94 Lesabre Front/Rear Struts Help

[Steve13]

Hello everyone, I just had my 94 Lesabre (82k miles) inspected and it failed the PA State due to the Front & Rear struts

I've never done struts before but I don't want to pay the $715+ they wanted to replace all 4 and an alignment. So I'll be attempting to replace them myself this weekend unless there are some good reasons I should have them done. Any recomendations, comments, and/or suggestions would be of great help.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

[Smith1000]

I think I would have it inspected somewhere else at a different location. Maybe it would pass. I have done the rear struts in a 97. They are not too difficult. The rear is basically a shock absorber, but they call them struts, so they can charge you more for them. I think they were about $90 each. From what I recall, you have to unbolt the top through the trunk which is not a big deal. For the front, you may need those spring retainer tools to hold the spring in place so that it doesn't pop out while putting in the new struts. I haven't done the front ones though.

[mralias]

The rears are not hard to replace. Breaking free the bolts are the tough part. The upper bolts on the rears may have to be accessed from inside the back seat. Remove the lower back then the upper and they are easier to get at then going through the trunk. The fronts have the springs but you can buy them "pre-loaded" so that you dont have to mess with taking the spring off one and putting it on the other. Becareful with the springs as they are under alot of presure.

The other big thing is when you are done you will have to get the car aligned. When you replace them it messes with adjustments for alignment and you don't want to eat through tires or be shanken to death while driving down the road. Do a four wheel alignment not a two wheel. Good luck.

[Steve13]

Well I learned the hard way...the Rear were in fact very easy, just pull out the back seat then breaking the bolts loose is the toughest part.
I did the Driver side front strut but it was such a pain I just took it down to Pep-boys (no one else was open on Memorial Day) and had them replace the other front strut and do the alignment for $113. For the Driver side front strut it was more trouble then it was worth, AutoZone has that free loan-a-tool (pay then refund on return) so I rented the spring compressor, getting it out wasn't much more difficult then the rear but getting it back in was the hard part, I believe I broke the CV Hood while trying to put the new one in, and seeing as replacing that requires removing the transaxle I'm not that daring, so it looks like I'm calling around for quotes or car shopping if it's going to be too much.
Thanks, and I hope someone learns from my mistakes...