http://performance-suspension.eibac...ach.com/sites/devperformance-suspension.eibach.com/files/catalogs/ERS_18_US.pdf

Page 10. Looks like lots of good replacement bump stop options there. Bah...cutting the existing ones is likely just as good. No one is going to look at them anyway.

 

After much contemplation about the strut bolt head size, I bought a 23mm socket to go to work. I felt that my 15/16" socket was a touch loose on that bolt. The next metric size down from 15/16" (my only point of reference) is 23mm. 23mm is a hair too small. So instead of going with a 24mm which is bigger than the 15/16", I used the 15/16" anyway.

15/16" wound up being the perfect size for the strut tower bolts.

Fronts are done, and I have no more huge-mongous bolts to deal with. Rears aren't quite so uppity. I'm returning a 23mm socket to Adv Auto tomorrow. Some kind of "bonking stick" helps, I had a humongo rubber mallet. Used it to bang on the strut tower bolts to remove them, after removing the nut.

This is such a rewarding piece of work, everyone should do it for themselves.

Wish there was a non-OEM replacement option for those sway bar end links.

 

Speaking of "rewarding piece of work", I am LOVING the Eibach Springs. Those combined with the Progress rear sway bar and Energy Suspension sway bar bushings, the car feels rock solid compared to stock.

The rear wheels actually seem to follow the front around a corner. And I feel like challenging interstate ramps now. The car is simply more confident and stable.

I'm excited to put on my lower control arm bushings, now.

 

My reflections on the job.

Great Reference Material

• Follow the above How-To!
• Read the Tearstone Mitsubishi Field Service Manual sections on Front Suspension and Rear Suspension
• Read the tech tips on the Eibach web site: TECH TIPS | performance-suspension.eibach.com
• Watch this video from Eric the Car Guy on replacing a strut: How To Replace Front Struts, 1999 Pontiac Grand Am (Full) - EricTheCarGuy - YouTube. The process is exactly the same as replacing springs. This is good stuff, especially pay attention to the part where he describes the compressed spring as "a loaded bomb".

I came to 3-4 places in the job where I thought, "Maybe I shouldn't be doing this, I'm STUCK!" But I figured it out, and got through it. This is as much as I've done to any car I've ever owned, and I didn't have to run back to the auto parts store even once in the middle of the job. Go as slow as you feel you need to & learn as much as you can about your car while doing this.
As much work as this was, it was also very rewarding!

Tools I used:

• floor jack
• 2 jack stands
• 1 pair of spring compressors
• 11/16" box wrench
• T30 Torx tool
• 15/16" socket (two is better)
• breaker bar (two is better)
• BARM - big ass rubber mallet - $5 at Adv Auto bargain bin
• Pipe Wrench Pliers (a second breaker bar and 15/16" socket would have been better).
• PB Blaster penetrant
• 19mm deep socket (this was for the spring compressor, your mileage may vary)
• 17mm deep socket (for the top nut on the struts)
• Assorted metric sockets, 12mm, 16mm, 17mm
• Lock-Tite Red
• 3/8" drive torque wrench
• 1/2" drive torque wrench (for the humongo strut bolts @ 225 ft-lbs), which I do not have and did not use.
• bench vise

I did the fronts (struts) first, then the backs (shocks).

Tips:

• I spent a couple of hours soaking the strut bolts and nuts (the big ones with a 15/16" head) with PB Blaster. I haven't had an issue with it, but but note that you are spraying penetrating solvent where it can drip on your CV boots, brake lines, and ABS sensor lines. Advise caution, and maybe wrapping those pieces with a cloth? I didn't but thinking maybe i should have. Like I said, no issues yet.
  
  
• If/when I do it again, I lower the rear while the fronts are soaking in PB Blaster, hitting them with it every 30 minutes or so.
  
