Strut Assembly: Disassembly

Place the strut in the strut compressor using strut lower and strut upper adapters and the holding fixture. See Fig 1 .

Fig 1: Disassembling Strut Using Strut Compressor
Courtesy of GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Turn the compressor forcing screw until the spring compresses slightly.
Use a 45 Torx socket in order to hold the strut shaft. Remove the strut mount nut by turning with strut rod nut socket.
Install the alignment rod to help guide the strut shaft out of the strut upper mount.
Loosen the compressor screw while guiding the strut shaft out of the strut upper mount. Continue loosening the compressor forcing screw until you can remove the strut and the spring.