changing struts/ springs this afternoon, need advice!

ok, i decided i want to suck it up, and start working on my own damn car, (coupled with the fact that i dont want to pay some bonehead $200 to install them for me!)

i have all the necessary tools (still need to rent the spring compressor though), but i have a feeling i am missing something. once i remove the old parts, what will i have to resuse? and will i need to buy anything new to complete this project?

also, what should i look for to see if it needs replacing, and how would i tell if it does?

as you can all tell, i am a newbie! but i want to figure out how to do it myself and do it right!

any advice on wether i should attack the front or rear first? i am thinking the front... but i want opinions of course!

please guide me thru this project.

(btw i have the chilton and printed the howto from this site, so dont bother telling me to go get those :))

All I have to say is to make sure to buy a BIG, BIG can of penetrating spray. If your struts haven't been worked on for a long time, you are going to have many rusted and hard to remove bolts. If anything, rusty bolts will be the only thing that will slow down the project. Other then that, it should be pretty straight forward... You should be able to reuse: dust shield, and top mounting plate. If you bought new struts, they should come with some of the necessary parts(rubber dampers, bump stop, bump stop plate, collar. if not, just make sure your old parts are in good condition if you are going to reuse them..

Good luck with the project and have fun..

Peace out.

I had my rear struts replaced a while ago, but I was FUCKING REALLY Stupid and didn't replace my springs. SO Iam almost positive one of my rear springs is squeaking. DO you think it would be easy to take the rear struts, that are only 3-4 old, off and replace the springs. I mean it had been worked on, so all the rusted nuts and shit had been taken care of. Tell how hard it would be to do this all myself????

well i managed to take care of the fronts without any major bolt issues!

the problem now is that i cant get that fat foam/rubber peice over the notch in the rod of the strut, i have fucked up my wrists turning the spring compressor and trying to jam that shit on over the strut. are there any secrets? can i use the old rubber peice taht is like half as high? or will that be a bad idea>?