  
• Front struts:
  1. Loosen the 3 top nuts but do not remove them.
  2. Without impact tools it is nearly impossible to turn the top nut on the struts while the strut is off the car. The problem is breaking that nut free. I had the strut off the car before discovering this, and I put it back in the car to break the top nut free. The other side, I did it in the correct order. I turned it a half turn while it was still on the car to break it free. Much easier after that. Do NOT remove this bolt or turn it any more until you have the strut off and the spring compressed.
  3. Remove the brake line bracket and ABS sensor bracket from the strut. tie them as far away from the strut as the slack will allow. They won't go far. (Hey genius, you are used to tying calipers to the springs when doing brakes. Avoid that urge here because the spring is coming out of the car very soon.)
  4. Remove the sway bar end link from the strut. I found these would loosen a little bit and then spin. You can use a hex wrench and box end wrench (i didn't) or you can turn the bolt and feel with your other hand where it is spinning and (what I did) put a pipe wrench on it where it is spinning, and finish removing the nut. Pull the end link off the strut and push it away, to the rear of the car, from where you are working. Leave it connected to the sway bar.
  5. Before removing the strut bolts, support the wheel hub. Mine didn't drop much with the strut disconnected, but your experience could be different. Since the car was already on jack stands, I used the floor jack and put it under the lower control arm.
  6. When loosing the strut bolts, I found that the nuts would move ever so slightly, then the bolt would spin, causing an awful metal-on-metal squeaky racket. This requires a LOT of pull on the breaker bar. I put the pipe wrench on the bolt to secure it while breaking the nut free. Breaker bar #2 and another 15/16" deep socket would have been fantastic here, but I didn't have two of those, so I opted for the pipe wrench pliers. It didn't take long until the nut spun freely (by hand). Do not be ashamed to apply more PB Blaster and wait another 10 minutes.
  7. Now that the strut is connected to the car ONLY by the 3 loose nuts on top, you can remove these and then remove the strut. HOLD ON to the strut with one hand while removing the nuts with your other, or have a buddy. The strut is bulky but if you got the strut bolts off, then you should be able to easily support the strut and spring with one hand while you remove the 3 top nuts.
  8. Once the 3 top nuts are removed, you can remove the strut assembly. BE CAREFUL. There is a brake line, an ABS sensor line, and a CV joint boot sitting there just waiting for you to drop a strut on any one of them. Carefully remove the strut with these three systems in mind, and don't run the strut into them.
  
  
• Once each shock/strut is off the car, you get to disassemble it. Take the OEM spring off, and put it back together with the new spring on it (yea!). I used my bench vise to hold on to the bottom of the strut and did all my work that way, as in the the Grand Prix video referenced above.
  
  
• Before you disassemble the strut or shock, use a marker or paint to to mark a line up and down the top of the assembly. Hit every piece at the top. The struts have to be re-assembled in order and with the correct orientation.
  
  
• On all 4 corners, I used a pair of vise-grips on the shaft of the strut. I wrapped the shaft in 2-3 layers of thick cloth towel first. You want to grip that shaft firmly, but you do not want to scratch it. In the Grand Am video referenced above, he's replacing the STRUT and he doesn't care about scratching that shaft, you do!
  
  
• My toolset not only omits impact tools, but a 3/8" drive inch breaker bar, and some key 1/2" drive sockets. To get the lower bolts on the shocks I had a 17mm socket on the nut and holding the ratchet in place, I banged on the handle end to loosen the nut.
  
  
• Once the lower nut is off the shock, the BARM can come in handy to knock it loose from the pin it is sitting on.
  
  
• Without impact tools it is nearly impossible to turn the top nut on the shocks. The shock top nut can be loosened by inserting a Torx 30 tool into the top and using a 11/16" box end wrench on the nut.
  
  
• Use an air hose (or do what I did, close your eyes and blow) and a damp towel to clean and inspect each piece that comes off. Place each piece on a table in the order and orientation that you removed it.
  
  
• If your struts or shocks are making noises, it might be a good idea to simply replace everything up top.
  
  
• When I put the struts back in the car I put lock-tite red on the threads of the strut bolts. I did not torque the strut bolts although I feel like I should have. I did, after applying lock-tite, simply put them back to "insanely tight".
  
  
• I didn't use the spring compressors for the shocks, but they did produce a pronounced "pop" when the top nut finally came off that scattered parts everywhere. Not recommended.

 

Total time it took to complete? Would you say 3-4 hours?
I may have missed the time requirement.
Great insight btw.

 

Hard to say, I was multitasking AND learning the job at the same time. Fronts took me 6 hours but that was while taking care of 3 kids on a Friday evening. I think 3-4 hours for the first timer is fairly accurate.

 

BTW, that Eric the Car Guy video is priceless. You can look at pictures and read guides, tips, and tricks all day long...watching someone actually do the job was about 75% of my inspiration to tackle this one myself.

 

BTW, I've had one end of each of my four (2 front, 2 rear) sway bar end links off. The rears for the new sway bar, and the fronts so I could remove the struts. 3 of the 4 have spun on me. I'm getting good and putting the adjustable wrench on them. It works.

