My fianc茅 has decided to replace the struts and springs on his car by himself. He claims it%26#039;s an easy job, and that if he needs any help he can always call his friend who%26#039;s a mechanic. With instructions printed off the Internet in hand, my fianc茅 feels very confident about this job.
However, he%26#039;s had his car lifted off the ground and has been tinkering with it for a whole day already, but hasn%26#039;t made any progress. He claims he%26#039;s %26quot;getting the feel of it.%26quot;
Is what he is doing dangerous, or is it a simple maintenance routine that is fairly easy to accomplish and he%26#039;s just being %26quot;slow%26quot; about it?|||You have cause to concerned, it IS dangrous if he doesn%26#039;t have the compression tool needed to compress the spring on the struts before he removes them AND he better use the tool correctly, if he doesn%26#039;t and the strut %26#039;%26#039;busts%26#039;%26#039; loose of the tool, it could seriously injure or even kill him. (this has happened before) if he has a %26#039;%26#039;mechanic%26#039;%26#039; friend, he better use him to do this job.(this is a 30min.job per strut)|||he should be little bit skilled to do it himself if he doesn%26#039;t know how. I would get him a manual. .It helps professionsls...why not him.|||yes it is a dangerous job
the struts are under gas pressure and improper removal of them could result in serious injury , without the proper tools and know how he can very easily injure himself
they make a tool called a coil spring compressor that he will need to get before trying to remove the spring and strut assembly
have him get ahold of his mechanic friend before he goes any farther
B.|||The struts aren%26#039;t hard to do, but Ivan Dag is right. You need the spring compressor toil to compress the springs when putting them back on. Without it, you wont be able to compress the springs (even if he tries, he can%26#039;t). Other then then, it%26#039;s pretty easy. Like Mazda Man said, get a manual, either Chilton%26#039;s or Haynes. It makes repairs much easier.|||yes without the right tools it can be very dangerous.he needs a spring compressor.it%26#039;s pretty straight foreward,but he should get his buddy to help him|||it depends... it can be dangerous if not done carefully... those springs can pop out and seriously hurt a person. short of that i did a pair for my friend with basic hand tools and some spring compressors from harbor freight tools, and had it done in a full day. most of that was cranking on the spring compressors with a ratchet. besides compressing the springs its easy... 3 bolts on top, 3 bolts on the bottom,special offset wrench for the center bolt on top , and thats about it... it still takes time though.|||Any auto work that requires you to put your body or portions of it under the car body is dangerous.
Struts do take time.
To be a novice, without a manual and the right tools is only to ask for problems.
Encourage him to get the manual, to buy to buy some jack-stands and the right tools such as a spring compressor.
