rear struts

Alright gentlemen, this po Missouri boy needs advice. So these third Gens have struts all the way around. Now my right rear has oil covering the entire outside of it, to to bottom. While the other side is clean. So here i'm Missouri we call that thing shot. Now my Queston is, do I replace just that absorber inside the spring or entire strut? And should I do the front struts as well I guess i'm a but confused as Monroe's site lists struts for the front, and shocks and struts for the rear. Lost on this one.

if your spring is still OK (mine is broken) you could just replace the shocks (re-using the spring) You need to take out the whole assembly, use a spring compressor (you could rent in auto parts store) to replace the shocks.

If the fronts are good why replace them?

Easiest route is just buy the whole assembly, no need to compress springs. I used strutteks on mine. Either way you have to do them in pairs.




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Others have posted that they just replaced the whole thing as a complete assembly. Some that did only the springs found themselves wishing they did the assembly instead...afterwards. Saves time and frustration. Many choices, Monroe QuickStruts, Monroe EconoStruts, Struttek. QuickStruts seems the most popular but around here lots of the folks used Struttek's such Esclamda and Rondo and they seem to like it. Personally I would do the whole assembly.

Do both rears first and then drive your vehicle and see how it handles and rides and then decide it you want to do the fronts. If these are the originals and you have lots of miles on them, you may want to do all four. I like to have the same ride all the way around.

I would also do the whole kit, springs and struts. I installed the monroe quickstruts a few weeks ago. about 130 bucks each on amazon. Not a bad job, all went easy except for the top 3 nuts on each strut because they were rusted pretty bad and had to cut them off. Both my rear spring were broke in several places. this pic shows just how overdue the change was.

I'm running the StrutTEK's on all four corners and have nothing but good things to say about them! The ride is awesome and the price is right.

Click here to find out more about the StrutTEK Struts.

BigRondo said:

I'm running the StrutTEK's on all four corners and have nothing but good things to say about them! The ride is awesome and the price is right.

Click here to find out more about the StrutTEK Struts.

Click to expand...

Rondo! How do you like the ride of the StrutTek's? I'm debating on Monroes or possibly doing these. Stiffer ride than factory or the same? I just don't want one that is a softer ride than factory. I'm not a fan of driving marshmallows.

BigRondo said:

I'm running the StrutTEK's on all four corners and have nothing but good things to say about them! The ride is awesome and the price is right.

Click here to find out more about the StrutTEK Struts.

Click to expand...

Rondo! How do you like the ride of the StrutTek's? I'm debating on Monroes or possibly doing these. Stiffer ride than factory or the same? I just don't want one that is a softer ride than factory. I'm not a fan of driving marshmallows.

wheelin'explorer said:

Rondo! How do you like the ride of the StrutTek's? I'm debating on Monroes or possibly doing these. Stiffer ride than factory or the same? I just don't want one that is a softer ride than factory. I'm not a fan of driving marshmallows.

Click to expand...

I love them. The ride is great. I can't compare them to factory since both rear springs were broken and both fronts were leaking when I bought the Ex.

One thing I can tell you is you definitely won't be going down the street like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man!!

No experience with the strut teks. But, I will second the quick strut recomendation. I bought the Monroe Quickstruts for mine. Same problem with the nuts, on top being rusted badly. I got them through Rock Auto for $118 ea. BTW, a quickstrut is easier to replace than a regular strut. Whether your spring is OK, or not...REPLACE IT! Almost everyone I have spoken with has had a rear coil break. So, it seems...it's not a matter of if, but when, your rear coils will go! Just replace the whole assembly, and have some peace of mind.

I had the ratcheting wrench all set to go, but didn't matter. Woulda been a 2 hour job except for those things!

I've decided to go with the quickstruts, even found some pretty good prices on them by searching around. Now to order, wait, and install!

Keep us posted!

BigRondo said:

Keep us posted!

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Will do! hopefully all goes well for me, with what sounds like a problem with those top bolts rusted on. Gonna start PBlasting it tonight!

I battled front struts back at 60k miles and threw up the white flag and had the dealer install the rears. As I recall, it looked impossible to get to the nuts. I have since bought rachet wrenches, is that the solution? Now up to 120k miles and I think she needs another round of struts.

Can someone point the rest of us to a good thread/link on how to do these struts (front and rear)?

You can use the write-up for the strut spacer lift install. Just skip the parts that have to do with the spacers. Sometimes when you can't find something in the stock section, the modified section will probably have it.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279667

FordFool2 said:

I battled front struts back at 60k miles and threw up the white flag and had the dealer install the rears. As I recall, it looked impossible to get to the nuts. I have since bought rachet wrenches, is that the solution? Now up to 120k miles and I think she needs another round of struts.

Can someone point the rest of us to a good thread/link on how to do these struts (front and rear)?

Click to expand...

They are not impossible to get to, but it is tight in there. the ratcheting wrench is a big time saver but in my case the 3 on top were almost rusted away but all other bolts in the job were fine. It was tight but you can get a small grinder in there, small vice grips, and a hack saw at some crazy angles. Maybe mine were worse than normal here living in Michigan where we salt the roads pretty heavily in the winter..

FordFool2 said:

I battled front struts back at 60k miles and threw up the white flag and had the dealer install the rears. As I recall, it looked impossible to get to the nuts. I have since bought rachet wrenches, is that the solution? Now up to 120k miles and I think she needs another round of struts.

Can someone point the rest of us to a good thread/link on how to do these struts (front and rear)?

Click to expand...

they are not impossible to take out, yes the space is tight but if you have those offset wrench (about $9 in harbor freight) it helped a lot. It's just time consuming. Since you have it replaced already I guess it's not that rusted badly. If you could take the rears out, the fronts are going to be a piece of cake.

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How in the world would you remove the top nuts if one of them seems impossible to reach (at least with any sort of tool I have)?
This is what I have on My '04 Explorer:



And a more detailed view:



Is the dealer my only option? Anybody saw this kind of setup before?

I suspect that the black cushion/isolator on that one nut/stud just gets pried off, cut and destroyed, never to return to the new strut.

FordFool2 said:

I suspect that the black cushion/isolator on that one nut/stud just gets pried off, cut and destroyed, never to return to the new strut.

Click to expand...

If you do a new strut assembly you get a cushion on the new one. Not sure if you would get a new one if you just did the shock inside and not the entire assembly. But I just did the entire assembly for ease and best result.