I did it! All by myself! I'm quite an amateur when it comes to vehicles but I did it alone, it's done, and the car rides like new! I did a better job than ANYONE else would have done because I paid attention to every detail because it's MY car. So, although I could have had it done for $800, I replaced a few other cheap, but important parts while I was in there, rotated the tires, checked the breaks, noted I'll need a front bearing soon, got to use my new tools, learned a lot, am proud, etc. $500 is the price for EVERYTHING: struts, mounts, bushings, springs, oil, a few tools I needed, sway bar links, sway bar bushings, etc.
First wheel took about 12 hours (had to put back together because I couldn't get the bolts off), 2nd was about 2 hours, and the 3rd and 4th were about 30 minutes each after I got the hang of it! I know there are other DIY threads on struts and since others online have helped me so I want to return the favor and help others. So, here's how to replace struts and springs on your Gen 4 four cylinder Camry. Mine is a 1998.
Buy QuickStruts. This was hard for me to understand because people would tell me that I needed to replace the mounts, the bushings, this, that, and the other thing. Well, "complete strut assemblies" (Monroe calls them QuickStruts) come with all of this. That's all you'll need. You could buy the strut, mount, bushing, and the tool to remove the spring, but if you do this for all 4 wheels you'll be spending $400 anyway. So, what I did was found four of these complete strut assemblies on Ebay for $360 (if you need the guy's name PM me. They're quality parts). If you buy Monroe brand on RockAuto.com they're only $500, but the struts I got on Ebay are comparable, and since I paid $1000 for my car I don't feel it needs the highest quality parts. So, I bought the UNITY Brand.
Spray Lubricating Oil. While waiting for UPS to bring the struts you MUST go out and buy a can
PB Blaster as shown on the left below. If you don't, I almost guarantee that changing your struts will be impossible. In fact, if you're not willing to do this you might as well stop reading and take your car into the shop. More on this later.
Have the right tools. If you have a 3/8" ratchet and 3/8" extension forget it. I broke mine doing this job. Go to Sears and get the 1/2" ratchet and
1/2" extension as seen below. You'll need a good set of 6-point metric sockets. Also, the bolts on the front struts are bigger. So, before you take off a wheel, crawl up under the front of the car and make sure you have a 6-point socket big enough to get those front struts off. Backs are 19mm, I think, and the fronts are bigger, but I think I used a 3/4" socket or something that fit perfectly. A
breaker bar is $20. Get one. And get a
4' long pipe at Home Depot that will fit over it for leverage. They'll cut it for you. Note the long torque wrench below. Works, but don't use that or your dad will get mad at you because you could strip it out (I went to his house to do it as he has more tools. So, breaker bar + pipe.
Propane torch. Even after the oil you might need to heat up those nuts and bolts to get them off. I had fun watching the oil burn. Be careful around the break lines. Without this torch I wouldn't have been able to do the job. They're only like $10. You see the impact wrench and expensive air compressor of dad's below? Didn't work. You don't need those! So, you might have to buy some extra tools. I had to buy some hex/allen wrenches, a hacksaw, and the PB Blaster. Pipe was free, dad had torch and torque wrench (I actually used the torque wrench to loosen everything).
Now this is very important. You need to crawl up under the car (you don't really have to jack it up to do this) and spray the shit out of all the bolts/nuts you'll be loosening. Each wheel will have 2 huge nuts/bolts holding the struts down. These are the big problem. Oil them a few days before starting the project and oil them the day before too. Use half the can if you have to. I oiled mine Fri, Sat, and Sun and did the job Mon, oiling them again right before I took them off.
Next, the worst design ever are the links connecting the strut assembly to the sway bar. Crappy, crappy design because you need a hex head to keep the bolt from moving while you try to loosen the nut. The backs are a bitch because they're smaller. I stripped 2 of the 4 hex head ends on the bolts so had to use the hacksaw to cut them off. Took about an hour. You'll need
this kind of hacksaw and a few extra blades. If you're lucky you'll oil these enough and heat them enough that you don't need the hacksaw. Either way, I'd recommend buying 2 new ones for $12 each. There is no left/right so just get 2. They had to order mine in. Took a day.
Buy rear sway bar links only. I definitely greased the threads before putting them on so they should be easier to get off if I'm ever in there again. (The fronts are not a problem, BTW. There's a bolt on the backside to hold onto so you don't need the hex head socket/allen wrench.) If you buy new ones, note that they come with a plastic cover to protect the rubber boot. Ditch the plastic, although it's hard to get off.
While you're in there, you might as well order some
16mm MOOG Sway Bar Bushings. They're in a set of 2 and are $20. These are plastic and hold the sway bar to the frame. Plastic wears out and causes the clunking. In fact, you might not need struts all, just a set of these! I greased mine when I put them on. And, by trial and error, AFTER I did the struts was when I realized I needed these! You can buy blue or red because they look cool. Unfortunately, I only got black.
The thin, nearly vertical rod in the right side of the photo is the rear sway bar link. A bitch to get off so I had to cut mine. Like I said, oil them good, but you might need to do some cutting like I did.
