Time to do my rear struts & springs

[morgant]

The other major issue (in addition to my Code P0125 issue) to get my '01 Corolla to pass inspection it to replace my rear struts & springs. Can't really afford this at all, so I'm certainly not paying my garage $600-$800 to do it.

Looking in my Haynes manual, this looks like a fairly straightforward job. Roughly:

1. Remove the rear seat.
2. Jack up the side you'll replace the strut assembly on & remove the tire.
3. Loosen the bolts & lower the assembly with a floor jack.
4. Reverse of the above.

The one gotcha being that I think I read that on the OEM strut assembly, unlike some replacements, the brake hose goes through the tab on the strut assembly. Options here being: notch the tab on the OEM (for removal) & replacement (for installation) so you don't have to disconnect the hose, or disconnect the hose and then bleed the brakes when done. I've not bled brakes before (lucked out on all my brake jobs, so far) and won't have an assistant, so is this something I can reasonably gravity bleed?

I'm looking at the Monroe Quick-Struts as they're mid-quality, reasonably priced, and have a limited lifetime warranty. I've seen pretty good reviews on them so far, but any thoughts? I'm assuming that notching them might void any warranty. :\

In terms of the actual replacement process, I've got the scissor jack, two jack stands, and I'm sure I can borrow a floor jack from someone. I'll probably see reasonable jack points once I'm trying it, but if something in particular seems to work well, I'd love to hear.

Also, any other nut/bolts/fittings I should replace at the same time?

Again, thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice!

[EdW]

On my '08, all I need to do is tilt the rear seat backs forward a bit to access the rear mount nuts, no need to remove the seat or anything else (sometimes the manuals have you do more than needed).

As far as the jacking, if you have a hydraulic, use that to lift the car, pull the wheel off, and then use the scissor jack that came with the spare in the trunk to support the brake drum assy and the lower control arm before you start taking the nuts and bolts off. Once everything is loose, you can lower the scissor jack to get the space to remove the strut assy. Then use the scissor to raise the new strut into place.

As far as the brake lines, I like to disconnect even though it's messier and more work, as it makes for a better job. And as you say, cutting may well void the warranty. Bleeding alone (single handed) is fairly easy. You can use the handle to the hydraulic jack or cut a length of 2 x 4 to wedge between the seat and the brake pedal to hold the pedal down and get line pressure. Get a clear length of plastic tube that will fit over the bleed screw end and put the other end in a empty jar. Use the handle or 2 x 4 to pump the brake pedal about 10 times, then wedge it between the seat and pedal so that the pedal is pushed down, then scoot over to the bleed screw and loosen it for a few seconds. You'll initially see more air come out than fluid, but that will change each time you do it. You'll have to do this 5 or so times, until you see no air come out into the tube when the bleed screw is opened. And remember to keep an eye on the master cyl fluid level, you don't want it to run dry when bleeding.

I think you'll be surprised at how straight forward this all is. One thing I would recommend is to buy the best strut you can afford as the cheaper ones don't last more than a year or two, then your tires start to wear oddly, and you end up needing to replace the struts again as well as the tires.

[morgant]

As far as removing rear seats, it's a CE so they don't fold down, necessitating the removal.

I certainly wouldn't go with the Monroe Econo-Matics, but can't afford more than the Monroe Quick-Struts. Certainly don't want to have to keep doing this, but I can't imagine that I'll have the car too many years w/125k on it and the rate it burns oil.

Thanks for the bleeding overview! Do you do the bleeding w/the engine running so you get power brakes or no? I assume no. I know you're supposed to bleed from furthest from master to nearest, so should I start with the passenger-side rear strut (and bleeding) and then do the driver-side rear strut (and bleeding)? Do I also need to bleed the front brakes? Sounds like I'll just need something to clamp the hose and some extra brake fluid.

[EdW]

Ah, makes sense on the rear seat now.

No need to have the engine running for the bleed. When you disconnect the brake line, just keep the hose end up high, and I stick the pointed end of a pencil in the end to keep the brake fluid from dripping out (break off the graphite tip first though to keep it from happening in the line). Since you're only opening the brake system at each drum, I'm not sure bleed order is crucial, but it can't hurt to start at the furthest. No need to do the fronts, but again, keep an eye on the master cyl level and don't let it get too low as you're bleeding or the whole system will need to be bled.

[CelicaGuy13]

I highly doubt the springs are bad. Try replacing just the struts again. You can do it yourself. Just go to sears and buy a spring compressor. The rear suspension is easy to drop. You can do the job for about $200

[morgant]

It's only about $250 for the pair of full strut assemblies, then I don't have to spend another $30-50 for the spring compressor (granted, I'd save if only buying the struts). The struts have been completely shot for quite some time and I keep my trunk absolutely full of tools at all times, so the springs are likely close to or already in poor shape. Not to mention that it's got 125k miles and I drive on dirt roads and roads with lots of potholes.

