strut replacement on 98 venture

[andyman1061]

i have checked on having struts replaced on my vehicles,i noticed that the shops are being outrageous in price and installation.
i checked around and found that pepboys has a quick strut model ts171661 made specifically for the vehicle,fully assembled all new parts top to bottom.

now my question is this, the book says that the job is easy to do by myself in my home garage.im taking fully assembled out and throwing away and installing a fully assembled one in.

has anyone done this and is it as easy as they state.

[Sparky1349]

Hey Andyman, I haven't done struts myself on this van, however I have a couple of comments. The upper mounts look like they are a little tight to get at to remove the nuts on the Venture. I also kind of question your approach to throwing the whole assembly away, I think you need to re-use your existing springs. I had to replace 1 of the springs on my van (cracked about an inch from the top end) and it cost well over $100. If indeed your keeping your springs then you will either need a spring compressor to remove them or to take to a shop and have them swapped to the new struts. Call around, a lot of the big autoparts chains provide this service for a small charge (~$25). That being said I think you can definitely save yourself some $'s by going the DIY route.

Good luck,

Sparky

[bigcoconut]

In my experience in manufacturing, I would be very cautious about "complete sets". To truly make it easier to install that would mean the strut with the spring, already assembled, so the "garage mechanic" can do it with minimal danger to himself and any one else in the vicinity of a compressed spring. To make it feasible (in corporate terms - profitable) they would have to minimize the number of possible set-ups (spring/strut combinations) and maximize the number of vehicle applications. In a nutshell, yes it would be "all new parts" but they more than likely are not going to be the best set up for your van.

I would look for anyone else who may used these "complete" set ups on their van and ask them if their "ride" changed any.

I bought my 99 Venture because of its ride, it drives/handles/rides like a car. I would make sure that whatever I do to the suspension doesn't change the ride. I would bet that any one on this forum would agree that when it comes to suspension parts, you get what you pay for.

[Cressidaadr]

....i checked around and found that pepboys has a quick strut model ts171661 made specifically for the vehicle,fully assembled all new parts top to bottom...

I have noted that the above mentioned part shows up as:

- Monroe Strut Assembly - 1997-2004 Buick Century.

So I too am concerned about the ride quality and will not use unless others indicate they are working well.

[Cressidaadr]

strut model ts171661 mentioned in this thread shows up as :

Monroe Strut Assembly - 1997-2004 Buick Century

So I too am concerned about ride quality. Anyone installed these please report in with your findings.