I stronly agree with your statement that if you dont know
what you're doing, its less risk to have a shop do it for you.
im my mind 5-6 hours work on my car is considered 'fun' and
not a burden. also i know first hand that the job was done
right cause I did it and confirmed all work. if you dont
know anything about working on your car then yah, have
the shop do it and hope that they didnt secretly strip a nut
or bolt of forgot to tighten a bolt, or replace the brake bracket or
loose a mounting clip or made any scratches inside the fender
area when they pulled out the strut, etc, etc, etc. you will
never know. hahaha. :lol


edit: and when it comes time to replace the struts, i dont have
to pay another $150 like you to get it done hopefully right.
next time i can do it under 3hours taking my time.

 

Hey, since everyone here is strongly aggreeing or disagreeing. I am going to have to say that I strongly agree with myself. Way to go self!!! You deserve a pat on the back!!

 

man, sorry it took so long for me to keep you guys update... well, to be truthfully, i have no experience with springs at all.... i mean absouletly nothing, no experience.... but hey i did it. the tough part is to take off the bolt off of the sway bar link... even wd-40 doesn't helps at all, i had to hold the bolt in the position with a socket and hammer it to loose it up, then everything went smooth. even for a newbie like myself with no experience, it took me two days... i gotta say, i'm impressed that i'm able to pull this off.... and of course, i got 4 wheels alignment and everything is perfect now. thanks guys for all the feedbacks and help.... i can enjoy my lowin' ride now

 

good job

 

way to go!! You are now officially on your way to addiction. Watch out, I heard it can be harder to kick then heroin

 

P5mazda- good job! im surprised to hear that
you did not have problems with the rear passenger side
lower struts. way ta go!

 

oh yah, hope you trimmed your bump stops about an
inch... not sure if anyone mentioned this to you....
otherwise you may end up riding on them quite a bit.

nothing to really worry about unless you autox or do
any kind of sprited driving, i guess.

 

I will STRONGLY clarify my stance. I agree that 5-6 hours working on a car can be fun. It can also be frustrating if you don't know what you're doing, and can leave you stranded if you can't put back together what you took apart .

I got my springs installed at a shop we do business with because it was easy and fast - not because I'm incapable of doing it myself. I watched the entire install to ensure that none of the problems you listed would happen. When it comes time to install new struts, I will probably do it myself. Even if I have my shop install them, $100 is pretty cheap. The $50 for the alignment is something you have to spend anyway. Most of the time I would rather spend my Saturday afternoon actually driving

 

Youll never learn to do it unless you tackle it yourself

 

yep, you have to have the wrench in your hands to really
understand.