What are Strut Mounts?

Series Summary

Your car is a complex machine made up of simple machines that have many different parts and processes that must be checked for breakage, leaks, and wear. One part that is very important to maintain is the strut mount. Struts have replaced shock absorbers on cars over the last few decades due to their ability to bear loads that are not solely parallel to the direction of the strut compression. The struts have mounts that keep the wheel perpendicular to the road and when the mount breaks it causes the tire to ride either on the outer or inner side wall. When this occurs it is not long before the tire blows out. Consequently it is very important to check the strut mounts and keep them in good working order.

Should you find a problem with your strut mounts you can always take your car into a mechanic; however, if you are an aspiring mechanic or you would just like to learn how to replace your own strut mounts and save some money, learn from one of our experts for free.

In this free online video series, learn from expert mechanic Nathan McCullough as he teaches and demonstrates how to replace the strut mounts on your vehicle. Learn strut mount replacement fundamentals such as how to locate the strut mount; what are some common problems that can occur as a result of strut mount breakage or failure; how to break the lugs and jack up the vehicle; how to remove the tire; how to stake the lower strut to the suspension knuckle; how to remove the caliper; how to remove the strut to knuckle mounting bolts; how to break loose the knuckle from the suspension; how to gain access to the upper strut mounting bolt, remove some interior parts, lube the upper bolt, compress the spring, remove the nut and disassemble the strut, inspect the strut, reassemble the strut, release the strut compression, line up the strut with the suspension tower, reassemble the interior, line up suspension knuckle and line up bolts.

Video Transcript

" Hi my name is Nate McCullough on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this clip we are going to talk about what a strut mount is and where they are located. Struts have been taking the place of shock absorbers pretty progressively in the last 20 years or so. Most vehicles have gone to full four wheel independent suspension. It is light weight construction, and what that is, what you have is an assembly of the shock absorber and the spring in one piece: that is labeled a strut. In the rear on most vehicles the strut mount is a solid component such as this. The component will not turn independently being that this is the upper mounting point for the suspension. In the front however, this will have to turn; the top portion is going to stay stationary and the lower portion is going to pivot, that allows you to turn when you need to steer the vehicle. They are located up on the top right above the wheel. It is going to be in a area called the suspension tower. If you were to look at the center of your vehicle's tire and go up approximately a foot and a half, you are going to run into where the strut mount is located."