Replacing front struts — Are you kidding me?

I have brand new Monroe strut assemblies for my 2001 Tacoma Prerunner. They are the correct assemblies.

Do it yourself, they said. Not that hard, they said.

I removed the old strut on the driver side.

How in the *#?! does a person get that lower back on (photo attached)?

We have pried and pried on the suspension but there is still a substantial gap or clearance between the lower strut assembly and the threading hole where the bolt goes.

I do not see how a person can get everything lined up without breaking something.

What technique do you recommend that is sure-fire, absolutely going to work — I am out of ideas.

 

Loosen the lower control arm bolts.
Put lower bolt in and leave the top unbolted.
Then use a floor jack to jack up the lower control arm with coil assembly.

 

If it were mine I'd disconnect the sway bar end link from the knuckle, then UCA ball joint from the knuckle, replace the coilover, then use a jack on the LCA to lift things up enough to reattach the UCA balljoint. No alignment needed. Takes zero time at all. You might need two new cotter pins that costs $0.10 - go dig through your couch cushions for the funds.

Marking LCAs, getting an alignment, etc. is more money and work than it's worth just to change a coilover assembly.

 

Mark LCA cam positions
Remove lower knuckle bolts
Looosen lower cam bolts
SCHWING!
reassemble and torque

…the stock bottle jack works fine for ‘nudging’ the LCA up and wiggletapping the lower coil over bolt in

 

Stick a long ass prybar on top of the UCA, and wedge the tip under the horizontal UCA bolt, and push that fucker down.
I used a spud bar and that with me on it was enough to get it easily into place. You don't need to loosen anything.

 

Follow-up question:

Would it make any difference at all to jack up both sides of the vehicle?

I have lifted only the driver side.

My guess is that it does not matter, but this is my first time trying to do this stuff.

I am really hesitant to mess around with loosening things. Example: Loosening cam bolt would require moving the steering rack, which covers the rearward bolt, blocking access.

There is very limited room to apply a pry bar to the UCA on this vehicle. Mine is hefty; not enough space to wedge it in there.

I appreciate the suggestions and the info. Y’all are great.

 

I don’t think it will help. Although I’ve never done a 1st gens.

Do you have quality jack stands? I’m not going to your safety brief. I place a tire (on the rim) under the vehicle while I pry and bang.

 

Thanks for the reply. The jack stands are solid. I use the removed tire as a backup.

 

This. Ten minute job. No need to make a production of it.

 

You'll need to jack up the otherside too to unbolt the swaybar link since it's LOADED now.

 

This right here. ^^^^

 

Just to add to this, the LCA cams should be tightened at ride height, or the suspension will be fighting the rubber bushings and eventually tear them.

 

It was a chore, but we got the job done.

We went with Mister Spud Bar with a friend who is the size of a refrigerator on the other end. Did not loosen any cam bolts, etc.

For what it is worth, I offer the following, although I do not know if it was just my truck or if it might qualify as a general tip:
Elevate both sides of the vehicle before starting work to replace either strut.

I asked about this in the thread above and one response was that it might not make much difference, but I point out that --

- When we worked on getting the driver side strut on, we did not have the passenger side elevated. Installing the new strut on the driver's side was extremely difficult.

- When we started work on the passenger side strut, we left the driver side elevated on its jack stand so that both sides were about equally elevated. The passenger side took noticeably less time to deal with.

Thanks again for the many suggestions.

 

Because you were fighting the sway bar, which it was suggested to undo one side. Glad you got it done

 

Thisssssssss. It's so easy and simple. No idea why some guys here want you to do way too much work. You won't need to align anything afterwards if you did not alter ride height.

 

Sounds like it took 3 of them a couple days to get it done the "easy" way. Just undoing a few extra bolts and one person can do the same job in a few hours.

Alignment *should* be done regardless.

 

I feel bad for them that they had this issue, but figuring this stuff out is part of learning. I wish I could have helped to show them how to do it easier. But I'm glad they didn't touch the cams which would have required them to spend additional $ at an alignment shop afterwards. They still might need one, but the chances are significantly reduced the vehicle will be out of spec if leaving those alone in this case.

I'm glad you were able to get it done OP, but you would have had a much easier time disconnecting the sway bar endlinks - which would allow each side to articulate independently and allow you to only have to jack up one corner at a time. Suspension installation proficiency comes with experience, you learn a little more every time you touch it.

I've installed 60+ suspension setups over the years on all different types of vehicles and almost never had to do a bunch of extra work or completely throw the alignment out of spec to do so (except for extreme height changes where it is the only way to make components line up). The simplest way is often the best. A prebuilt coilover assembly should be able to be swapped out in 30-45 min from start to finish on one of these. If not changing the ride height is usually unnecessary to so much as touch any of the lca hardware for a shock change unless the components are excessively rusted or damaged - in which case those components should then be replaced anyway. Unless the vehicle is pulling in one direction afterwards (a few mm in ride height usually won't effect this) than an alignment is often not necessary. There are anomaly's and differences that can popup with any vehicle, but with the OP's setup all that extra work is likely not needed.