Removing
Apply the parking brake and chock the rear wheels.
Loosen the front wheel nuts. Raise the front of the car and place it on stands. Remove the front wheel.
Turn out a bolt of fastening of an arm of a brake hose to a rack of a forward suspension bracket. If equipped with ABS, remove the wire clamp bolts and separate the sensor harness from the rack.
On models since 2001, disconnect the anti-roll bar link from the strut bracket.
Mark the relative position of the lower part of the rack and the steering knuckle so that the camber is not disturbed during installation. Also note the position of the bolt heads due to the fact that special adjusting bolts were installed on parts of the cars.
Pic. 12.1. Unscrewing the nuts securing the lower part of the front suspension strut to the steering knuckle
Unscrew the two nuts and knock out the two bolts securing the lower part of the strut to the steering knuckle with a hammer and a drift (pic. 12.1).
Separate the lower part of the rack from the steering knuckle.
Attention! Be careful not to damage the driveshaft inner CV joint. Also, prevent the steering knuckle from falling out of the vehicle, as this may cause the brake hose to stretch or break.
Pic. 12.2. Arrangement of nuts of fastening of the top part of a rack of a forward suspension bracket to a car body
Supporting the strut from below, unscrew the three nuts securing the top of the strut to the car body (pic. 12.2). Remove the strut from under the fender of the car.
Examination
Check the shock absorber for fluid leaks, dents, cracks, or other damage to the strut body.
Inspect the spring for metal chips or cracks in the spring coating that could cause the spring to fail due to localized corrosion.
If the above defects are found, replace the defective parts.
Installation
From under the wing, put the strut in place and insert the studs of the upper strut mount into the holes in the body. Tighten the top strut nuts by hand. Install the front suspension strut with an assistant, as it is quite heavy and bulky.
Connect the lower part of the rack to the steering knuckle and insert two bolts. Screw on the nuts, align the previously applied marks and tighten the nuts.
Attach the bracket with the brake hose to the rack. If equipped with ABS, install the wheel speed sensor harness bracket.
On models from 2001, connect the anti-roll bar link to the bracket on the strut and secure it with a nut.
Install the wheel, tighten the nuts, lower the vehicle and tighten the wheel nuts.
Tighten the three front suspension strut top nuts.
Check and, if necessary, adjust the angles of the front wheels.