According to this page, replacing the front struts does not require any special tools except for the tie rod end puller and impact wrench (which I don't have). On the other hand, this thread as well as the hynes repair guide mentions special tool to remove the 24mm nut at the top of the strut assembly. I would be grateful to hear some first-hand experience about the front strut replacement and special tools required to do this.

 

I'm pretty sure you need a spring compressor for that job, too.

I toyed with trying to do it myself, and ended up bringing all the bits I'd collected (struts, springs, bushings, etc) to my mechanic and paying him to do it.

 

Sure, but spring compressor is not a special tool in a sense that such job needs it by default...

Well, the estimate I got was ~400$ of just LABOR for struts and ball joints. Seems a bit too much.. May be I will try to hire backyard mechanic for this.. Any suggestion in Boston area would be appreciated.

 

its likely a 4 hour job for a pro. presumably, that includes wheel alignment, which is necessary after taking that stuff apart.

 

I just did my wife's 89 740. It took me 4 hrs to do the 1st one and 2 hrs to do the 2nd one. No special tools and what i found was to remove the lower ball joint and pull the strut down with the spring and pull the whole assembly out. I used a friends spring compressor which was a snap on unit that made the spring removal simple. The strut nut was removed with a large pipe wrench. I replaced the strut and upper mount along with the lower ball joint. Put it back together and didn't get it realigned. Either I was lucky or there isn't a need to align it. Car runs straight and after 500 miles there is no abnormal wear. This is the 1st time I replaced the struts as the car only has 335,000 miles on it.

 

I think it as the Bentley manual that says you can do it on the car and not need to realign.

 

You don't need to align it if you are careful not to disturb the alignment. It all depends on what you remove. Worse case, count the treads!

 

Jagtoes, could you please be more specific? According to Hynes you need to be able to rotate the top nut AND simultaneously hold the strut so it does not rotate when you unscrew/screw the nut.. I've tried to rotate the top nut without disassembling anything, and it indeed seems that I need to hold the strut. Thus seems, the use of deep offset wrench (like this one) is unavoidable, so that on top of it you can hold the strut with another socket wrench.

Also, can you get without using tie rod end pullers?

 

I believe the manual is talking about the strut housing not rotating, not the actual strut cartridge. So you need to use something like a vice to hold the strut housing while you turn the big nut. Just don't clamp the vice so hard that you crush the strut housing.

 

1st I was replacing strut cartridges on a 89 740. I put the front end on jack stands. Removed the wheel and brake caliper (hung it ). Removed the tie rod end (loosen the nut and hit it with a hammer and it pops out). Remove the lower ball joint. Next remove the 3 nuts on the tower . Then push down on the lower A frame and pull the assembly out of the car. You need to push it down hard to get enough room to pull the whole unit out. I took the unit to the Snap on spring compressor and compress the spring. Then using a air wrench spun off the top large nut. With the spring in the compressor I removed the strut assembly and put it into a vice and using a large pipe wrench removed the cartridge nut. Pulled and replaced the cartridge and reassembled using the reverse process.

 

Thanks for the advice on tools, but I've ended up bringing the car to the shop. They did front struts+ball joints in less than 3 hours. After replacing all shocks car drives like new.