Any advice on replacing front and rear struts for a 1995 Regal? Has anyone on this forum ever replaced front or rear struts? Do I need any special tools? Can I use the weight of the vehicle to keep the rear traverse spring assembly compressed? I have the book, I am just not sure that I can do it without the proper tools. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you, Joe
Joe,
Fronts are not a hard fix - you replace the shock cartridges from the top using the car's weight to keep the front springs compressed. Autozone has the special tool kit needed for that job available for loan (with a deposit). That set of special tools is a necessity.
Two other thinga you'll need that some people do not have in their tool kit: first is a second 3/8" rachet for taking off the strut top nut (one holds the strut shaft with a Torx bit while the other rachet is used on the special tool to remove the nut). The second item is a turkey baster or similar suction device with a hose long enough to reach the bottom of the strut cavity. This is used to remove any shock oil from the strut before installing the new cartridge.
The rears are UGLY!! You not only have the transverse spring to deal with but also a rubber "auxiliary spring" that has to be compressed and removed before you can remove the strut (and the aux. spring bracket is held in place by the same bolts that mount the strut to the knuckle). AND, just to make it a bit more fun, you have to drop down the exhaust system to have enough room on the right side to put the auxiliary spring compressor in place.
Unless you have the special tools I'd recommend you NOT try and tackle the rears on your own. Also, having a lift available is damn near essential
Regards, Bill Bowen Sacramento, CA
"Joe Guar>Any advice on replacing front and rear struts for a 1995 Regal? Has anyone
Shep,
According to my manuals, some '95 and '96 Regals do have auxiliary springs. Only some of the "W" bodies converted to "coil-over" struts (and ditched the tranverse spring) in '95.
Regards, Bill Bowen Sacramento, CA
"Shep" wrote:
Shep,
Not all 95~96 "W" bodies use coil-overs like the Luminas do: the Regals still use the transverse spring. Also, not all models with the transverse spring use auxiliary springs: that is determined in production based on option mix. From what I was told the auxiliary spring allows "tuning" of the overall spring rate between the steps provided by the 5 or so spring rates available in the transverse spring.
Regards, Bill Bowen
"Shep" wrote:
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