ive had my car for about 6 months now and just got around to replacing the shocks, which were still OE after 21 years on the car, so i assume the fronts are just as bad. does anyone have step by step tutorial on how to do it? do i need a spring compression tool? because on the kyb website it said i didnt need one, so can anyone please help me? thanks

 

Put the car up on jackstands on a level surface. Take the wheel off and support the lower a arm with a jack. After unbolting the strut you might have to let the jack down a bit but the strut should come right out.

 

no spring compression tool needed?

 

No, you don't need to compress the spring. Just leave the A-arm on the jack. It will keep the spring compressed for you. When you go to bolt the new strut in, you WILL need either a very long breaker bar, or a "cheater pipe" to torque the strut-to-spindle bolts and nuts. They need to be tightened to something ridiculous like 240 lb-ft + 1/2 turn. I did mine last year and was afraid I was going to break my breaker bar tightening them. I lifted the entire front end up in the air almost.

 

I normally just use the impact gun on high til I think the nut's going to bust. Just make sure that the jacks not going to slip when you have the strut off. If it does...well, bad things. It is a good idea to get some PB Blaster and soak the crap out of the area around the nuts and bolts before you get started. It'll make the job alot easier.

 

I rarely use the impact gun to put parts back together. I like to torque things to the proper amount, but that's probably just me being picky. Part of it may come from my impact gun not working real well anyhow. Doesn't seem to develop the torque it says it can.

Also, on holding the spring, what I did on mine was to put the jack under the spring pocket, then once it was disconnected, I lowered the arm down until the balljoint end was resting on a scrap of 4x4 wood post. That kept it close to the ground and I didn't have to worry about the jack slipping or me kicking it while moving around in my small garage.

 

I don't think I've ever torqued much of anything on my car down to spec other than brakes... probably should though. I do it on everyone else's car I work on.

Yeah, I use a stand under the pocket as well. Seems pretty secure.

 

I generally go by the rule "If it'll kill me when it breaks, torque it right." Anything suspension, brakes, drivetrain gets torqued. Everything else only gets "till i can't turn it."

 

If your spindle breaks, what you torqued it too won't matter lol.
I know what you're saying, I've just never got in the habit of torqing things to spec on my car. It's a good thing to do though.

 

Most parts stores have free tool rentals, you just leave a deposit (On credit card would be easiest). A spring compressor will make this job so much easier. I've done it with and with out the spring compressor. Much easier with, and it's basicly free to rent.