How to replace rear strut mounts?

[ebang]

Hello everyone, I need to replace the rear strut mounts on my 99 intrigue.
I am looking for a step by step if anyone has one and how hard is this for the do it your selfer.
I went to a local shop to price it out and they are asking around $650.00 for both the rears. I priced out the parts and they are around $40.00 each side.
Is it that difficult that the labour would be that much??

Any assistance would be great.
Thanks to all in advance.

[oldblu65]

ebang , go to www.youtube.com and put " how to replace rear strut mounts " into search . This will give you the option of several videos on the subject . There is lots of info there . If you are mechanically inclined and have the proper tools , then this job is doable . If not , you might want to go with a professional to do the job . Good luck !

[ebang]

I will give that a try

Thanks

[rhaigh08]

My guess is that price is for the struts and springs as well. I need to have my rear struts mounts and springs done and it costs about that much. So before you buy just the mounts you need to know if you need new struts and springs. I change mine every 30k miles, some people never do, some people do at 50 k miles. A good indicator you need struts is if you havent done them in 30 k miles or more or you are hearing a klunking sound from the back when hitting small bumps or, the back end feels like it bounces up and down or if your car nose dives when stopping. Another possible like I had on my 99 Intrigue they were so bad the back end would slide out and jack knife on dry pavement. Personally even if you do just need mounts I would NEVER replace just the mounts cause for all the labor you will be doing you could just buy some pre assembled struts and put them on vs. doing the very dangerous assembly/disassembly yourself. If you do get the mount off and your struts are deflated/Old good luck getting them back on because as soon as you remove the big bolt in the middle if that strut goes down enjoy your walk to autozone. If you buy the preassembled its a smarter/safer choice if your going to do it yourself and have never done them before. It is also recommended you do all 4 struts mounts and springs all at once as you might end up doing another strut job to the front shortly after.Lastly if you do it yourself I would highly recommend an allignment afterwards because if you dont get them in just right you can throw off the caster and camber (angle at which the struts sit) and ruin your tires. Other than those things it is a pretty easy job. Get ires off and 2 bigger bolts/nuts to detach the strut and 3 nuts on top under hood to remove it from the strut tower. 1 big nut in the middle of the strut holding the strut, spring and mount together. You will need to get a strut compressor tool (rent from autozone) and be CAREFUL. As soon as you get the mount out put the compressors on the strut as the instructions say because if you dont and you loosen that big nut in the middle that spring will fly and could severely injur you or worse.. And be careful when dis/re-assembling not to let the strut sit on the CV boots. They rip and cost about 250 to have replaced cause most shops wont replace just the boot because it takes too long for them to clean all the dirt and grime out and by the time they do clean it you could have just bought a new CV axle and made their job easier. Depending on how you plan to do it I used my spare tire jack on top of your regular jacks and floor stands to prop up the a-arm up front before I removed the strut and the same for the back.

[krivasauto]

Originally Posted by rhaigh08

My guess is that price is for the struts and springs as well. I need to have my rear struts mounts and springs done and it costs about that much. So before you buy just the mounts you need to know if you need new struts and springs. I change mine every 30k miles, some people never do, some people do at 50 k miles. A good indicator you need struts is if you havent done them in 30 k miles or more or you are hearing a klunking sound from the back when hitting small bumps or, the back end feels like it bounces up and down or if your car nose dives when stopping. Another possible like I had on my 99 Intrigue they were so bad the back end would slide out and jack knife on dry pavement. Personally even if you do just need mounts I would NEVER replace just the mounts cause for all the labor you will be doing you could just buy some pre assembled struts and put them on vs. doing the very dangerous assembly/disassembly yourself. If you do get the mount off and your struts are deflated/Old good luck getting them back on because as soon as you remove the big bolt in the middle if that strut goes down enjoy your walk to autozone. If you buy the preassembled its a smarter/safer choice if your going to do it yourself and have never done them before. It is also recommended you do all 4 struts mounts and springs all at once as you might end up doing another strut job to the front shortly after.Lastly if you do it yourself I would highly recommend an allignment afterwards because if you dont get them in just right you can throw off the caster and camber (angle at which the struts sit) and ruin your tires. Other than those things it is a pretty easy job. Get ires off and 2 bigger bolts/nuts to detach the strut and 3 nuts on top under hood to remove it from the strut tower. 1 big nut in the middle of the strut holding the strut, spring and mount together. You will need to get a strut compressor tool (rent from autozone) and be CAREFUL. As soon as you get the mount out put the compressors on the strut as the instructions say because if you dont and you loosen that big nut in the middle that spring will fly and could severely injur you or worse.. And be careful when dis/re-assembling not to let the strut sit on the CV boots. They rip and cost about 250 to have replaced cause most shops wont replace just the boot because it takes too long for them to clean all the dirt and grime out and by the time they do clean it you could have just bought a new CV axle and made their job easier. Depending on how you plan to do it I used my spare tire jack on top of your regular jacks and floor stands to prop up the a-arm up front before I removed the strut and the same for the back.

You do realize that when your posts get this long they are unreadable without spacing or punctuation. Gah!