strut replacement

by **jbn19431938** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 8:36 am

Have 1999 Solara making front end noises. Got price from local dealer of $925 for replacement of struts and mounts. Incudes alignment.

Thinking of doing install myself. Have rebuilt an MG Midget front to rear, including engine, tranny, differential, etc, so can probably handle it. Has anyone else done this strut replacement by themselves, and what advice can you give me? Practical stuff like how high to jack up car, etc, etc. Rent spring compressor? How long did job take? Is the savings worth the bother? What did parts cost?

TY for any help

by **mox** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 9:59 am

jbn19431938 wrote:Have 1999 Solara making front end noises. Got price from local dealer of $925 for replacement of struts and mounts. Incudes alignment.

Thinking of doing install myself. Have rebuilt an MG Midget front to rear, including engine, tranny, differential, etc, so can probably handle it. Has anyone else done this strut replacement by themselves, and what advice can you give me? Practical stuff like how high to jack up car, etc, etc. Rent spring compressor? How long did job take? Is the savings worth the bother? What did parts cost?

TY for any help

Since the beginning of the week I'm into that

I'm taking the suspension from my old camry to the new solara

Only advice I have for you is: "Make sure you don't break one of your ABS sensor" it's going to cost me ~100$CDN because of one sensor that I forgot to unplug

Also, have fun removing ALL the panels/seats in the rear to get to the 3 bolts that hold the strut top

Also.. when jacking your car... jack both sides at the same time.. because of the sway bars it's easier to remove the struts when both sides are jacked.

by **groovespacer** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 12:48 am

Its prettty easy. I think anyone can tackle it. Give it a try..

by **MalBandito99** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:47 am

if youve never done anything physically technical to a car before and if you need your own transportation to work the next day, then dont even try it cause u will probly screw up somewhere and be SOL til you get it to a professional to get it right.

Just take it to the shop, get it done the right way once, and leave happy not frustrated.

by **that1mexguy** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:48 am

man that is a lot!! i just got my new struts not too long ago and labor was $300. I would've try to do it myself but i dont have the tools, plus i didnt wanted to risk it. If u are comfortable doing it urself i'd say go for it, but if not, i wouldnt pay more than $250-$300.

by **hari-bhari** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 8:38 am

you can four brand new aftermarket tokico struts and new lowering springs bought and installed for 700-800. screw toyota

by **xsolara33x** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 9:38 am

got my struts yesterday, paid 349 for them and getting them installed today for 80 bones...

by **jbn19431938** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 12:05 pm

xsolara33x wrote:got my struts yesterday, paid 349 for them and getting them installed today for 80 bones...

does that include mounts and alignment?

by **jbn19431938** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 12:10 pm

jbn19431938 wrote:
xsolara33x wrote:got my struts yesterday, paid 349 for them and getting them installed today for 80 bones...

just got dealer price over phone for 160 per strut and 78 per mount!!!!

by **xsolara33x** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 12:14 pm

for everything... got my car aligned about a month ago and they gave me insurance so im going to try to say that my car is drifting to the left or something... but yea, that's 80 for everythig except alignment...

by **dan99solara** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 3:07 pm

my stock struts were replaced at like 70k and ive had TEIN's on the car for about 10k and i have no bouncing or any kind of strut wear. i guess im just lucky...

by **jbn19431938** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 5:31 am

Front strut replacement seems piece of cake compared to rear struts, assuming proper tools (spring compressor, etc.) At least fasteners, nuts, bolts are visible.

How the !@#$%^& does one get at top of rear struts? Am apprehensive about ripping out parcel tray, quarter panel liners, etc, without knowing what I am doing. Haynes manual no help. Does factory manual help here, is it woth the price, what section should I order, etc etc.

Particularly puzzled by many types of fasteners used on liners: where they are located, blind locations, how plastic fasteners work, etc.

HELP PLEASE!

by **Rudy** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 1:50 pm

YOU ARE GETTING RIPPED OFF, STOP IMMEDIATELY.

you can get performance struts for CHEAPER, why in gods name would you spend this?

I hope this is canadian money...

strut replacement

strut replacement

Re: DIY strut replacement

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