Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleCaesar
This is one job I would never tackle myself.
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Thanks for the warning.
I was, at first, apprehensive; but, it turned out, since I am a newbie, most the effort in changing my struts was in figuring out the critical step of immobilizing the suspension BEFORE re-installing the shocks.
In hindsight, the actual spring-compression activity turned out to be one of the simplest and easiest and drama-free steps in the strut replacement procedure!
To complete the picture, my first strut took hours (simply because I had trouble understanding the FSM-unexplained step of "stabilizing" the suspension). The actual spring compression step was not what took any time.
After thinking about the problem for a while, my second strut was done in 30 minutes; and the third strut (pictured above) only took about 20 minutes from chocking the wheels to the final test drive!
The spring compressed without drama; the bolt slid in like it was greased!
Knowing what I know now, I could easily & safely do the whole job again, both wheels, in less than 40 minutes, from start to cleanup
(assuming additional suspension, brake, and steering diagnostics are not performed as part of the procedure).
To be specific, for others to benefit, I used the strong (and free!) Autozone spring compressor (90-day free loaner!) to compress the coil spring; and, I used a Sears bottle jack to immobilize the suspension BEFORE removing the struts in the first place!
- OEM brand, MacPherson Strut Spring Compressor #27036
- OEM Customer Service: 866-458-2472 (Mineola, NY)
- Sears Craftsman hydraulic 4-ton bottle jack (P/N 950281, 8 inches to 15-3/8 inches)
Gory details, as always, for those interested, are in these three related threads:
- How I replaced my front struts in my 3rd-generation Toyota 4Runner
- How I went about choosing the replacement struts for my 4Runner
- How I went about choosing the spring compressor for the job
Personal note: I hope these links help other newbies! But please realize ... for some strange reason, while most are appreciative, a vocal minority here apparently get emotional and unhelpfully clutter those threads with decidedly non-technical content ... (you'll understand when you read the threads).