+2 on R/R the strut as a complete assembly. With the vehicle having 75K on the odometer then even greater recommendation on the strut remove/replace.
You do have to remove the entire strut/coil spring assembly to replace the bearing anyway so not extra labor with Quick Strut Assembly.....in fact Quite the opposite reduced labor.
Personally for fronts I replace the entire assembly it is overall easier. Slightly more in price for the quick strut assembly but remember reduced labor since your not removing the strut.
Quick Strut Assembly REMOVE OEM assembly, Install the new Q/S assembly, repeat for other side and your done.
The Biggest reason I say get the Pre built Quick Strut Assembly is SAFETY!! A Coil spring is under high energy in the compressed form as in around strut. That should be obvious. Unless you have or know someone with a bench or floor mounted Coil Spring Compressor the hand models are very dangerous. A lot of the hand operated models have three maybe four hooks on the compressor. The trick is to evenly distribute the energy load. That process is simple to understand and I can speak from experience that sounds easy but application is MUCH more critical and dangerous.
Example: You hook each side of the spring and turn lets say ten turns. Stop, 10 turns on the other side. Rinse lather and repeat until spring is compressed enough to slide strut out. The theory is fine but here is the more likely scenario.
You: 10 turns one side...10 turns other...etc...etc....Neighbor walks by asks what your doing, wife says dinner is ready, kids need your help with homework, Publishers Clearing house, calls you to advise that you won 15 Million in the sweepstakes, phone rings... you get the idea of possible distractions. Lets start again, turn 5 times one side, five times the other, back and fourth then distraction come along. You say to yourself....Self Where was I? Oh yeah five turns five turns....or was it? Maybe that five turns becomes seven or eight on one side and eventually the spring will be uneven. When you notice it might be too late. One of two scenarios....A. Best Case: Spring comes out of the hooks and flies across the room, garage, driveway. B. EXTREME WORST CASE: Spring comes off hooks while your facing over it and it literally flies off in your head. If the spring doesn't take your head off, you could be minimum severely injured, OR...do I really need to explain what the OR can be?
A professional shop should have specialized equipment and trained personnel to remove the spring from the strut but you guessed it... Additional Labor $$$$$$
Think of this scenario. Prices are not exact, the idea is to explain the concept not the actual price.
Shop charges one hour labor/$100 per hour, to remove plus one hour $100 to remove spring. That is two hours of labor. Multiply by Two for the other side.
With me so far $400 just labor so far. We haven't even gotten to the price comparison of the stand alone strut or Quick Strut Comparison.
Cost of strut...(Without the pre loaded quick strut assembly) lets say $60 X2 that is $120...………………………….$520 so far not including taxes, shop fees etc.....
Quick Strut Assembly...………..$100/each so $200
You paid $200 for the Quick Strut...……………………..BUT...………..You saved $100 per side in labor because the work involves simple removal and replacement of the entire assembly as one piece.
Lets calculate again: $100 labor, $100 struts X 2 sides so $400 You saved $120 by buying the entire QSA even though the parts costs are more this is offset by reduced labor costs.
The other added benefit of this is you are getting a totally new set up. New Strut, New Coil Springs, new bearings and pretty much plug and play.
If your doing it at home even better logic for entire assembly since your not having to 1. Pay for or buy a coil spring compressor. Most auto stores will rent them, you pay retail price but get the refunded when returned. A fairly common program that allows short term rental of in frequently used home mechanic equipment. A Your not having to pay for something you may use once or twice. B. You are not worried about the overhead and storage in your possession for a low use product. If you do at home be Extremely Careful that you don't accidentally remove the CV axle from the transaxle side or stretch the axle enough to tear the cv joint dust boot causing loss of CV joint grease. For the CV Axle the same concept applies if you find yourself having to remove/replace the CV Axle shaft.
Probably a long way to explain but point is...….Since you have to remove entire assembly (STRUT/SPRING) anyway and has to go back in, why not make sure you have piece of mind with two major high demand, high stress items?
However you do it make sure you take it for alignment immediately after. A shop that will do the work will probably have alignment machine for "one stop shopping", but double check anyway.
Hope this helps!, as for what QSA is the best that is subjective. I have used SENSEN (OEM), Bilstein in other vehicles with good luck. Last time I checked the only major manufacturers with entire QSA's were Gabriel and Monroe but could be others. I would AVOID Unity. A common eBay vendor but I had them on my 2008 Volvo XC-90 and literally only lasted about 10K miles and yes that was a Front loaded QSA.
Depending on your mechanical skill the entire QSA can be done in the driveway or garage in a few hours without any major specialized tools. I did my Volvo fronts with normal wrenches, sockets, axle jacks and basic hand tools.
