Hints Regarding Replacement of 2G Front Struts

Patrick, on the upper seat there is a notch that must match with notch on the shaft. From looking at the pictures, you didn't even have to compress the one holding the two coils all the way. Were you able to get the notch in without much effort or did you not care to lock in the notch?

Were you able to figure this out? Which brand of shocks did you buy?

 

Reread Post #1. At the end of the first paragraph, he lists who he purchased the parts from.
Paragraph number 2 lists the part numbers and the price he paid.

 

Reread my post. I wasn't asking him.

 

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.




Hi Patrick, you gave a 35 ft-lb spec on the top nut....but I see 3 top nuts - is there another not shown?
Also, do you happen to have the torque specs on the other nuts in the assembly?

 

I purchased a set of complete front struts with new springs on Amazon. Made the whole process so much easier and faster. It was just a simple swap out, plus I have new springs too. The set was $150 shipped to my door in two days.

 

Would you happen to have a product link or know which brand they were?

Did you noticed any improvement over the replaced OEMs?

Thank you for sharing.

 

How are those working out? $117 for the front pair seems cheap, considering KYB's are almost $150/side?

CompleteStruts - Front Pair Complete Struts & Coil Spring Assemblies | 2004-2009 Toyota Prius XW20

 

So, yes I am an idiot, but I want an honest answer here-- how compressed are the front and rear springs actually. On many cars they really aren't under that much compression it is actually when you use the spring compressor tool that they then have a lot of potential energy as you are squeezing them a lot tighter than they would normally be and if one of those slips it can get hairy.

I am asking because on a number of cars I have just put my foot on the strut top hat and pointed the bottom part of the strut away from me and zipped off the top nut with an impact gun. The strut may shoot a couple of feet but it is over fast and nothing really shoots. Then putting new strut in I have even been able to compress spring just by pushing down (i am not a big guy) and starting top hat nut by hand a couple of threads.

Would that be possible with these springs? Are the front or rear under extreme compression that would make this difficult?

Here are some videos kind of showing what I mean by other people who have a similar-- albeit disliked and hated mentality among DIYers-- about doing ti this way.

VS:

Now, listen if you are about to type a response having never done this or having never taken apart a strut because you don't want to die. By all means, I know what you are goign to say and it is true. This is dangerous. I am only looking to hear from people that have actually done a spring swap or strut swap on these and know how tight the springs were. Thanks!

 

Not possible with normal springs. With lowering springs maybe but not with normal springs.

 

I installed KYB Strut Plus few weeks ago and did a quick search online for Torque specs during the install. I just now realized that I used the Gen 3 torque specs for the knuckle bolts at 177 ft lbs instead of the 113 ft lbs. Is this bad? Should I readjust? Why is Gen 3 torque specs so much higher?

 

Other than the torque mistake posted above, the KYB Strut Plus (SR4223) is clicking when turning. It is very noticeable when making sharp turns. Did I get a defective unit?

Video of issue

The driver side KYB Strut Plus (SR4224) is noise free