Lanos suspension question

[wessock]

2000 Lanos 1.6L 4-door.

I'm going to have my mechanic replace the front + rear struts/shocks next month but I'm buying the parts myself. I'm not looking to turn the car into a racer or anything, just the old ones are pretty much shot. I don't know much about what the job involves, but is there anything else besides the cartridges that I need to buy, or that typically breaks on a Lanos, that the mechanic will need to do the job? What's a typical install time for the fronts, and what's the time for the rears? The rears look pretty easy, but I have no idea how time consuming the fronts would be for somebody who isn't used to working on a Lanos. Anything abnormal about a Lanos suspension that would hold him up that I should get directions for ahead of time?

Thanks

[daewoomofo]

for the front i personally would get new ball joints and outer tie rid ends, to go with the new struts. alot of people sugguest getting new tops too (the part that holds the spring on, it also allows every ting to turn), i dont think thats a bad idea, prolly worth doing. kyb gr2 stuts are nice, thats my recomendation all around. you can prolly do the rears your self and save some cash, only takes about 30 min to do the rears.
1. jack the rear of the car up and support the frame with jack stands (let the rear axle hang free)
2. remove the little covers inside the trunk that cover the tops of the shocks
3. remove the shock top nuts
4. remove the bolt connecting the shock to the rear axle.
5. install new shocks in reverse order


its VERY easy!

[wessock]

I was looking at the GR-2s but bought some Gabriel struts instead because they have a 20% rebate special going on right now. I also got an awesome deal for a pair for $45 shipped when most places wanted that for one so that helped. I'm going to pick up Gabriel rears today unless somebody says that they're horrible pieces of crap or something. Have any idea how long the fronts should take a mechanic? And are the rears really that easy? You don't have to take anything off to get to the axle end bolts or anything? I haven't actually looked because it's been raining here for like 2 weeks and I just assumed it would be beyond my skills/tools.

[daewoomofo]

i have gabreal ultras in the rear, WAY better thatn kyb gas-adjust. yeah its really that easy

[wessock]

Awesome thanks. I'll definitely try that myself then. If only the fonts where that easy.

[wessock]

Hey I'm having a hell of a time even getting started on this. I can't get the top shock nuts off because the shafts that they screw onto also spin with the nuts and retainers. Is it supposed to? I can't get enough of a grip on the shaft to hold in in place enough to turn just the nut. Haha, the simpler the job seems, the more trouble I end up having with it.

[daewoomofo]

what i did is cut away the plastic cover tube that protects the shock shaft. and just clamped a set of vice grips on there, have some one hold them while you turn the nut. use an impact gun if you have one to get the old nuts off.

[wessock]

Yeah I got them eventually. I just got an adjustable wrench and really fine tuned it, turned it until it was pressing against the plastic interior, then used a 17mm wrench for the nut. Got it eventually. The lower bolts were actually a much bigger pain. 5 hours of Deep Creep and an impact wrench eventually got them. A hint for anybody else doing it though, keep the shocks compressed and tied until you get the lower bolt in or else you'll have a hell of a time lining up the bolt with the holes to thread it.

[MMamdouh]

my advice will be replacing parts 6 & 8 along with the front shocks

strut.JPG

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the top of the strut shaft is hex sided to be held by an appropriate sized wrench

i got myself a set of monroe's and they are quite nice

MMamdouh