[efzauner]

I did the repair over the weekend. 2002 with 260,000 km.. car front now is as tight as new...
here are my comments:
1: removing the strut was relatively easy. The 2 main strut bolts and the 3 top nuts came off easy. However, the sway bar link nuts and bolts where very rusty. I cut them off! needless to say, have replacements! There is also the brake line and ABS speed sensor cabling...one bolt each.

2: the standard spring compressor that I had was not sufficient, i had to use 2 sets, that is 4 compressors. First two compressors on 3 coils, then once they where compressed a bit I was able to fit 2 more spring compressors to cover 4 coils.

3: The OEM strut on top had an allen key slot in order to hold it from turning while unscreweing or screwing in the nut. The KYB replacement simply had 2 flats so I used an adjustable wrench to hold it.

4: While you have everything apart, change the bump stops too.. I did not.. I should have... I also wanted to change both sway bar rubber bushings but I could only change the left side. The right side had hoses next to the bolt and I could not undo it. Oh well... howerver the bolts where quite rusted...

5: assembly was not difficult. Remember to re-alling the top spring mount. The top and bottom have a small hole that face outward. I used a small jack to push up the strut while turning to align the 4 bolts.

6: Overall the job was physically demanding... but apart from compressing the springs it was not technically difficult. The toughest parts where removing the sway bar strut nuts and the sway bar bushing bolts and the spring of course. Those tasks took most of the time. Actually removing and reinstalling the strut is about 30 minutes or less, so 2 hours total. The rest was changing the spring, sway bar strut and bushing.