W-Body Rear Strut Replacement

[GP1138]

Changing the rear struts on an 88-96 W-body:

 

I did the write up on this because there are a lot of questions on the wbody forum that ask how to do this. And although no one would ever mind answering these types of questions, this is to give you an idea how long it takes, tools required, and the risks involved. I will leave out the diagnosis part of this. These instructions are only for the replacement of the strut. I hope this helps.

 

Time for each side:

 

If all goes well 1-1.5 hrs each side. If you have to fight the bolts the whole time, this could take you as long as 2-3 hrs each side.

 

 

Tools required:

 

2 jacks (I used 1 hydraulic, and the jack that came with the car)

1/2" breaker bar

3/8" ratchet

15/16" deep well socket 1/2" drive (6pt preferred)

Your worst 15/16" short socket you have (you're going to hit this one with the sledge)

8lb Sledgehammer or equivalent

Small amount of duct tape

Block of wood 12" long, with one end 1" by 2", (you will see this in the pics mine has a angle cut into it, I did this to offset the curve of the spring)

WD40 or some other type of liquid wrench

15MM socket 3/8" drive (6pt preferred)

A 2 foot pipe that fits over the breaker bar handle.

 

 

Step 1A:

Lubricate the upper strut mount bolts. I think this is most beneficial when done a few days prior to actually changing the strut. If you open the trunk, look at the towers, and you will see the two bolts (2 on the driver's side, 2 on the passenger side), poking out of the towers. Lube them good. This will help prevent breaking them upon removal.

 

Step 1B:

If you feel ambitious enough, you can lubricate the lower strut bolts too, but it's not a requirement. I don't know of too many people who can break those monsters (15/16").

 

Step 2:

Raise the car with the wheel off, and using the jack the car came with. Raise it where the book tells you to. There should be a notch just in front of the wheels for the jack.

 

 

Step 3:

Use the hydraulic jack to raise the black monoleaf spring out of the knuckle. It only has to be raised 1/2" or so. This is just so that you know there is no pressure on the knuckle. Use the block of wood in between the jack and the spring for 2 reasons. First, because you don't want to damage the spring, and the second is to keep the car from sliding on the jack because of the springs curvature. Position the jack as close to the knuckle as possible. Hopefully the jack will dig into the wood a bit to prevent the jack from sliding.You want support the cars weight on that spring.This relieves the pressure on the strut. In essence, you are compressing the spring with the jack, and the cars weight. See the pic. Be sure you push the wheel/tire under the trunk or use some jackstands. We don't want anyone getting hurt!

 

Step 4:

Time to remove some bolts. Start with the bottom ones. Here's why. Not only are you going to spend the majority of your time on the bottom bolts anyway, but also, if you get stuck and give up on the bottom bolts because they won't move, at least you will not have broken anything on top. If you brake the top bolts, you HAVE TO FINISH THE JOB, otherwise the car is not driveable. OK, use the 15/16 socket and the breaker bar, and start loosening the nut. You may well need to use that pipe here to give you some extra leverage. Once you get the nut semi-close to the end of the bolt, take the socket off, and wrap the nut once with just enough duct tape to ensure the socket won't fall off the nut. Put just the socket on the nut, do not connect the ratchet here. Get out the hammer and start pounding that socket/nut. It helps if you have a crappy 15/16 short socket here because you're going to be hitting it pretty hard with the hammer. The bolts are splined so you CANNOT wrench them out, they have to be pounded out. For me, when I did my 89 cutlass I gave up on the passenger side rear, because they WOULD NOT COME OUT.I took it to a dealership, and paid the $30.00 to break them and apply some anti seize compound to them. For my 95 Cutlass, it took one or two good smacks with the sledge, and shot right out. Their resistance to your pounding on them depends on how how corroded they are. Once they have moved, don't take them completely out yet.

 

Step 5:

Loosen the upper strut mount bolts (15 mm), and remove them.. This is where I had issues. I had broken the head of one of the bolts right off. I used a Craftsman easy-out to remove the bolt from the inside of the trunk. If you have never used one of these little beauties before, try them. They have saved me a number of times.

 

Step 6:

Take out the bottom bolts, and remove the strut. You will have to turn it a little to get it out of the way of the sway bar.

 

Re-installation is the exact steps in reverse. I like to clean all the bolts, and use a little anti seize compound on them. I think this helps to prevent corrosion, and make the job easier should you need to remove those bolts at a later date.

You shouldn't need to remove any of the brake components to change the strut.

 

Also, some places may sell you the strut separately from the strut mount. You will need both! If they do come separately, try to get the store you are buying them from to put the two together right there. The reason is when you put the mount on the strut, you have to hold the top of the shaft in place while tightening the nut that holds the mount on. Sometimes this is done with a Allen wrench, sometimes with an open ended wrench. Either way the nut is a PITA to tighten. Get them to assemble the thing. Make them work for your money!

Thanks to IntlCutlass!

[slick]

Thanks to Youtube, here is a tutorial video.