With 85K, as long as the G was going to be out of commission while my son and I wrapped it, I thought I'd replace the shocks and struts. The rear shocks were a piece of cake. I'm getting a bit worried about the struts; however.
Part way into the R/R for the struts, the FSM-FSU 46 references a section on removing the drive shaft FSM-FAX 19. However to do so, I'm assuming I need to also:
Remove the brake caliper and rotor
Remove the wheel hub
Undo the steering outer socket from the steering knuckle
and finally, use a slide hammer to pull the drive shaft.

Is there a short cut I'm missing somewhere???
I've not been able to locate detailed instructions other than the FSM and no videos that covers the '07-'08 sedan with AWD so any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance...
Jeff

 

I just did Both front struts on my 07 earlier this year, its actually pretty easy to do, there is a nice write up about it on here somewhere. now i did have to go to a friends for the spring install on the new KYB struts, but other than that its very straight forward, I had front of car on jack stands, and did not unhook sway bar, and i don't think i even unhooked any brakes,, the 2nd gen is def. easier than the first gen cars, especially for wheel bearing R & R.

 

No you don't need to, the reason they suggest that in the FSM is the brake line runs in front of the strut assembly and if you unbolt the caliper you can just swing it out of the way. You WILL need to unbolt the tie rod end link (FSM refers to this as "stabilizer connecting rod" so that both sides can move independently, otherwise you will be constantly fighting the weight of the other corner of the suspension.

Set a service jack under the steering knuckle, when the weight it taken off of it (don't actually jack it up just set the jack right below it to lower it later) everything will try to drop and ROTATE, it's sort of hard to describe how it twists when the strut tower is disconnected but if you keep the service jack under the corner you're working on it's easy to control it's movement. There isn't really any WEIGHT on it, maybe 30 lbs, but keeping it from twisting is the key part. I suggest taking a length of twine or rope and tying around the top of the steering knuckle, they running the rope over the fender (pad it with a towel so you don't damage the paint on the fender) and tie it off to something in the engine bay like the strut tower brace. This will limit it's movement as well.

Unclip the brake lines from the strut.

Remove the nut from the upper ball joint and separate it from the upper control arm, push the control arm up to get it out of the way.

Now you can unbolt the lower end of the strut, take the nut off but leave the bolt in for now. Unbolt the top 3 nuts on the strut and lower the suspension slightly with the service jack, be aware as soon as those 3 bolts are free from the chassis it's going to want to rotate clockwise or CCW depending on which side you're on, it rotates as the suspension is lowered. Again it's hard to explain just be aware that it's going to happen. Once it's free and you have tension on the rope for the steering knuckle it shouldn't move anymore, remove the lower strut bolt.

Now it's just a matter of lowering the suspension enough so the end of the strut can lift over the drive axle, then use the jack to slightly lift the axle back up and create more slack on the brake line, now you can drop the strut completely out of the vehicle.

It's all about the brake caliper lines, it's a REALLY tight fit to get the strut out without straining them which is why the FSM has you remove them. I'm not completely sure why they suggest disconnecting the drive axle, probably to keep from straining the CV axle joint but there is enough room to pull the strut out.

The AWD has that wierd fork shaped connector at the bottom of the strut that goes around the CV joint which makes everything that much more difficult because you need the extra travel in the suspension. I strongly suggest just unbolting the caliper it makes everything MUUUUUCH easier and it goes right back on without issue, plus it's always a good time to add a little more grease to the slide pins on it which are a common failure point.

Hope this helps, I've only done this one time on the V36 X platform.

 

Thanks all!
I'll give it a try again tonight. Hopefully the upper ball joint comes off without too much effort so as not to damage the boot.