I'd rather not go through the extra work of not replacing the springs only to experience premature strut failure and have to do it all again anyway. I'm still saving a lot of money over letting the garage do the repair.

[morgant]

My struts are in, so I'm going to tackle this today & tomorrow. Finally feels like winter out and is supposed to stay at freezing for the next two days, but at least it'll be dry.

First Update: I didn't get started until mid-afternoon and ran out of the last of my light by 4:30pm, and finally got the brake fittings loosened and disconnected without breaking them (now reconnected for the night) and some work on freeing up the sway link nut, but that's going far too slow. I was able to get spare sway link nuts just in case i chew them up, but couldn't get replacements for the lower strut bolts and nuts, so I'm going to have to be careful with those.

Sprayed everything with plenty of Blaster during the process and will have to attack with my little plumber's torch tomorrow morning for some heat. This is the part of car repairs I hate: trying to free up a decade worth of corrosion from northeast winters & road salt.

Second Update: after hours of working the sway link nut, I eventually got it off without damaging the sway link bar. I also got the top bolt/nut for the strut to axle removed, but no luck on the lower one. My usual tool which worked on the top one, a breaker bar inserted into pipe for extra leverage, wouldn't fit in there. I really need a pipe with two bends in it. :\

Anyway, all back together and brakes bled (seemed to go alright and the test drive didn't show any anomalies), but slow self bleeding the passenger side. So, I'll try to pick up more fittings this week so I don't have to worry about shearing anything off (it'd make this go a lot faster) and try again next weekend.

[Corolla1027]

Sounds to me like you're doing a lot of extra work, but I could be wrong. I did a rear strut assembly on my 1998 corolla CE, and I just used a spring compressor and one jack to get the whole assembly out. Didn't have to take out the rear seats either.

[morgant]

Unfortunately, the '01 CE requires the rear seat to be removed to access to top of the struts. The higher end models w/60/40 fold down seats don't require this step. Fortunately, it's only three bolts to remove back seat, so very easy.

After this weekend's trial run (well, I'm calling it that since one bolt was not possible to remove so I couldn't) it's definitely just a one-jack & one-jack-stand job. With a car that's spent the last 10 years in New England w/salted roads in the winter, the devil is in the removing nuts & bolts. Had my local dealer had all the fittings in stock, I would've sheared/cut/drilled the old ones out, but instead I was trying to preserve them so I could drive to work this morning (which I was able to do).

I'm trying to track down all the replacement fittings this week so I can do a quicker job of it.

[Press22]

Also sounds to me like you're doing a lot of work. I replaced all four struts and springs in 3 1/2 hours.
Just round up everything you need and dive right in, it's a fairly simple task.

[pdq]

Doing maintenance in the salt belt with rusty bolts that often need to be cut off or torched off is much harder than Las Vegas, where cars don't have these issues.

[Corolla1027]

My car is totally rusted like it was submerged in a lake... in fact, I think it may have been. I had a lot of trouble getting my transmission out, no trouble on the strut bolts though. A good cheater bar and a strong breaker bar help a lot.

[morgant]

The one that took me a whole day was the sway link-to-strut bolt, which has that female metric hex in the end of the bolt and the nut on the outside, so that was troublesome and slow, but possible. The upper of the two strut to axle bolts on the bottom of the strut was no problem with my breaker bar and a cheater bar, but the lower one I couldn't fit my cheater bar in and the breaker bar alone just wasn't doing it. And this was after soaking for 24 hrs w/PB Blaster.

Normally I do just dive in as shearing bolts off is quick and easy, but without replacements I took my time and did it right. The plan is definitely to get all the bolts & nuts this week (the replacement strut assemblies only came with the top nuts) so I can do it faster. I had to try, even without replacement hardware.

Rust in all areas is not the same, salt corrosion is horrendous and really works its way into the threads. Plus, I'll admit I haven't been good about washing this car the last couple years.

[David*All-Trac]

It is probably too late ... but here's a text that could / might help you: I replaced my rear struts. See pictures

I bought a 500$ 1997 Corolla as a winter beater with the spring / strut completely shut. I bought Monroe Quick-Strut. I have installed it on my 2001 Corolla and replace my 1997 with those from my 2001.

Total for the job (2001 : remove - replace + 1997 : remove - replace) 3.5 hours.

I had some problem with my sway-sway-bar link-kit. Without patience, I have cut and replaced theme few days later without any driving problems.

[morgant]

Definitely a good resource, although I'm not notching the brake line mount. That would certainly save time, but I don't want to be modifying the new strut assembly going in since it's got a limited warranty.