Shocks and struts.
 

So pardon my french, but FUCK MY LIFE.

So my 02 Ford Taurus for sure just blew a left strut, and possibly a shock in the front after hitting a very massive pothole in my friend's neighborhood today. My question is.... How hard would it be to replace both if, me and a friend just did it in my driveway with all the parts and tools???

A mom and pop shop I usually go to quoted me at $220 if both shock and strut end up being fucked. I beleve if I go to a Midas/Goodyear type place it would damn near be double that.

You may need an air gun and some special tools for compressing and decompressing the springs.

I've done it myself, just rent a spring compressor from AutoZone. You don't need an air gun, just a very long wrench with a pipe on it to break the hub bolts loose.

And each corner of your car has a strut or a shock, but not both. A Taurus is going to have struts in the front. Not sure what it has in the back.

Get OEM replacements, or maybe Tokico......don't mess around with Monroe or Gabriel junk.

Yeh its not hard, just annoying to do at best. Buy yourself a haynes or clymer manual for $20, it will give you a step by step, with pictures

For $220 from the mom and pop joint, I'm not going to curse and throw wrenches for four hours in my driveway. Forget the fact their quote sounds insanely cheap to me. Pony up the $220 and forget about it.

$20 for the manual, $40 for the spring compressor tool, and how much for the parts? Fuck it, take it to the ma and pa place.

That's probably because they plan on installing a Monroe garbage $30 strut.

Also I doubt they included alignment in that quote.

Dude, it's an '02 Taurus... it came stock with Monroe Garbage POS911 struts... And either way he'd have to get an alignment. I'd tell 'em "$250, including alignment, and you'll like it."

Crap, your right. Strut in the front, shock in the back......

Thats what I'm figuring. I don't have much money, but that was a maximun quote too! This company has saved me a ton of money in the past 2 years. They were the ones that fixed my car for $85 when a Goodyear told me that I had blown my head gasket and would require a $1900 fix.

Who knows who made its OEM struts.........All I'm saying is that Monroe's retail struts are garbage....they're way too soft

Either way, even if it is the same garbage it will be an improvement with fresh struts

It's easy enough to do, but I'd take the shop up on that offer for sure.

$220 incl parts is fair.

done it myself 1x on the miata, wasn't too hard.

Some struts dont have to be compressed.

I've done it myself on 5 different vehicles that I've owned over the years.

My advice would be to pony up for the good struts if you are going to keep the car.

If you're handy with tools and you have a nice floor jack, do it yourself. You'll do a lot of cursing with the first one but the second one will go quite a bit faster.

Make sure you also get new bump stops.

I've been putting off replacing the 13 yo OEM suspension on the Maxima for a while. I plan on doing it myself too but I'm waiting for warmer weather. I think you will also need a spring compressor as well If you look on Ebay you can find an entire set of shocks/struts and springs for $500 for the basic OEM equivalent stuff. I'm going with Tokico blues because I don't need adjustable suspension. If you buy a Hayes or Chiltons repair the instructions should be pretty straight forward. I have a Hayes for my Maxima and it looks fairly easy but time consuming.

The trouble with OEM equivalent is that alot of companies claim to be, but then you buy it and find out that "equivalent" just means it bolts up OK, but it doesn't ride or handle like OEM. Unless it says Motorcraft, it isn't the exact same strut that Ford designed. Aftermarket companies don't have access to Ford's technical specs of how soft or stiff the strut needs to be. All they do is buy a test car and build a strut that fits and performs "OK" by their mediocre standards. There's two types of aftermarket, shit and non-shit. Monroe, Gabriel, and Ebay brands you've never heard of are shit......they will be softer than OEM 9 times out of 10. Anyone who values good handling should either stick with true OEM straight from the dealer, or buy a known high-performance brand like Tokico or Koni or Bilstein.

You may also need the upper rubber boot and bearing.

Agree with this. Can't tell you how many times people have changed their struts only to have a strange popping noise when they turn afterward.

IMO, its worth it if they've never been done, particularly if your car has 100k or more miles, to at least LOOK at the ball joints too. I cant tell you how many buses I've ridden on in the last 5 months, all public transit that you can hear that when they turn, or go over bumps.