Hints Regarding Replacement of 2G Front Struts

My 2004 has 90K miles. A couple of months ago, while changing the engine oil, I noticed that the RF strut looked nice and shiny. Further examination revealed that it was covered in strut oil. I was about to embark on a five-week-long trip to the East Coast, so I had to defer replacing the front struts until this weekend. In the meantime I ordered the parts from Champion Toyota, Houston:

48510-49495 Shock Absorber Assembly MSRP $131, Net $99
48520-49585 Shock Absorber Assembly MSRP $131, Net $99
48609-13010 Support Subassembly MSRP $87, Net $66 (need qty. 2)
48158-47010 Front Coil Spring Insulator Lower MSRP $14, Net $10 (need qty. 2)
48157-02070 Front Coil Spring Insulator Upper MSRP $21, Net $16 (need qty. 2)

Hence, a total of $382 plus shipping. Freight was $42 but I also bought several filters. Maybe the freight charge would be slightly less without those.

Note that there are two different part numbers for the struts since one is for the left while the other is for the right.

I strongly recommend that DIYers download the necessary repair pages from techinfo.toyota.com to get the exploded parts diagram and instructions. In this post I will point out suggested changes to the Toyota repair instructions. I am using part names per those instructions.

The "front coil spring seat upper" has an oblong hole that locks into the top of the shiny chrome shaft of the front shock absorber assembly. The repair instructions prescribe an SST to lock the spring seat in place when it is time to remove the top nut. Otherwise, the chrome shaft will rotate while you are trying to remove the nut.

I don't have the SST and tried to use visegrips on the chrome shaft when taking apart the RF strut. However they slipped. I finally used a small screwdriver inserted into a hole in the spring seat, to hold the seat stationary and allow loosening of the nut. The screwdriver blade bent, so it is useful only as my defacto SST now...

Since you also probably don't have this SST in your toolbox, I suggest that you loosen the top nut 1/4 turn before removing the strut from the car. Don't loosen the nut too much though, because it is responsible for keeping the strut spring compressed. I did this before removing the LF strut and that procedure worked well.

When it comes time to reinstall the new strut, tighten the nut as much as you can while holding the front coil spring seat upper with one hand. Then finish tightening that nut to 35 ft.-lb when the strut is installed in the car.

The instructions suggest putting the removed strut into a large vise. I don't have a vise large enough to hold the strut, but it was not necessary.

When I disassembled the RF strut, I found that it could be easily collapsed and stayed collapsed. Clearly all gas had leaked out of that strut. The LF strut showed more resistance to collapsing, however it was very slow to return to the fully extended position compared to the new strut. It was pretty clear that both struts needed to be retired.

Here is a list of tools that you will need: 10, 12, 14, 17, and 19 mm sockets. 1/2" and 3/8" ratchet wrenches and torque wrenches along with various extensions.

13/16" socket (or metric equivalent) to remove the tire lugnuts.

MacPherson strut spring compressor. Don't buy or rent the cheapest compressor that you can find, especially do not use one that lacks safety pins to hold the compressor on the spring. Your personal safety is at risk and potential property damage may occur if the compressor flies off the spring. I am using the Sears Craftsman compressor, a photo is attached.

1" box wrench to turn the Sears Craftsman MacPherson strut spring compressor.

Photo 1 shows the spring compressor.

2 - 4 show the new parts and part number labels.

5 shows the top of the RF strut after the cowl assembly has been removed. Note the circular dust cover in the center of the strut top mount, use a small screwdriver to pry off.

6 shows the old RF strut in place. Note the torn rubber boot. The leaked oil had dried, so that is not too visible.

7 shows the front stabilizer link assembly, the front flexible brake hose, and the speed sensor wire harness removed from the strut.

8 shows the bottom of the strut with the two nuts removed.

9 shows the disc brake assembly with the strut removed.

10 shows removed hardware from the strut, note the corrosion on one of the bottom bolts. This seems to be aluminum oxide from the wheel hub housing. I washed that bolt and most of the white powder came off.

11 shows the old RF strut removed from the vehicle.

12 shows my alternative to using a vise. The large screwdriver prevents the strut from rotating.

13 shows the new RF strut installed.

This is a fairly big job, plan to spend most of a day to account for learning curve. It's more important to do the job right than to do it fast, since you are working on the car's suspension and your personal safety is at risk. Wheel alignment camber will be affected by installation of the new struts, so for a complete job you should consider having the front suspension aligned after you've replaced the front struts.

Note that safe disposal of the used struts requires you to drill a tiny hole into the strut body to vent out any pressurized nitrogen gas in the strut. As you compress the shock after drilling the hole, you'll see a stream of strut oil exit the hole. Have paper towels available to catch that stream.

I understand that the dealer price for front strut replacement will be around $1K. If you take this on, then after you've done the job you can think about the $600 that you just saved. Good luck!

 

Yes, when I was in graduate school 34 years ago, my roommate decided to replace the struts on his Mercury Capri (the car from Germany, not the rebadged Mustang.) I was helping him and he used a really cheap rented spring compressor that flew off and hit the garage wall.

Hi Galaxee,

Thanks to you and DH for your comments, and for pointing out that the rod is hardened steel. This must be why the visegrips could not bite in.

I attached the exploded parts diagram to help our discussion. The "front coil spring seat upper" has the oblong hole that fits the top of the strut rod. That is the part that needs to be held in place when the top nut is removed. Of course, if the spring has not been compressed then spring tension will hold the spring seat in place so that the top nut can be removed.

I agree that loosening the nut while the spring is under tension is a risky practice and accept DH's suggestion for a 1/4 turn as sufficient. Your suggestion to take the removed struts to a local garage for disassembly/reassembly also has merit.

I felt that the Sears tool worked very well as it was easy to compress the Prius springs. I've used that tool eight times so far, having replaced all struts/shocks on my 2001 and 2004. Given the presence of the locking pins, it is not easy to visualize a failure that would result in the tool flying off.

 

Thanks, Tom. Wait until Galaxee's DH sees the spring compressors you used...

 

A 19 mm deep socket is needed to remove the nuts that are attached to the lower mounting bolts.

When changing Prius struts/shocks, some of the time needed is just to gain access to the top of the strut or the shock. To gain access to the front, you have to remove the cowl. To gain access to the rear, you have to remove most of the hatch trim.

I agree that if you are equipped with a large air compressor, impact wrench, and a professional-grade spring compressor, that the job would go much faster. The point of my guide is to help shed light on what you can achieve, lacking those tools. The $ savings is sufficiently large so that I don't mind expending the time.

It may be true that a professional mechanic could replace the front Prius struts in an hour. If so, it seems that the Toyota dealerships are pricing that hour of labor at ~$500-$600 or more.

The video was very interesting. Although I can't tell for sure, it looks like the mechanic did not use a spring compressor for the sake of making an entertaining clip... I wonder if he was aiming the spring at the SUV in the parking lot...

 

A reasonable idea.

I think it would be pretty difficult for you to install such a tool while the car is on the ground and the spring is compressed, just because there isn't much clearance in the wheel well.

It really isn't very hard to compress the spring when the strut is removed from the car because the Prius springs are not particularly robust. Tom in post #12 above previously made the point that he could compress the spring the needed amount by hand. I'm a smaller guy than he is, and like to let my tools work for me, but I agree that not that much compression is needed.

If you have a decent spring compressor (of at least the quality that I used, if not better) then you should be fine.

 

Just decide which Toyota dealer you wish to purchase from; then provide your model year and VIN and let the parts dept decide what you need.