I've searched and to my surprise haven't seen a thread describing the ease (or headache) of replacing front and rear suspension for the 2nd Gen Prius. I've replaced suspensions on BMWs, Audis, Fords, etc so I'm attempting to tackle this myself. I've found the parts online and am wondering if this is something I could accomplish in an afternoon? I do not want to take to the dealer due to $$$$. Any tips? thanks! Jeremy
More specifically I picked up the rear suspension is difficult to replace due to proximity to battery? Confirm or deny?
Neighboring post yielded this link from Patrick Wong: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ts-regarding-replacement-2g-front-struts.html Heal thyself!
The HV battery does not really hamper changing rear shocks/springs, it's more a matter of removing trim panels to get to the top mounting nuts. Try looking up posts on lowering Prius suspension of witch there have been several of late.
Here is the companion post regarding the rear shocks. You can work around the battery case when removing the top shock mount hardware. As previously stated, the issue primarily is removing the hatch trim for access. Replaced Rear Shocks | PriusChat
Great info here on suspension. Question: For $88 you can replace the existing springs while replacing stock suspension components with replacement parts. Is this worth it? I've read others say the stock springs sag after time. Should springs be replaced with struts, strut mounts, etc?
If your car has logged more than 200K miles or if you see that one side of the car is obviously much lower than the other when unloaded, it might be worthwhile to replace the springs.
