Luckily FCPEuro sells the Sachs Quick Struts 033078, which at $250 is very good.
- Car drives very well now, especially when cornering.
- It sits about 2" higher but the old springs were sagging so this is normal for car to sit 2" higher, it will settle down with time.
The video by FCPEuro is so good, please watch it and make note:
I only need to add some photos to show some tricks.
Tools/Torque:
- 13-mm socket for tops nuts (25 Nm)
- 10-mm socket for wheel speed sensor
- 18-mm wrench
- 18-mm and 21-mm wrenches for knuckle nuts and bolts (65 Nm ---> another 90 degrees)
- Propane torch
1. Struts: new and old. Note the location of the Plastic Mount for the speed sensor.
If you are not careful, you can break the tiny prongs on the plastic bracket, no big deal, zip ties can fix anything LOL!
Make sure you watch the video above carefully so you don't mess up the plastic dowel part of the plastic bracket.
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2. One week before doing this job, add some oil on these parts, it takes a long time to penetrate into the threads.
- I made the mistake of last-minute PB Blaster, even after the nut was removed, I saw little oil further down the nut.
So start early, one week before.
- If you heat the nut on the endlink, use only 10-15 seconds to avoid damage to the rubber boot covering the ball joints of the end links.
- I place a piece of card board above the OUTER CV Rubber Boot to avoid damage to the rubber boot.
- I use the Torx Key to temporarily hold the strut in place.
- I also measure the alignment using my carpenter tool (once the car is up on jack stands, do NOT change the setup), this way when I have the new strut in, I know where to adjust the camber. Not sure, then split the distance of the 18-mm/21-mm nut and bolt area, i.e., let go the knuckle then push it inward, now split the distance in half. I did this and it went well, steering wheel still dead center. I did not get alignment but you should.
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3. The 90-degree turning business. Make sure:
- Mark the nut with Sharpie let's say at 9 o'clock.
- After 90 degrees, the black mark should be at 12 o'clock.
- The 18-mm wrench used for counter-hold: make sure it stays in the exactly the same place so the 90-degree turn is executed correctly. In other words, you don't want to allow the 18-mm wrench to move during the 90-degree turn.
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4. The casualty of salt corrosion.
- Before starting this job, get a few of these T40 sockets at Home depot, Menards hardware etc.
They are about $2/each, but you don't want to stop the job, drive down the hardware store for the $2 tool.
- I broke 2 of these T40 tools!
- The Great Neck T40 "L" key broke clean.
- The Lisle T40 socket (black color) was "twisted" and then broke off.
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