Replacing struts on '94 Camry

[Miramonti]

I've got a Haines manual for a '94 Camry and want to replace the struts. Is there any sensible reason a fairly mechanically inclined person 'should not try this at home'?

Any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Also, any suggestions on which/where to buy struts? Not a lot of miles get put on this car (1k-2k/year MAX) and they certainly aren't hard miles either. My budget is fairly tight and lower end is fine as long as they aren't so crappy they'd need to be replaced in a year or two. Right now the car is a bit of a trampoline.

 

[jlee]

Nope, should be pretty straight-forward - just make sure to have a set of spring compressors handy. I had to use them for my Corolla but not the MR2 - thinking the Camry is probably going to need them, though.

 

[Miramonti]

Nope, should be pretty straight-forward - just make sure to have a set of spring compressors handy. I had to use them for my Corolla but not the MR2 - thinking the Camry is probably going to need them, though.

Great, I'd much rather do it than pay a mechanic. I'll rent some spring compressors to have handy just in case.

 

[Miramonti]

I looking for a whole strut, and not a replacement cartridge, correct? (or are cartridges fairly easy to remove/replace?)

/edit: as I'm researching it, I'm seeing cartridges, struts, and full strut assemblies with coil etc. Any particular recommended thought process I should be executing here in making this decision?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Full strut assembly with coils will be easiest to install. I wouldn't recommend the cartridges, you have to use your current housings which may be fairly labor intensive and require special tools to disassemble depending on the car. I have no experience with the Camry though.

I would make sure you have a long breaker bar or an impact wrench as the bolts that hold those struts in can be very very tight and hard to loosen.

 

[bruceb]

Biggest issue is sometimes, the bolts holding the strut to the knuckle will be very tight and hard to loosen. Also they are sometimes splined. If the nut comes off and they don't come out, use a small jack to very slightly lift the knuckle up a tad. An air hammer may help to get them started out of the hole. You should scribe the "strut to knuckle" (on the knuckle) and install new struts to that mark. Your alignment will be very close, but it will still need to be checked and adjusted. Be careful with spring compressors. Be sure they are fully on the spring and tighten them slowly by hand. Be sure you seat the end of the spring properly at both ends. You should also put new upper mounts in while you have it all apart. They are not very costly.

 

[T2urtle]

yea buy something called "fast shock" i think monroe makes them. Its a whole assembly. with top hat and everything all bolted in. So really all you need to do is jack it up remove the 2-4 bolts up top and the one or 2 lower bolts and your good to go.

like everyone said, you need a nice 2-4 foot breaker bar or a good impact as they can get rusty or really hard to remove.

since its a camry parts shouldn't cost a arm and a leg nor would they be hard to find as not much has changed on the 92-96 vs the 97-01. Most likely ES300 use the same things too.

 

[Miramonti]

Thanks for the tips JulesMaximus, bruceb and T2urtle. I will keep specifics in mind so that when I'm working on it and see what things look like, I can refer back with a better understanding.

This car was beaten on by a construction worker before I bought it and maybe the strut assemblies are the way to go...if springs wear out over time, these would definitely be good candidates. That's going to atleast double the cost, so for now I might just do the front struts.

I'm finding Monroe 'Quick Struts' at Rockauto for $150, a site I found on resellerratings that's pretty well liked (as well as are a few others.)

 

[jlee]

RockAuto is good - you can usually get 5% off codes pretty easily. If you can't find one, shoot me a PM and I'll see what I can dig up.

 

[T2urtle]

Yea rockauto is pretty well liked. Fast shipping. One of the lower prices for sure. But shipping prices are sometimes annoying. I can dig up that 5% if u can't as well.

get the part number off rockauto and Amazon search it. U might get a better price after shipping

Sent from my Nexus One

 

[exdeath]

I can assure you that if your struts are needing to be replaced, your mounts, bearings, spring seat isolators, and dust boots are also going to need to be replaced as well. And it's cheaper to buy the complete quick strut cartridges by the time you add all that up separately, regardless if you need the springs or not. Just look at the new springs and the 15 minutes it takes to install the quick struts as freebies.

5 bolts in and out, 3 top 2 bottom, no spring compressor, etc. Jacking up the car and getting the wheels off will take longer than swapping the strut. You can do this at home, don't need a lift. Just a pair of jack stands and enough to get the wheels an inch or two off the ground. Just make sure you use a marker or something to mark the position of the camber bolt, and maybe another line on the knuckle at the edge of the strut ear so you can line it up the same if you don't plan on an alignment.

Soak the lower bolts and nuts in PB blaster right after you remove the wheel, then start removing the other wheel, then come back to it, etc.

 

[Miramonti]

I can assure you that if your struts are needing to be replaced, your mounts, bearings, spring seat isolators, and dust boots are also going to need to be replaced as well. And it's cheaper to buy the complete quick strut cartridges by the time you add all that up separately, regardless if you need the springs or not. Just look at the new springs and the 15 minutes it takes to install the quick struts as freebies.

5 bolts in and out, 3 top 2 bottom, no spring compressor, etc. Jacking up the car and getting the wheels off will take longer than swapping the strut. You can do this at home, don't need a lift. Just a pair of jack stands and enough to get the wheels an inch or two off the ground. Just make sure you use a marker or something to mark the position of the camber bolt, and maybe another line on the knuckle at the edge of the strut ear so you can line it up the same if you don't plan on an alignment.

Soak the lower bolts and nuts in PB blaster right after you remove the wheel, then start removing the other wheel, then come back to it, etc.

Sounds good, thanks.

Looks like I just missed Monroe's 'buy 3 get a 4th free' promotion, which ended 5/31.

 

[exdeath]

Sounds good, thanks.

Looks like I just missed Monroe's 'buy 3 get a 4th free' promotion, which ended 5/31.

Crap, I might have jumped on that as well.

The Monroe quick struts can be found on Amazon for around $150 each. That's the lowest price I can find for redoing the entire strut, regardless of using a quick strut or buying a bare strut, mount, bearing, spring isos, boot, etc (ie: all the rubber stuff) and transplanting the old spring. IMO do it right the first time. You don't want to spend a few hundred bucks on new struts, then have clunking and creaking because of your old mount bearings, cracked isolator pads, etc.

If they are retailing at $300 a pop, that promo doesn't matter