So on my 2004 pacifica the passenger side strut has broken thru the top of the mount, the silver strut bar and nut are sticking out about 2 inches, it has even dented the hood, my question is when I remove the entire assembly am I going to have to compress the coil spring while it's still on the car ? From the reading I have done it says that the top nut is what holds the top mount to the coil spring.

 

Yes it will still need to be compressed if u plan to uses the spring see if quick struts are avail

 

I'm going to get a quick strut, I'm wondering if I can just remove the old assembly from the car the same as if the strut wasent broke thru the mount ?? Or will I need to compress the spring while it's still on the car ??

 

all depends on how much clearance there is

 

Well I got the strut off without compressing the spring, it came out just fine which is confusing because I read that the top nut is what holds the top of the mount to the compressed spring but obviously it's not.

 

So is the top strut mount surface corroded? I have seen many town and country/Voyager etc where the mounts are toast. There is an after market repair kit for the vans that adds a new "cap" for the top strut attachment.