Sigh: rear strut stuck in its sleeve. How to release/remove?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by MrPete, Jun 24, 2025 at 11:11 PM.

  1. MrPete

    MrPete Active Member

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    OEM rear strut stuck in the metal sleeve at the top.

    Any good way to un-stick?

    In my photo, the strut on the left is stuck in the metal sleeve that's part of the protective cylinder. (The one on the right is just a strut) I've played with this for half an hour so far and not found a way to release the strut. (I *need* those parts for the new strut!)
    20250624_210829.jpg
     
    #1 MrPete, Jun 24, 2025 at 11:11 PM
  2. tweedle99

    tweedle99 Member

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    Visegrip?

    What are the condition of the rubber pieces? Might be worthwhile to just get new ones.
    KYB SM5840
     
    #2 tweedle99, Jun 25, 2025 at 2:51 AM
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  3. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    It's the metal sleeve that is keeping it on.
    Try wd40, then vice grips, not TOO tight, to try to rotate it and pull at the same time.
    And a lot of patience.....


     
    #3 ASRDogman, Jun 25, 2025 at 6:58 AM
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  4. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    A three jaw gear puller like the Posilock brand would be ideally suited for this issue.
     
    #4 Georgina Rudkus, Jun 25, 2025 at 7:37 AM
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  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Man what are you guys buying just the raw strut w no spring etc daum . Raw dogging it that's how we did in 80's. Y shape metal in vice push the shaft in the V and yank down .
     
    #5 Tombukt2, Jun 25, 2025 at 8:09 AM
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Gen 3 has plain shocks in the rear, with separate coil springs nearby. (Gen 1 and 2 had rear coilovers.)

    Pedantically, 'strut' is generally used for designs where a shock absorber lives right inside a coil spring, as in the MacPherson strut. Even more pedantically, the ones in front that are also steering pivots are proper MacPherson struts; a plain shock that's tucked inside a coil spring, like the gen 1 and 2 rears, can just be called a coilover.
     
    #6 ChapmanF, Jun 25, 2025 at 10:07 AM
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  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yes we didn't get a chance to change our three series. Shocks . The 2 so far about 22 sets or so all different brands . If components.. in the 3 you may e a few more options from my band others as many cars have that setup a long time now so they got ya covered.
     
    #7 Tombukt2, Jun 25, 2025 at 12:01 PM
  8. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Lol, seems like you've been under your car working on stuff for months!

    My recommendation is to buy lowest price full assembled spring and strut... It's a waste of time and dangerous to DIY that part of the job with disassembly and re-use of old parts.
     
    #8 PriusCamper, Jun 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
  9. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    These are kind of like the rear shocks German cars have . The spring is on separate perch located wer ever designer likes it like rt next to shox.
     
    #9 Tombukt2, Jun 25, 2025 at 5:19 PM
  10. MrPete

    MrPete Active Member

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    Umm... @PriusCamper I guess you've never looked at the back end shocks? There's no such thing as a fully assembled spring and strut for the rear wheels on a Gen 3 ;)

    I did get KYB complete units for the front end. As you noted, it can be dangerous to mess around with compressed springs if you don't have the right tools. And I didn't want to waste my time on cheapest junk that will fail soon.

    I gave up on the old parts. Thanks to @tweedle99 for the needed P/N. $32 on Amazon arriving tomorrow. Replacing both sides just in case to avoid any ride imbalance. Over $60 each for OEM.

    Yep, I've been giving this ol' car quite a bit of love. Good bones, needs some work to keep it going for several more years, and make it a LOT nicer for our big road trips. Well worth the relatively small investment (compared to buying a newer car.) It only has 250k miles on it after all, and a 2015 engine with only 30k miles.
    Some of the following I've talked about. Some, not yet (waiting until the story is complete.)
    • Permanently fixed the front undercovers
    • First time shocks have been replaced
    • While doing the shocks I'm also adding effective relatively low cost sound deadening (Under $200 total to do wheel wells outside, doors, trunk and more.) Hoping we can hear each other and our audio books on our next trip!
    • I've replaced the head unit with a VERY nice new one (BIG screen showing maps, cameras, etc, and wireless carplay/android auto) and installed all-around 360 degree cameras making parking a breeze, and ultimately providing a nice PVR to record any situation w/ other cars. When we eventually sell this car, I can pull the costly part and install on any other car. Beta testing the HU...it's not quite ready for prime time ;)
    • I have a new method for testing battery modules and will eventually settle down to finish setting it up and writing the code for fun. Looking forward to that. (As a HW/FW/SW engineer, that's fun stuff for me ;) ) I'll be able to clear out my cache of spare modules, and hopefully increase gas mileage beyond our current 45 mpg.
    And I'm not even retired yet LOL.
     
    #10 MrPete, Jun 26, 2025 at 8:58 AM
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