Alright, well I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to mechanic work on my car. I basically have replaced the rotors, caliper, and brake pads, but other than that I have not done anything mechanical, so I need honest help and knowledge.

I would like to replace my struts because I am sure they have about 150K on them and I can only imagine that my ride will be smoother and cleaner if I put all new struts on the car. I just want replacement struts, not anything fancy, but good, well made struts, that will last me a long time and give me a smooth ride.

Can someone tell me how hard it is to replace all 4 struts on the 96 I30, what tools I will need, and what the easiest way is to go about doing this?

I truly appreciate everyone’s help with this and hope it is something that I can handle myself so I can save a lot of cash. Thanks again and have a great day!

 

spring compressor... unless ur th ehuld or sumthing.. ahhh and tools to remove the standard nuts etc. and some sort of lift... jack stands etc.

 

If you've done brakes then you shouldn't have any trouble doing suspension.

The biggest thing about suspension is the time that it takes.

As for tools necessary for the job:

-Competent socket set
-breaker bar/pipe
-torquewrench (recommended, not really necessary)
-Jack (I found two to be useful)
-Jackstands
-Spring Compressor (can be loaned from autozone or bought cheap from harbor freight)

Due to the age of your components, you may want to replace all the rubber pieces in there while you're at it too. And if you don't like the idea of compressing springs (and all the time that it takes if you use the Autozone variety), you could always remove the spring/strut assemblies from the the car and take them to a mechanic shop and have them swap/rebuild the assemblies in about 15 min for a nominal fee. Then you just bring em home and put em on.

It's really very straightforward. Just takes time. Find one of the half dozen write-ups on how to do it and you'll be set.

 

Great! Thanks for that info. I am still not 100% sure that I can do this, but I am feeling better about it! LOL Thanks again!

 

ok what about a spanner wrench? to get the srut tube out of the strut tower? im not sure if this strut has a cartige or not, or 2 people and a big pair of channel locks. and oh yea be really carefull with those springs they hold a LOT of power when compressed, hurt you bad,broken bones, but dont worry about it other than that maybe a saturday job

 

Don't know what a spanner wrench is, but I didn't need one. The spring sits on the strut and has a top mount that sits above the spring. You basically just need to compress the spring while it's on the strut so you can remove the top mount.

 

Before you remove your struts you might want to scribe marks to indicate how the new struts should mount to the hub/wheel housing. A wheel alignment is a good idea after you install them.

 

On the A33, the upper strut mount indicates where it needs to face out. But a good idea nonetheless.

 

Ah so you can't really adjust camber on the A33?! If that's the case, you don't have to worry about dramatic changes in your toe angle due to camber angle variation. I am use to cars (Fieros, yup own one and turbo-ized it.....and no it hasn't caugth on fire.....yet ) which have slotted hubs/housings where the bottom of the strut mounts. It's almost impossible to get a new strut to sit exactly like the old one. Still, $60-70 for a 4 wheel alignment is a small price to pay considering strut cost.

 

Yeah if you really want to adjust camber you need adjustable camber plates.

And each time I changed my suspension around the camber never really changed. The toe always seemed to be affected though.

As for the Fiero, I know a lot of people knock them. But I bet a turbocharged one would be fun as hell. I still can't believe folks are putting Northstars and L67's in them.

 

Yeah running a turbo with a 4 speed (although I yearn for a 5th gear on the highway) manual is kick doopa! There's a guy a couple of miles down the road from me call V8 Archie and he installs V8s in fieros for a living (I don't know how he can survive cause most fiero owners suffer from deep pockets and short arms ). He installed an LT1 and ran NOS and let me tell you that sucker moves!! You can pick up a fiero for $600, have a v-8 installed for ~$5000-8000 w/ motor and basically have a little sports car that can smoke most current production sport vehicles. Oops

 

This will not be required as the doc probably wants to replace the strut unit, not actually remove the strut piston from its casing...

Hey Doc, if you are at 150K I would really really recommend replcing the front bearings, and bound bumpers/ dust boots. I have the parts list and diagram if you are interested.

 

i30ds: Sure! Can you email that list and info to me please? I would like to replace anything that should be replaced so I can keep my baby running smooth and well.

 

I was thinking about going all out and scanning the parts list and the FSM diagram onto my computer and using colors to "highlight" which parts should be replaced and then posting it on here for all to see and if it is cool with Mike, perhaps it could even become part of the stickies since this seems to be a frequent topic. If you are in no rush, I will get this done in a couple of days or so...

 

Man, that sounds great! I am in no rush to do this to be honest with you. Take your time and just let us know when it is posted. That would be a great help!

Thanks!

 

I live in Falls Church, and have done this about a dozen times. If you want my help, let me know. I have all of the tools except for spring compressors, and you can borrow those from autozone.

 

phenryiv1: WOW, thanks for the offer. I may take you up on that. My wife and I are in the process of selling out home and buying another one in the area, so it may be a month or so before I do this, but if you are still interested in helping me with this, i would greatly appreciate it. Thanks again!

 

I will be in WV by then (new house here as well), but I can help, either at your place, or you can come out to WV (only an hour away) and we can do it at my place.

Just let me know wne you get ready to do it and I will help you get the proper parts to do it right.

 

You will definately be able to do this. I dropped my SAAB a few years back with little to no experience and it was a lot harder than the I. We are lucky that manufacturers make complete strut replacements for our cars. I had to saw apart my SAAB's struts and replace them with the Koni inserts like 99blkgle was talknig about.

It also sounds like you have some good help available to you as well. Just remember to take it slow.

Oh, and I definately needed a 1/2" breaker bar and impact socket to break the hubs loose so that is probably a good idea.

Have Fun!

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I did a whole car with no air or help in 3 hours.

And I have a BIG-@$$ breaker bar to help me out!