Rear Suspension for '97 Diamante question
 

Have replaced the front struts and all went well. Now the rear is a bit different. Followed the "Mitsubishi Motors Manual" used by technicians, the issue is the bottom connection of the shock/strut. The original shock had a rubber grommet surrounding a smaller metal cylinder which slides onto the stem attached to the knuckle. The rubber grommet and the smaller cylinder became fused to the stem. I was able to cut the grommet off and unscrewed the whole stem, now how do you get this metal cylinder off the stem? Forgive me if my description of a stem is incorrect, I haven't found this identified in the service manual diagram's at all. I guess I can buy a new stem but since today is Sunday I was hoping to finish this job and drive the car to work tomorrow. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Tom

Solved the problem, the original shock had a rubber grommet and metal bushing which became fused to the "stem" that is attached to the knuckle. After visiting Mitsubishi dealer to see if I could just purchase a "stem" I was informed I had to purchase the whole knuckle. The service manager did suggest I visit a muffler shop where they may have torches to heat up the part. I visited a Meineke shop that a friends fiancee owns and with in 15 seconds they fixed it at no cost. My guess is that age and 162,000 miles can cause such an event.