Hints Regarding Replacement of 2G Front Struts

[Patrick Wong]

My 2004 has 90K miles. A couple of months ago, while changing the engine oil, I noticed that the RF strut looked nice and shiny. Further examination revealed that it was covered in strut oil. I was about to embark on a five-week-long trip to the East Coast, so I had to defer replacing the front struts until this weekend. In the meantime I ordered the parts from Champion Toyota, Houston:

48510-49495 Shock Absorber Assembly MSRP $131, Net $99
48520-49585 Shock Absorber Assembly MSRP $131, Net $99
48609-13010 Support Subassembly MSRP $87, Net $66 (need qty. 2)
48158-47010 Front Coil Spring Insulator Lower MSRP $14, Net $10 (need qty. 2)
48157-02070 Front Coil Spring Insulator Upper MSRP $21, Net $16 (need qty. 2)

Hence, a total of $382 plus shipping. Freight was $42 but I also bought several filters. Maybe the freight charge would be slightly less without those.

Note that there are two different part numbers for the struts since one is for the left while the other is for the right.

I strongly recommend that DIYers download the necessary repair pages from techinfo.toyota.com to get the exploded parts diagram and instructions. In this post I will point out suggested changes to the Toyota repair instructions. I am using part names per those instructions.

The "front coil spring seat upper" has an oblong hole that locks into the top of the shiny chrome shaft of the front shock absorber assembly. The repair instructions prescribe an SST to lock the spring seat in place when it is time to remove the top nut. Otherwise, the chrome shaft will rotate while you are trying to remove the nut.

I don't have the SST and tried to use visegrips on the chrome shaft when taking apart the RF strut. However they slipped. I finally used a small screwdriver inserted into a hole in the spring seat, to hold the seat stationary and allow loosening of the nut. The screwdriver blade bent, so it is useful only as my defacto SST now...

Since you also probably don't have this SST in your toolbox, I suggest that you loosen the top nut 1/4 turn before removing the strut from the car. Don't loosen the nut too much though, because it is responsible for keeping the strut spring compressed. I did this before removing the LF strut and that procedure worked well.

When it comes time to reinstall the new strut, tighten the nut as much as you can while holding the front coil spring seat upper with one hand. Then finish tightening that nut to 35 ft.-lb when the strut is installed in the car.

The instructions suggest putting the removed strut into a large vise. I don't have a vise large enough to hold the strut, but it was not necessary.

When I disassembled the RF strut, I found that it could be easily collapsed and stayed collapsed. Clearly all gas had leaked out of that strut. The LF strut showed more resistance to collapsing, however it was very slow to return to the fully extended position compared to the new strut. It was pretty clear that both struts needed to be retired.

Here is a list of tools that you will need: 10, 12, 14, 17, and 19 mm sockets. 1/2" and 3/8" ratchet wrenches and torque wrenches along with various extensions.

13/16" socket (or metric equivalent) to remove the tire lugnuts.

MacPherson strut spring compressor. Don't buy or rent the cheapest compressor that you can find, especially do not use one that lacks safety pins to hold the compressor on the spring. Your personal safety is at risk and potential property damage may occur if the compressor flies off the spring. I am using the Sears Craftsman compressor, a photo is attached.

1" box wrench to turn the Sears Craftsman MacPherson strut spring compressor.

Photo 1 shows the spring compressor.

2 - 4 show the new parts and part number labels.

5 shows the top of the RF strut after the cowl assembly has been removed. Note the circular dust cover in the center of the strut top mount, use a small screwdriver to pry off.

6 shows the old RF strut in place. Note the torn rubber boot. The leaked oil had dried, so that is not too visible.

7 shows the front stabilizer link assembly, the front flexible brake hose, and the speed sensor wire harness removed from the strut.

8 shows the bottom of the strut with the two nuts removed.

9 shows the disc brake assembly with the strut removed.

10 shows removed hardware from the strut, note the corrosion on one of the bottom bolts. This seems to be aluminum oxide from the wheel hub housing. I washed that bolt and most of the white powder came off.

11 shows the old RF strut removed from the vehicle.

12 shows my alternative to using a vise. The large screwdriver prevents the strut from rotating.

13 shows the new RF strut installed.

This is a fairly big job, plan to spend most of a day to account for learning curve. It's more important to do the job right than to do it fast, since you are working on the car's suspension and your personal safety is at risk. Wheel alignment camber will be affected by installation of the new struts, so for a complete job you should consider having the front suspension aligned after you've replaced the front struts.

Note that safe disposal of the used struts requires you to drill a tiny hole into the strut body to vent out any pressurized nitrogen gas in the strut. As you compress the shock after drilling the hole, you'll see a stream of strut oil exit the hole. Have paper towels available to catch that stream.

I understand that the dealer price for front strut replacement will be around $1K. If you take this on, then after you've done the job you can think about the $600 that you just saved. Good luck!

