What is required to replace the strut mounts and bearings? The parts are pretty cheap, and I believe mine need to be done. My "garage" consists of a curb, on the street at which i live. I am able to jack it up and put the front on stands, is that all I'll need? And how difficult is the surgery?

 

Remove the wheels and the struts - 3 nuts at the top and 2 at the bottom. For the two at the bottom you will need some leverage - I used an 18" breaker bar, because those suckers are TIGHT. Once the struts are out you will need a spring compressor (Auto Zone or other parts store that loans special tools) in order to remove the top nut that holds the strut together. If you remove the top nut without first compressing the spring, well, that would be "a bad thing" because the spring is compressed and it would go BOING! At that point, the strut will fall into it's component pieces, including the mount and the bearing.

Some folks have had good success repacking the bearings, which simply pry apart, and unless you have a zillion miles on the car or live in a really harsh climate, I'm guessing the mounts are probably OK.

BTW, I am no expert. I have replaced struts exactly ONCE.