive 6 point socket and have another go.

Great video,but what a struggle you had! I think i will take mine to the garage, WELL DONE !

Nightmare and bloody dangerous those mk3 springs,mines a v6...even on stand type compressor it was a pain...I like the way you took the shock out..we usually pull the whole leg /hub out...your clamp/ pinch bolt must have been replaced,usually splined and a pain in the ass...good video.

Well I just did this job too.... Had a hydraulic spring compressor for years, used it on about 30 cars I think. First time on a mk3 and first time I couldn't compress the spring enough to make it fit. Can't believe how much tension is on these things.

Really !!! ... Your video showed little connection with my reality. Firstly my anti roll bar link was rotted into place, the top nut simply cheesed off into roundness, and with no other way of removing it, I resulted in cutting it in half with an angle grinder. ( Bottom nut inaccessible with strut in place). The shock bottom clamp was rotted into place too. So I took a leaf from your book and using a small scissor jack put pressure on it, plus plenty of WD 40 and left it under pressure for 24 hours, checking at intervals and adding a half turn when possible to do so. This worked and it was finally removed. Those springs are rather treacherous. But if care is taken the compressors won't slip. My concern is that it takes so much compression to get the top nut back on. My coils were actually touching each other, I was beginning to think that some previous owner had fitted short shocks .When removing the compressors the shock didn't get any longer, besides this, my compressors appear to be too big to allow the assembly to be replaced under compression.. So with angle grinder removal and refitting of a new anti roll link, I'm left with the problem of a strut assembly that is too long to be fitted into the bottom clamp. It;s now just hanging there. Looks like I'll have to buy some more compressor clamps that are less heavy duty and will fit into the space provided. Although I'm not sure that this is going to cure the problem of too much length in the strut assembly. It simply didn't alter in length when the initial compression was released. Putting it mildly, I would say that your car was a "set up" piece, where everything came apart so easily and nothing really reflected the reality that most old motors are pretty much corroded together.

Sealey make longer spring compressors that are handy for mondeo Springs which are notoriously long.

Great vid, thanks mate. It's got to worth saying how much damage that the human body (and anything else in the way) can incur if those spring compressors slip off or break....worth watching a few vids to minimise the risks...

Having trouble getting the spring compressed enough so i can get the shockabsorber out of the bottom clamp, have taken loose the the arm on the ?swaybar? (not sure of the name) taken loose the steering arm, still cant get the wheel hub down the last 2 inches needed. any ideas? btw a good tip when using that kind of spring compressors is placing a hose clamp on each side of the hook\claw :) saved me some scary spring action on earlier coil spring changes :)

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 that exhaust explosion tho 👍👌

Great video mate but I have a quick question for you if you dont mind... what is the correct position for the the top strut mount... I recently had my front driver's side spring replaced but I now get a knocking noise from that area when going over bumps in the road... I have read about incorrect top strut mount 0lacement can cause it but I'm not sure where the green line should be positioned as the garage claim it doesnt matter

Thanks for the video. Are there any reference marks on the top mount to indicate where the spring sits, or does it matter?

Koszonetemet szeretnem kifelyezni szamodra magyarorszagrol . Tegnap a Ford Orionon automon a modszereddel sikeresen kicsereltem az elso lengescsillapitokat . Kulombseg a te modszeredhez kepest ,hogy hidralikus nyomato helyett hidralikus emelot hasznaltam .

Safer with 3 clamps and never put your hand between the coils when compressing the spring.

Glad to see you ended up using a ratchet to compress the spring, using an impact gun is not a good idea and dangerous

In fairness those clamps are bloody dangerous! I used them for a while then tried the claw ones which were much better and didn't slip at all 👍🏻

what happens if the spring lower part didnt rotate till its very end of the rubber seat ? is it still ok?

Where did you get those spring compressors? Can't find any dual thread ones that are long enough 😕

6:04. Anyone watching It is recommended by Ford and Haines to partially lower subframe before removing strut.

Got as far as the 15mm pinch bolt, broke a 15mm socket trying to unloosen it, thats how tough its in, then the other 15mm socket has gone and rounded it!!

Great video and thank you, where is the little hydraulic ram from please? Regards Jay

Great video. Where did you buy that hydraulic press tool ? Does it have a name ?

I broke the bracket where my coil spring sets in and the bar that goes to it on my grand Cherokee!! Is it replaceable and ok to drive till I do🤣😎

I think I know that you are a mechanic but the only thing that I don't understand is why did you let the caliper hanging?

You should drop the subframe to get the leg out

I've had mk1 mk2 and mk3 mondeo's and front springs have snapped on every one

Got a link to the spring compressors??

You should replace the brake disks too

These springs are a pain in the arse to compress. You compress them and think - yeah that'll do, then stick it back on the strut only to realise you need another 2 inches.

don't you have to drop the subframe because of the hydraulic bushes on the wishbones

That almost when bad lol I hate these styles of spring compressors

Looks a bit bum squeaky for me compressing that spring 😮

Without touching the driveshaft ????? What ?

Mondeos front spring is a pig to compress

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Painful video

take your watch off