[vertex]

Thanks for the detailed info. I did this once years ago. I forget what kind of car. My spring tool (which I had used before) slipped, but somehow I did not get hurt. I decided I would not do it myself again. We have a Mavis service chain here, and they did it for $200 a strut on my old Focus. Not worth my trouble. When my Prius needs them, I will probably go there.

[efusco]

Cost me $1000 to have a local mechanic replace my struts...the majority of the cost being parts which ran close to $800 IIRC.

Patrick's info here can save you a bundle, even if you can't/won't DIY.

[galaxee]

the strut top is made of hardened steel. it's polished, not chromed. (fwiw)

DH has been an undercar specialist about as long as he's been working on cars. he's found limited use for most of the SSTs, and this one mentioned in the manual looks about as useful as the rest.

as long as the strut rod is fully extended into the strut mount, it won't turn. it's keyed to lock into the mount. if you push on the nut, you'll push the strut top down and it will spin. if you don't push on the nut and the rod stays up, it'll stay in place so you can turn the nut.

a 1/4 turn on the nut- just to crack it loose- before removing the assembly is the most he would recommend. he wouldn't even do that in practice.

Patrick, those spring compressors really are not the safest. DH won't be in the same 100-foot radius of a spring compressed with those. he used them before, has had colleagues use them before. they fail. catastrophe ensues. cinder-block walls get holes in them, floors get holes in them, in some cases skulls or other body parts get holes in them.

now that he's got the garage set up, he's sending along a picture of what he uses:


an alternative to doing the full replacement DIY is to remove the assemblies yourself, take them to a shop, and have them swap the struts out. then replace the assemblies in the car. that would be very reasonable in cost, maybe $20 per assembly. then you save the money in removal/replacement, and remove the element of danger to yourself.

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by vertex

... My spring tool (which I had used before) slipped, but somehow I did not get hurt. I decided I would not do it myself again.

Yes, when I was in graduate school 34 years ago, my roommate decided to replace the struts on his Mercury Capri (the car from Germany, not the rebadged Mustang.) I was helping him and he used a really cheap rented spring compressor that flew off and hit the garage wall.

Originally Posted by galaxee

the strut top is made of hardened steel. it's polished, not chromed. (fwiw)...

as long as the strut rod is fully extended into the strut mount, it won't turn. it's keyed to lock into the mount. if you push on the nut, you'll push the strut top down and it will spin. if you don't push on the nut and the rod stays up, it'll stay in place so you can turn the nut.

a 1/4 turn on the nut- just to crack it loose- before removing the assembly is the most he would recommend. he wouldn't even do that in practice...

an alternative to doing the full replacement DIY is to remove the assemblies yourself, take them to a shop, and have them swap the struts out. then replace the assemblies in the car. that would be very reasonable in cost, maybe $20 per assembly. then you save the money in removal/replacement, and remove the element of danger to yourself.

Hi Galaxee,

Thanks to you and DH for your comments, and for pointing out that the rod is hardened steel. This must be why the visegrips could not bite in.

I attached the exploded parts diagram to help our discussion. The "front coil spring seat upper" has the oblong hole that fits the top of the strut rod. That is the part that needs to be held in place when the top nut is removed. Of course, if the spring has not been compressed then spring tension will hold the spring seat in place so that the top nut can be removed.

I agree that loosening the nut while the spring is under tension is a risky practice and accept DH's suggestion for a 1/4 turn as sufficient. Your suggestion to take the removed struts to a local garage for disassembly/reassembly also has merit.

I felt that the Sears tool worked very well as it was easy to compress the Prius springs. I've used that tool eight times so far, having replaced all struts/shocks on my 2001 and 2004. Given the presence of the locking pins, it is not easy to visualize a failure that would result in the tool flying off.

[hobbit]

Nice. Having realized I never even talked about the suspension
other than minor realignment, I've updated my 100K/part1 to point
to this thread. I am thankful but baffled that I'm not having
any issues with my own struts, and they even seem to still be
absorbing shocks as they should.
.
_H*

[galaxee]

DH has managed to replace a lot of struts without needing that SST. remove assy, compress spring, remove nut.

he's going to go make some friends at the local dealer this week and take a look at it, since he's never actually used it.

[northwichita]

Last time I did this on a previous car, I used the loan a tool from local Autozones to rent two sets of locking strut compressors to use on one strut at a time, this is the only way I would be comfortable changing struts.

I'm surprised there is no special strut socket needed to keep the strut shaft from turning when the mount nut is removed, as here, the Bentley manual just describes holding the upper spring seat with the holding tool - picture here- SPX Toyota | Tool Detail -something that I would also improvise with.

[hyo silver]

Great write up, Patrick.

Worn out struts sounds like a good opportunity to go with the TRD Sportivo. If it's going to cost a certain amount anyway, the extra is much less than it would be otherwise.

[talonts]

FYI, I've had a strut replacement VFAQ on the site for years - Springs/Struts Install