max4evr

I bought KYB GR2's to go along with my stock springs. $241 plus shipping from importedcarparts.com It was the original struts, 90K miles. Since I'm keeping the stock springs, and all the dust boots were shot, I decided to go with factory boots from my local dealer. They told me there are three different sets, depending on the production date of the car. My '96 was built in 5/95, and the part numbers are:

front strut boot 54050-31U02 $14.25 list
rear strut boot 55240-OM315 $27.95 list

Since I know the guys there, they give me 20% off list. It's also strange how the smaller rears cost much more than the larger fronts.

They told me new front strut bearings were $38 EACH, so I took a chance and didn't buy them. Turns out I didn't need new ones. I've seen postings saying the bearings are much cheaper, so maybe it's a model-year thing again.

I rented the spring compressors from Kragens for $6. It was all they could do to compress the front springs enough to remove them. I was afraid something was going to snap! The rears were much softer and easier to compress.

One other surprise I found was how tight the lower strut mounting bolts (two on each side) were. It took a cheater bar on my 18" long 1/2" drive breaker bar to "snap" them loose (factory tight as they were original struts, 90K miles)! And the lower bolt for the rear shock mounts were similarly difficult to break loose.

I hope this helps someone along the way.