1. What's the difference between shocks and struts?
2. Is it as simple as taking the wheel off, removing the right number of nuts, taking the old part out, putting the new one in, and then the nuts back on?
3. should I replace the spring too?
4. should I aim for soft shocks or hard shocks?
5. Where should I buy
6. any other tips?
I just want a smoother ride through bumpy roadsHow easy is it to change shocks and struts?
It is pretty easy AS LONG as you have the right tools to do it.
Whatever you do, don't undo the strut mount without compressing the springs, otherwise you could seriously injure yourself.
I would suggest a mechanic for this job. I am always the first person to suggest doing something yourself, but it's not worth the risk using the wrong tools. See if you can watch the guy change it, and learn for next time. =]How easy is it to change shocks and struts?
It can be a fairly dangerous job if you dont know what your doing, you need to compress the springs.. and theres the chance that tey could release... lots of tensin on those babies. Unless however your going to replace the whole unit as 1 aka strut and spring in one unit where you wouldnt have to take the spring out then yeah its just take apart the front end and remove and replace.
shocks rear not hard
struts front dangerous even when you know how
springs rarely go bad in a life time
type into search box
shocks and struts
or
how to replace shocks video
how to replace struts video
they you need to leave alone have done
tip
type how to check shocks
how to check struts
and go to a shop have them all check or replace that easy
Struts are attached tothe steering knuckle so the car doesn't need an upper A arm they are bigger then a shock as they bear the load that used to be carried by the a arm.
Shocks don't support any load they a arms do that so they are smaller.
To get the strut off you have to remove the ball joint and axle nut and tie rod ends. These are rust bolts that will take some PB blaster to get loose. The Axle nut is going to be 25 to 33 mm and you don't have one of those. The strut and spring come out as one and you have to put the new stut on the spring. So you need a spring compresser.
Most auto parts stores ';rent'; spring compressers and axle nut sets. Rent becuase you pay for them and simply return for a full refund when your done.
Read how to do it first, go to the library and get the repair manual for your car.
Or go to Auto zone.com and register as a user. You add a car in the drop down box. then you can look at their online manuals.
The job is not technical - but you will learn a few new cuss words.
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