change struts? Options

[momentai99]

Guys how hard is it to change the rear struts in these cars? its keeping me from passing inspection although they look fine to me. Little bounce but I dont see an issue with them. Got quoted 600 bucks to change them from a local guy, screw that.

[jordisonjr]

The hardest part is changing the springs over from the old strut to the new one, and rusty bolts if thats an issue.
It'll probably cost you around 200 bucks for the struts (based on what i paid in canada, probably cheaper in the us) and few hours labour to change if you don't know what you're doing.

Check the stickies, theres a solid write up on installing lowering springs, which is essentially the same process as changing struts.
This is what I followed when I did mine, and had no idea what I was doing.

Its pretty simple, 3 14mm(i believe) nuts on the top of the strut, 2 15mm bolts on the bottom of the strut to the knuckle, and then 3 nuts on the brake lines that hold them to the strut. (Don't remove in that order, however)

Once the strut assembly is removed, you simply loosen the top nut, compress the spring and then remove the strut mount. Pull your spring off along with the rubber insulator, and put that assembly on the new strut. Throw the top mount on, and bolt it back up and throw it back in the car.

Lots of info here on how to do it!