olfart Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Having replaced all four struts on my wife's car, I now have the four old struts rusting out by the barn. What I'm considering doing is lighting off the huge brush pile I've accumulated over the winter (includes a couple of 60' pine trees) and tossing the four struts in the middle of it. By the time it all burns down (probably around 36 hours worth) I'm guessing the springs should be pretty well de-sprung. No, I have no plans to dash out and pull the retaining nuts off the top. I'll put a screw clamp on a couple of turns of spring and see if they stay compressed when released first. If they stay where the screw clamp left them, then I'll consider removing the top nuts. If that doesn't work, I may take them to a mechanic and let him remove the springs for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 The only way the springs would be annealed would be if they (1) reached critical temperature and (2) cooled slowly in the coals. How are you going to check to see if critical temp was reached? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Greetings Olfart. Do yourself a favor and take the struts to a mechanic with the proper tools to remove the springs. You can hurt yourself big time .. Is it worth it? Hydraulics enclosed in a shock will explode with heat not to mention the spring when removed. Forge inand make beautiful things Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olfart Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Of course I'll have no way of knowing whether critical temp was reached. My only means of determining whether they're safe is to further compress the spring and see if it expands back to its original position. If it doesn't, it will not be exerting any pressure on the top retaining nut. If it does, then it's down to the shop to have it done by a mechanic. If the shock itself fails due to heat, I won't know about it until it's all cool. The brush pile is more than 100 yards from the house, and I won't be going down there once I toss the struts into the fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo7 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Seen a drum go 20yrds from a fire, 100yrds is not far for a rod shaped missile. Take them down to the mechanics and be done with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Take it to a mechanic first off. How much is it going to cost you if you get yourself or someone else hurt? A lot more than going to the mechanic. Miss a couples days, or weeks or even months of work and see the cost to say nothing of property damage if or when things go wrong. In a car fire I've seen struts blow and go through the inner fender, hood and throw shrapnel several yards in multiple directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Good Morning OlFart, Do your Family a favour, Take the Struts apart first. Mr Darwin has some Annual Awards, don't enlist yourself. I put the whole coil inside a propane Forge. I have a stationary vertical piece of pipe (held in a very substantial Vice). When the coil is hot, drop the coil over the Pipe, grab one end of the coil with your Good Tongs and pull hard. The Coil will unwrap to about 12-15 feet long and it will be annealed. If you are quick and have a few friends helping, it may take 3 heats. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Or...you can measure around the coil to get the length of the piece you want, cut it off with a angle grinder, hack saw, etc. A short piece is easier to work with. That way you don't have to heat and uncoil the spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Best bet is take it to a mechanic to take it off. After they have been all burned up in a fire a mechanic may not want to touch the job as they could look at it as dangerous to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anachronist58 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I can be pretty stupid at times, and >I< wouldn't do that (nowadays) (throw a charged & sealed assembly into a fire). Robert Taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 6 hours ago, arkie said: Or...you can measure around the coil to get the length of the piece you want, cut it off with a angle grinder, hack saw, etc. A short piece is easier to work with. That way you don't have to heat and uncoil the spring. BTW, I should have mentioned a caveat.....if you decide to use a spring on a strut assembly, DON'T, REPEAT DON'T cut the spring before having it removed from the strut!!!!! HAVE THE SPRING REMOVED FIRST!!! That would be an instant trip to the ER!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olfart Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Well, I burned the brush pile today. Cooler heads prevailed, and I chose not to cook the struts after all. Too much opportunity for catastrophic failure. However, in the process of burning the brush pile I broke a steering arm on my tractor. Luckily it was far enough from the fire to enable me to remove the broken steering arm and haul it to the barn. That gave me my first opportunity to use my forge for a practical purpose! I fired up the forge and heated the bent side of the broken arm, beat it back to where it needed to be, then let it cool. I used the pinch bolt to align the broken piece and welded the broken piece back on, which was good enough to get the tractor back to the barn. A new part is now ordered, so I don't have to rely on my repaired part for very long. Thanks for all the good advice on NOT cooking the struts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Just trying to help you not regret something when others and I know the energy packed in those things. have had close calls even on the "right" equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Glad you let discretion rule! I didn't even have to mention the dreaded BLEVE. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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