Hello all,

So I decided to replace my front struts on a recently purchased 1988 240. After reading up on it on the brickboard, I decided to go with the bilstein heavy duty shocks. After some difficulty, I managed to get the right strut in, with the ball joint and tie-rod ends back into place.

But doing the left one I ran into the weirdest problem. When I went to take the strut off that the PO had put in, I noticed a red goo all over the strut bushing, which made it pretty difficult to actually remove it from the spring. I didn't think much of it until I went to put the bilstein into the tube and it just simply won't go in....it goes in about half way and won't go any further. I figure either the tube is bent, or the red goo, which is visible down in the tube, is just thick enough to stop the strut from going in and making me happy. At any rate, does any one have any suggestions about what type of solvent might make this red goo soften up a bit and go away? Keep in mind I've got the brake still attached to the tube. I thought maybe paint thinner? But I'm not sure. (or maybe the strut tube tube is bent after all...has anyone ever seen this happen?)

Second question I have is about the tie rod end. Try as I might, I just can't seem to crack the lock that the steering rack tie rod has on the end. No matter how big of a 10mm wrench I try to put on the 'flat' part of the rod, I can't get it to turn off the bar. What would the more experienced of you recommend at that point? Should I tear into the steering rack boot and try to get the other end of the rod off, and then simply try to replace tie rod + end, or should I take the rack off and try to take it into a shop? Or is there a trick?

Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks,

Eric