That'* fine John, and can be used in an "emergency" situation - also depending on if someone has a spare serpentine belt laying around. IMHO the proper procedure should at least be posted, if noit the first advice given. $25 for a set of tools to do the job right is not outlandish, and I believe they are even cheaper at PepBoys. Even most poor college students should be able to afford that to do the job properly, and not risk the possible damage to an expensive set of struts.

Edit - Mountainman - if you can't afford the tools, or do not plan on doing many and have no reason to buy them, check with your local parts stores, like Autozone or Advance. They're likely to have them as part of their "Loan a Tool" program.

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up meeting a guy (one of the employees) at Autozone who'* brother is a mechanic. He called his brother and sent me over there to talk with them. The mechanic ended up pulling apart the old strut, checking the parts and lubing the bearing up for me. All I had to do was pull the struts and install the new ones. Now all I have left is to get the car to the shop to get it aligned. I noticed that I have some odd toe angles now (toed out slightly), so I imagine i bumped something and got it out of whack. Oh well, that is what the alignment is for. It isn't too bad, so I am not worried about driving it to the shop, plus the shop isn't far from the house.

Those old struts were so dead they would not spring back when i compressed them. I am sure the new ones will ride much better. Atleast I hope so, lol.

Thanks again.

Anyone change only one? And if you changed both, did the front end shoot straight up?