2005 Dodge Caravan here. The bolt of the strut came down through the top plate that it is supposed to attach to. I have loaded replacement struts on the way and I am getting ready to take the current ones off of the vehicle.

I know that with the unit being in one piece on the driver side, there is no need to compress the spring before removing the assembly. On the passenger side, with the strut already being broken through, do i need to compress that spring before removing the assembly, or is the tension already off of the spring?

I have attached an image of the top of the passenger side strut assembly.




Here are some more pics of the whole thing so you guys can see it better.

 

If the spring is still compressed you will need to relieve the pressure first. The picture does not show the spring, so I cant tell if it's still compressed.

 

It looks like it is still in compression. I'fn it was mine, i would heat the coils with a torch in about 3 places to relieve the pressure. Then cut coils as necessary to completely eliminate pressure. Your new struts come with new springs, so no big loss. Just be careful. Just my opinion. Others may correct me.,...offgas

 

Just curious: Did this van spend its life in the part of the country where a lot of salt and de-ice chemicals are used?,...offgas

 

Rural Michigan... lots of salt.

 

check the spring and see how tight it feels. I had a stratus that I did the rear strut on because the upper mount had completely crumbled away (common issue). With the car was jacked up, the spring had very little pressure on it. For my safety I did toss a couple spring compressors on, but it was not nearly as compressed as it would have been normally.