 

The list above for tools is everything that is needed?
I am really considering lowering springs, as the ride height is pretty high. If I do them myself, and the struts leak within the next few months, I can just take them off and put the OEM ones back on for warranty purposes.
Thanks,

 

I think it is. I'd add 2 more jack stands and an impact wrench for a more ideal install, but that should do it.

 

Okay, I don't have a large enough air compressor for an impact wrench, so I will try without.
I have bookmarked this for when money starts flowing and I can do more mods

 

Okay, I don't have a large enough air compressor for an impact wrench, so I will try without.

Me neither! really want to start looking for a good Air Compressor, but I'm balancing functionality aganst garage space. I don't own a snow blower because it doesn't make sense to take up the garage space for it. I'm afraid a large air compressor would fall into the same category.

 

Well, if I barley have enough cash for the springs (if I ever can get the cash) I think an air compressor and air tools is out. Haha.
You can get 12v ones for cheap, but they are rather lame at only a few 100lb/ft.

 

okay i think i may have explain what is happening wrong. (front) -- the number one bolt is turning but the allen key is stripped but i dont know what "boot" youre talking about to grab if its the part with the four blue dots on it thats not rubber atleast for me. (rear) i removed all the bolts i neede to the three on top the one on the bottom but the rubber housing around the bottom is stuck to my car so it wouldnt fall off. using spring compressors and a crow bar it still wouldnt come off.
hopefully i explain it better for you

 

Each end of the link has a rubber boot, or ring around it, to keep road chow out of the connection. Put a socket on the nut, and SPIN it. With your other hand, get your fingers behind the rubber boot and feel what spins while you turn the nut. You don't want to put your wrench on this boot, but the part of the end link that is spinning. There is a metal ring in there, you'll feel it.

To get the rear shock off, beat the hell out of it with a rubber mallet. If the bolt is off, it is still sitting on a large pin and you slide it off that pin toward the center of the car. That's what I did. Or tap the assembly with a sledge will working the shock back and forth.

 

and if youre replacing your end links whcih ones are you looking at just curious

 

fabguy built some seriously heavyweight end links, but they aren't maintenance free. I haven't seen a decent replacement for the fronts, that weren't made by fabguy, those suckers are 11 1/2" long!

For the rears, I'm considering a universal set from Energy Suspension:

Pivot Style Universal Endlinks, $74.99 direct from ES.

Or Moog makes an OEM replacement: sway bar links. $50-60/pair.

 

okay thanks and for not still trying to get the stock ones off the from struts.

 

okay ill give both of those a shot im heading back into the shop today to work on it. thanks for the help happy easter

 

Suppose this would be enough to crack the bolts off without stripping them?
Kawasaki 841426 1/2-Inch Impact 7.5-Amp Wrench - Amazon.com

 

I hate to revive a thread that's been quiet for a few months, but I need to ask for some advice. I can't get the lower bolt that holds the rears on to loosen up. I soaked the damn things with PB Blaster for close to three hours hitting it with a fresh coat every half hour or so. Any ideas?

 

Impact wrench, mallet of some sort, punch???

 

Breaker bar with a mallet didn't budge it at all. Worse comes to worse, I'll take it in to my work's shop and use the impact tools on it and see how that goes. I'm just nervous of stripping the bolt with how stubborn it is.

 

Try applying liquid wrench every day for about a week and see .
Had issues myself and that did the trick .


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Hey guys, already got lowering springs and the tools...but I dont have any impact tool or pneaumatic one...so..my question... Its possible do all the step without those?

 

Yes. It's entirely doable with hand tools, just be prepared to work longer because of it. The rears will take no time at all, but the fronts will suck solely because of the huge bolts that connect the strut to the A arm are a pain in the ass. Load up on liquid wrench and hit them a few times a day for a few days before you do the work to loosen them up.

 

I know its a old thread sooo hoping for some good advice. So I loosen up the three screws on top and took the bottom screw off but when I tryed taking off the shock it seem stuck I tryed hitting it with a hammer ...with a crow bar and it seem like if there was plastic around it like some type of silicon I was woundering of this was normal or if I am doin something wrong . Thanks

 

O yea I'm trying to take the rear ones off

 

So I have already done my back lowering springs but I have the front ones off but I can't brake the top of it to put my front lowering springs on. Does anyone exactly how to take off the front lower springs?

 

My dad did mine I'll see if he remembers . I do know you gotta make sure all tension is off the one your working on.


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Is anyone else only seeing the first picture in the write-up, and the rest are broken links? I'm pretty sure I can do this, but taking a look at the pics before tackling such a job would be helpful.