You see on the left strut how I had to cut it? Boy I was pissed!
Below is an image showing how I removed the 2-3 bolts to remove the break line or whatever (I really don't know what they are. Like I said, I'm an amateur, but you don't need to know, just remove them. 10mm, I think. After oiling you shouldn't have too much trouble with them. The big nut/bolt is the problem though! There are two for each strut. Good luck! Oil, propane, breaker bar, pipe, and muscle! Note: if you have the 1/2" extension you can use your jack to jack up the breaker bar for more leverage. I got a few off that way!
I bought this jack, 2 jackstands, a creeper, and a nice lugnut wrench for $50 at Sears. BTW, when you're pulling the old struts out or putting new ones in you can use the jack to help you push up from the bottom.
Here's the back after I pulled the strut out. I set it on a brick so it wasn't dangling. Do you see the sway bar, the curved piece that connects the two struts on the back? Follow that and you'll find the bushings. Those are what usually causes clunking.
Below is not a Camry I forgot to take a pic but do you see how the sway bar is much smaller than the hole in the bushing? Replace both. You'll be happy. Like I said, I might even do this first. You don't even have to take the struts out to do it. Maybe a 2 hour job, well, provided you can get the damn sway bar links off!
Here's the front. This is not an issue, really. Do you see the black sway bar link? (Leaning forward on a 45 degree angle because I disconnected it from the strut...not even rusted!) Hefty. Doesn't need replacing (well, mine didn't) and came off easily because there's a nut on the front AND back instead of a stupid hex head on the end of the bolt.
Note that you don't have remove either the front or back sway bar links from the sway bar. I had to on the backs, though, because I was replacing them. In fact you can replace the sway bar bushings without removing the links too, I think!
As I pulled the pot-lickers off I hurled them across the yard at each other hoping they'd shatter into a million pieces. I conquered them! I don't recommend throwing them unless if you either a) throw far or b) hide behind a tree!
Looking up at where the front strut once was:
And then there's this little bastard. We know who won! 19mm, I think
I know this is the most out-of-order tutorial ever, but before you put things back together, if you uses the same nuts and bolts, spray them with PB Blaster and scrub them with a
$1 wire brush. You don't want any grit or loose rust in there. And, if it was hard for you to get off, put "anti-seize" on it. I don't know what "anti-seize" is, so I just used grease or oil.
Removing the top part of the strut is easy. So, first thing you need to do before you even jack the car up is to of course loosen the tire lug nuts so the tire doesn't spin and loosen these 3 nuts on the top of the strut mounts. The fronts are so simple, just open the hood. The photo below is of the back. After you've removed all the bottom bolts, then you remove the top. Like I said, I did this alone, but it's probably easier if you have someone hold the strut for you so it doesn't fall.
Now, to get the back struts is a pain in the ass. You know those little plastic fasteners? Keep in mind you might have to buy some because you might break yours.
1. Grab the front part of the back seat and pull up hard. One clip on each side and she'll pull right up and out. Set aside.
2. Side cushion things will still be there. One bolt on the bottom (wire brush this one too because it will be dirty and could strip the threads when you put it back in) and push UP and it will come out. Note the clip on the back.
3. Fold the back of the seats down. You'll be able to see the top of the strut mount if you look under the foam stuff. You can do it this way, or you can take more out.
4. Screw those little plastic things on the black plastic panel about 1/4 turn and they'll pop out. Take out that black panel. It will come out in two pieces.
5. The plastic trim that stretches to around the door pries out. I can pull mine out with my hands. Do it slowly, but realize you'll probably break some clips.
6. Pry up the break light thing. You can actually see the clips from inside the truck. Pull out the wire and set the assembly aside.
7. Back flat part with speaker covers comes UP and out. There are 2 white clips which you can also see from inside the trunk.
The above is my crappy explanation but
this explanation is better about how to get those parts off. Many pics too.
Then, you put it all back together! I put some extra foam over the top of bolts holding the strut mount up and in. I did that to suppress noise. Seemed to help a bit when I had the clunking (which is gone now because of the sway bar bushings).
Take it in to get 4-wheel alignment ($60-90). My car sits about 2" higher now. I figure the ride height will slowly decrease as the springs weaken. I drove about 100 miles before I took it in to get aligned because I thought maybe the springs would settle a half inch or so within the first week or so. I don't know if they did or not, but I couldn't keep driving it without the alignment or else I'd destroy my tires.
The sway bar bushings were a HUGE improvement for the back. I might not have even needed the back struts. I definitely needed the fronts though. They were really loud, clunking, and scratching. Sounded like it sounds when you have ice built up in there and your tire rubs on it. Sound gone now!
Other problems you might have: if you have front clunking you might need to replace the FRONT sway bar bushings. I'm glad the bushings were the issue in the back for me. If not, I would have had to replace the ball joints on the support arms (sorry, don't know what they're called) in the back. I wouldn't know which is bad, either.
Thanks for reading. PM if you have any questions. Hope this helps someone!
DIY Strut Replacement for $500 (20 pics)
1999 Toyota Avalon
Linear Mode
