Strut replacement

[TOYOTA_JOHN]

I have a 93 Lexus ES 300 and have a question on replacing the the front struts. I don't have any trouble getting the struts off, however, getting the new struts back on is a different story. The lower control arm is too high up and the strut won't easily fit in. I finally ended up standing on top of the lower control arm while I put the bolts in. Needless to say, I went through hell getting it on. A friend said that I should have disconnected the tie rod first but it doesn't say to in the Haynes or Chilton manual. I checked the postings on this site and didn't see anything about disconnecting the tie rod first.

I replaced the strut mounts on my 97 Camry once and it was fairly easy.

If anyone could give me any advice on this I would appreciate it because I gave up after replacing only one strut and dread the thought of doing it again.

John

[Chris Crash]

I left the tie rods attached. It was just fine. You just need to find a way to hold the control arm down while you reattach the strut.

[Hajoca]

Was both front wheels off the ground?

I am guessing first side went in OK, but not the second.
You need to work against the anti roll bar once one side is installed.

[TOYOTA_JOHN]

No, both wheels were not off the ground. I only had one wheel off the ground at a time and after the difficulty of putting the first strut back on I never bothered doing the other one so now I am driving around with one bad strut and 1 good one. I dread the thought of going through that again until I find out what I am doing wrong.

Changing the struts on my 97 Camry was a breeze compared to the 93 ES300.

Thanks for the help