Swapping out Front struts.... Advise

[jspout]

Hi, I already swapped out the rear struts and spring assemblies. That was pretty easy. The fronts look a little more involved. I'm just swapping the whole spring, strut and hub assembly like the rears. I won't need to compress the springs for that will I? It looks like I will have to take off the bolt from the tie rod, the 2 lower arm bolts and the brake line mounts. I will keep the brake stuff where it is from the old one. That sound right? Any advise before I dive into it? Thanks

[jspout]

I'm into it now, the 1 foot vertical rod, the bolt just spins, do I need to peel back that rubber boot and put a wrench on the other side?

[yodawill2000]

Does the FSM show the procedure ??

[jspout]

Finally got this sucker out. but ran into a few obsticals. Rusted stuck bolts were my main problem. I busted a few tools and knuckles. That 1 foot vertical bar with the 2 ball joints(sorry forgot what it's called) was a pain. The threads were really rusty and that ball just spins. I pealed back the rubber boot and put a pair of vice grips on there to keep it from turning. The only other thing that I should mention, don't try to remove the small bolt that holds in the sensor on the brake. I used liquid wrench before I started and put very little pressure and the bolt still snapped off. Now i have to have it drilled out. just leave the sensor in. An air rachet whould have helped speed up the proccess.

[swimshark]

Yah it isnt easy the first time. The hardest part is popping the ball joints out of the strut. I had to apply pressure with a crow bar and then hit with a 4lb mini sledge to jar it loose. The sensor for the brake is the ABS sensor. And the 1ft vertical bar is the link for the front sway bar. Id make sure to hit all the bolts and holes with WD40 and clean them out pretty good. You can also get a bolt extractor kit from Sears for $20. I need to remove a broken bolt for my plenum.