[odyfixer]

Hi,
I have a 2001 with 175k miles on the original struts. The ride is getting a little bouncy and I feel I've gotten more than my money's worth on them so I'm planning to replace them. Although the springs are not broken, rather than dealing with compressing/decompressing the springs, or have someone change the springs for me, I thought I'd go the 'quick strut' route and just get two complete assemblies from Majestic Honda. The price seems reasonable and it will definitely cut down on the replacement time. Just looking for thoughts or any 'gotchas' others may have encountered going this route.

Thanks.
Dave.

 

[adelody]

I like doing the quick struts because it cuts down on future failures. I would hate to have you just do a strut and then have a bearing or sping go bad and have to redo the work. I have used a spring compressing tool from harbor frieght for around 10 dollars that work fine for comprssing the spring, just use common sense and be cautious of what you are doing. If the budget allows my vote is quick strut.

 

[Dirkdaddy]

The only gotcha is financial, but if it is the difference between DIY or a shop b/c of springs, then it would = using quick strut. I don't do those b/c $ but sounds like it would work for you. You need to do this, even good shocks wear out in 175k!!

 

[odyfixer]

Thanks for the feedback. Even with the extra $$ I'll still be saving quite a bit over a shop repair.

 

[davedrivesody]

Even though your springs are not broken, they may have lost some of their strength. Good decision to replace the assembly. :nice:

 

[OdyinNH]

I went with the whole assembly. Make sure you shop around online because the pricing and shipping varies in a big way. The only issue I had was removing the vertical bars (sway control?). Mine were replaced a couple years ago when the tranny was replaced but still were tough to get off. You may want to have new ones on hand. I put a magnetic level on my rotors and then got it to the same spot with the new struts, it was really close when I went for alignment.

 

[odyfixer]

Mike,
Thanks for your feedback. I had already planned on replacing the front sway bar links anyway. With 175k on the original front-end I want to replace what I can now. I'll probably be ordering either Raybestos or ACDelco from RockAuto. They also sell Moog or Beck/Arnay but I'm not familiar with those brands. The lower ball joints probably aren't too far from needing replacement either but I would need to get a press. I have an old, on-car press I ordered many years ago from JC Whitney for my '80 Oldsmobile with the A-shaped control arms. It worked great on the upper/lower ball joints allowing me to change them right on the car. Not sure if the tool would work on the Honda lower control arm ball joint. Your idea of the level to get the suspension close to where it was is a great idea - I'll give that a try. I was also thinking of marking the old strut's position before I unbolt it and mark and transfer the mark to the new strut to get it close to where it was.

 

[rjcmstar]

I went with the whole assembly. Make sure you shop around online because the pricing and shipping varies in a big way. The only issue I had was removing the vertical bars (sway control?). Mine were replaced a couple years ago when the tranny was replaced but still were tough to get off. You may want to have new ones on hand. I put a magnetic level on my rotors and then got it to the same spot with the new struts, it was really close when I went for alignment.

No kidding on the sway bar links. Holy $#@P! I was expecting
a battle with the 22mm bolts on the bottom of the struts, but
had no problem with them at all. The sway bar links were
murder. On both sides of the car I had the same problem
with the top bolts spinning the stud, even though I had
wrenches on both sides of the silly thing. At first I thought
something stripped. However, I discovered a 6mm allen insert
in the stud and once I inserted the allen head, I was able to
get the bolt moving (until the allen insert stripped out).
Fortunately, I was able to unbolt them from the bottom (at
the sway bar) because I would have had to have ground
or sawed off the bolt otherwise. Bottom line was that both sway
bar link bolts had massive corrosion and days of WD40, steel
brushing and steel wool made no difference.

As a side note, I had been struggling with Rt. Front noise on
washboard roads for over a year. Dealer couldn't find a problem.
Independent shop couldn't find a problem and swore the
steering components were tight. I figured the strut must have
been starting to go. Once replaced, the noise is gone.

My toe was WAY off after replacing the struts. Rt front was .44
(should be between -.08 and .08). Left front was -.25.

If not for the sway bar links, this should have been a quick and
relatively easy job. I spent more time with the stupid sway bar
links than replacing the rest of the strut/spring assembly on
both sides.

Even though the van is only 6.5 years old with 60K miles, the
front feels noticibly stiffer with the new springs/struts.

 

[OdyinNH]

I used a dremel with a wire wheel to clean the threads, it does a good job. I also tried the allen wrench but got the same result, a elongated hole. Eventually I realized I could put a pair of vice grips on the back side if I moved the boot back a bit. Knowing this trick made the 2nd one go much quicker. High power impact wrench also helps....

 

[Rover903]

sway bar end link part number

Hi
Anyone have a part number for the sway bar end link kit? I searched majestic honda's parts list and they don't have it.
Thanks

 

[pippo]

I like doing the quick struts because it cuts down on future failures. I would hate to have you just do a strut and then have a bearing or sping go bad and have to redo the work. I have used a spring compressing tool from harbor frieght for around 10 dollars that work fine for comprssing the spring, just use common sense and be cautious of what you are doing. If the budget allows my vote is quick strut.

Might want to rent/borrow (for Free) from auto zone better grade spring compressors instead of buying low end Harbor Frieght.....

 

[rjcmstar]

Re: sway bar end link part number

Hi
Anyone have a part number for the sway bar end link kit? I searched majestic honda's parts list and they don't have it.
Thanks

From the Bernardi parts site (knuckle diagram), here's the
part number I got: 06513-S0X-A00. The kit included the link
for both sides and 4 new nuts as well.

Funny thing was I wasn't originally planning on replacing
them (until I had a problem removing them). When I went
into the Honda dealer in Burlington, MA with that part number,
the parts guy looked at the number and immediately said
"odyssey sway bar links" without blinking or hesitation.
I said "that's pretty good". He said "I'm ordering those all
the time".