I have a 91 Legacy AWD wagon with regular struts. I bought a replacement for the drivers side rear and am going to change it out. Anyone have any tips? It looks like there was some kind of rubber sleeve around the spring that is falling apart. Also looks like maybe the rubber pad at the top should be replaced.

 

Thanks

Edited November 20, 200916 yr by jonbfish

Are you putting another complete strut assm. on it from another car? If not make sure you mark the side of the spring that is facing out. Also notice where the small hole or holes in the top hat are at, and face them back the way they came out. The ones I have done face out away from the inside of car.

Edited November 24, 200916 yr by tcspeer

Always replace struts and/or springs in pairs. Unless they're both fairly new and one fails prematurely.

 

The pad at the top is called the strut mount and it is bolted to the top of the strut. Those need to be bought separately. The "sleeve" is probably the strut boot and the new one should come with a new boot. (assuming you bought a decent quality part).

 

Do you have spring compressor? Because you can't replace the strut alone without one. It's a lot easier to buy a pair of struts with springs from a junk yard and swap the whole assembly at once.

Thanks. I am replacing the passenger first because it is failing, will do the other side when this one is done. I bought just the strut from my local parts store and a spring compressor. My new one doesn't have a strut boot but the old one is decent. What I was talking about is some rubber that goes on the spring itself that is falling apart. I'm guessing that it keeps it from squeaking and isn't a big deal to leave it off. I think I will order the mount before I do this.

Thanks. I am replacing the passenger first because it is failing, will do the other side when this one is done.

I wouldn't worry about it, there's no quantitative reason to replace in pairs, it's more of a marketing scheme than anything else. I've only ever replaced single struts and see no reason to replace them in pairs.

 

I totally understand things wear and it's nice to replace it all but frankly on an older car it's not a sports machine and there are all sorts of parts old and out of spec.

 

of course if you notice handling deficiencies then yes, replace, but here we're talking about replacing a strut with no known issues - if that's the case - then you better start reading your owners manual because ABS and SRS systems all should be inspected completely at 10 years, have you done that yet, it is an explosive device? surely at least one or 5 bushings are out of whack by this age, have you checked all those.....etc.

I just figured I'd do them both then have the car aligned.

right on, nothing wrong with that. if you keep the location of the strut mount screws oriented the same, there's no need for an alignment.