Post by renaldo0613 on Nov 11, 2013 20:45:07 GMT -6
Okay so this is my first "how to " so bare with me on this. The following procedure is pretty much straight forward, this is more so for encouragement than anything. I went with Gabriel quick strut assembly part #G57051 these are interchangeable with the following:
1998-1999 Buick rivera
1998-2005 Buick park avenue
1998-1999 Olds Aurora
Now i had been debating on trying these quick struts, since it has not been clear if the rivera/ park avenue struts were interchangeable with ours. So i said the heck with it, try it.
Symptoms: I experienced a clunking noise while driving, specifically from the passenger side only when i hit bumps, which led me to believe the strut mount was blown. Not to mention my baby has 175,000 miles on original front struts/springs. Much easier to just replace the entire assembly than piecing it together IMHO. Well here it is.
First thing you wanna do is, jack up the car, plce jack stands under the car, and remove your tires.
First Pic you will see the strut mount is pretty much DONE.
Here is the new strut. I did both sides, but im working on the passenger side in this "how to ".
Disconnect the abs sensor
Remove the brake line bracket. One 10mm bolt here:
Remove the abs sensor bracket 10mm bolt
Remove the strut nuts from the bolts on the steering knuckle. Now these suckers will be tight, especially if they have never been removed before. Give them a good crank with a breaker bar and your good to go.
Once the nuts are removed you will see the factory lock tight glue. CAUTION don't try and unscrew them you have to bang them out with a mini sludge hammer of some sort. If you try to unscrew them you will ruin the "splines" (thanks Sall) on the bolt. I have a photo of the bolt that illustrates what i'm talking about coming up next. Don't get discouraged if it seems like there not trying to budge. I had to stick a flat head in between the strut assembly, and steering knuckle to get some penetrating oil in there to help slide the bolt out.
Here is the bolt removed. Notice how the bolt has what appears to be rivets ( for lack of better word) up to a certain point after that clears slap a socket on there and then you can turn it counterclockwise to help remove.
Once both bolts are removed, go back up top and remove the 3 15mm upper strut mount bolts, go back down bottom and wiggle the strut assembly loose. Be careful when removing not to drop it onto your CV axle. Here's a pic of the strut assembly gone from the car
Installation is reverse. Be sure to put some fresh lock tight on the strut bolts. Hardest part of the job is removing the bolts from the steering knuckle. Everything else is a breeze. Took me about 2 hrs for both sides, and that's with taking photos. Pop the wheels back on, test drive, get an alignment if necessary ( i didnt NEED one but still will get one) Come home drink a beer. You just saved yourself a bunch of money by DIY.
1998-1999 Buick rivera
1998-2005 Buick park avenue
1998-1999 Olds Aurora
Now i had been debating on trying these quick struts, since it has not been clear if the rivera/ park avenue struts were interchangeable with ours. So i said the heck with it, try it.
Symptoms: I experienced a clunking noise while driving, specifically from the passenger side only when i hit bumps, which led me to believe the strut mount was blown. Not to mention my baby has 175,000 miles on original front struts/springs. Much easier to just replace the entire assembly than piecing it together IMHO. Well here it is.
First thing you wanna do is, jack up the car, plce jack stands under the car, and remove your tires.
First Pic you will see the strut mount is pretty much DONE.
Here is the new strut. I did both sides, but im working on the passenger side in this "how to ".
Disconnect the abs sensor
Remove the brake line bracket. One 10mm bolt here:
Remove the abs sensor bracket 10mm bolt
Remove the strut nuts from the bolts on the steering knuckle. Now these suckers will be tight, especially if they have never been removed before. Give them a good crank with a breaker bar and your good to go.
Once the nuts are removed you will see the factory lock tight glue. CAUTION don't try and unscrew them you have to bang them out with a mini sludge hammer of some sort. If you try to unscrew them you will ruin the "splines" (thanks Sall) on the bolt. I have a photo of the bolt that illustrates what i'm talking about coming up next. Don't get discouraged if it seems like there not trying to budge. I had to stick a flat head in between the strut assembly, and steering knuckle to get some penetrating oil in there to help slide the bolt out.
Here is the bolt removed. Notice how the bolt has what appears to be rivets ( for lack of better word) up to a certain point after that clears slap a socket on there and then you can turn it counterclockwise to help remove.
Once both bolts are removed, go back up top and remove the 3 15mm upper strut mount bolts, go back down bottom and wiggle the strut assembly loose. Be careful when removing not to drop it onto your CV axle. Here's a pic of the strut assembly gone from the car
Installation is reverse. Be sure to put some fresh lock tight on the strut bolts. Hardest part of the job is removing the bolts from the steering knuckle. Everything else is a breeze. Took me about 2 hrs for both sides, and that's with taking photos. Pop the wheels back on, test drive, get an alignment if necessary ( i didnt NEED one but still will get one) Come home drink a beer. You just saved yourself a bunch of money by DIY.
