Has anyone changed all 4 struts on a 5th gen? How hard of a task is it? I have the factory service manuals. I have all new KYB Struts and new strut mounts for my car. I know I will need to take them to a shop to get the springs compressed and the strut switched over, but I will be taking them out of the car and installing them myself. Thanks

 

I am not an expert by any means... But... Autozone and Advance Autoparts have a tool lending service that you could use. I used their spring compressor kit to change my suspension out for the FE2 style. I just did one wheel at a time. It should work for you. Good luck.

 

I assume you got the two shocks for the front and the two strut assemblies for the back. For the front, you need to break the lower ball joint loose as well as remove the hub. There is a nut that holds the axel into the hub. Remove it and then remove the hub with the 4 bolts. Remove the sway bar mounts from the control arm and then break the lower ball joint loose. Remove the three nuts from the top of the strut tower and then remove the strut assembly. Here is a diagram of the front struts:


They are pretty easy to disassemble. The easiest way to remove the shock is to remove the whole spring and mount assembly and then remove and reinstall the shock with the strut on the workbench. Then just reassemble it with the new mounts and reinstall the strut assembly.

The rears are a piece of cake. Jack the car up so the suspension is fully unloaded and put another jack under rotor so it will hold the suspension and keep it from falling on the floor. Remove the bolts that hold the strut to the rear suspension. Use the jack to lower the suspension until it seperates from the strut. Then remove the three nuts that hold the top of the strut in and remove the strut. Use the spring compressor to compress the rear spring and remove it from the strut. Install the spring in the new strut assembly and reinstall the struts into the car.

 

I'm facing this task myself on both my 97 Montes.

You can change the strut cartridges, bumpers, and rubber dampers all with the car on the ground and no spring compressing. I think the only reason you would need to raise the car and do it the hard way is if you have to replace bearings.

The only catch is you need the strut removal tool. It looks like this:
The back struts are replaced the old school way as explained by mrl390.

 

2001 monte , i change them not to long ago....easy job, its a one one job just need time