First I would like to thank Skierd for posting up his helpful guide and also this place I
found with other detailed information. Also the people who help answer all my questions for preping this project. If it wasnt for the internet Id probadly end up paying the dealership 1grand to install all four struts and springs due to not having the knowledge.
Well after several cuts, blood, and will power I finally got them installed. In total it took about 5-6 hours. I would of finished much faster but it kept raining and stopping all day. The struts are really not that hard to install, just make sure you
dont stripe a bolt. I almost did it twice. Turned out that it was the rachet socket that caused the problem because they were old sockets.
And for people scared of the old mighty spring compressor? It is cake. Last night I kept asking myself what if the spring compressor broke and took my left hand with it while taking off the top bolt. Once I was I hands on with the spring compressor it was cake. Just tie down the spring compressor on both sides (or the way the manufacturer of the spring compressor states), and let the impact wrench do all the talking. Make sure you use a impact wrench, because it saves alot of time, not to mention you wont risk striping the spring compressor bolt, because you will be using it atleast eight times. It took about 2 mins to compress, and decompress a spring with the imapct gun. With a regular wrench it would of probadly taken about 20-30mins. I say the most time consuming process of it all was tightening the bolts from the spring compressor to the spring.
Ride quality- My car has about 62000 miles on it and its a 2000 4Dr Accent automatic. I really havent tested it out competely. I did notice a huuuge improvement from my neighborhood speed bumps. Before when I went over the speed bump it felt like a pogo stick from back to front. It felt very bad. When driving over little pot holes in the road, I would lose traction and would have to steer with both hands. When waiting at a turning stop light, when huge cars would pass by the car would wobble left and right due to the draft. Now when I go over the speed bumps they are smooth as butter. Theres barely any hop when going over a speed bump. I cant really explain it in words but it rolls smoothly over the bump.
Last but not least ( i asked this millions of times)- The bolt sizes that you will need is 10mm, 12mm, 17mm, 19mm, and huge socket for the spring compressor. Also a phillips head to detach the rear brake lines. Dont worry with the brakelines, all you do is pry it off from the rear struts. Also make sure you get a deep socket 19mm for the rear struts. Because the back struts do not work with a regular 19mm socket. I had trouble fitting it with my rachet.
You will also need a rachet, impact wrench, a towl (because it gets really nasty), wheel jack and an extra stand.
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