DIY Toyota Camry Front Strut Replacement - Every Step Shown

This video shows the step by step details on how to replace the front struts in most any front-wheel drive car. In this case, a 2003 Toyota Camry.
Links to replacement parts:
Front Struts with Sway-Bar Links: geni.us/Camry_...
Torque Wrench: geni.us/Torque...
A paid link means I will get paid a small commission for recommending the product to you. It doesn't cost you a dime to use these, it is just a great way to support the channel when you do.

[@willf5768]

I always like to soak down nuts and bolts with some good ole CRC in the spray bottle it really helps loosen things up and makes the job a lot less painful. 😁👍

[@georhohm]

take the top part of the bar from your jack stand put it on the end of the breaker easy to break bolts

[@user-qc8xk8eu4b]

With peace and love, get an impact wrench, I felt so bad watching you try to break all of that stuff with a breaker bar. Also locking pliers work wonders for those stubborn sway bar links. Great video though, very detailed

[@DansWay]

Hey there, I appreciate the comments. I like to show it the 'hard' way, because more people are likely to not have the impact if they are watching my videos. You are absolutely right however that an impact would make quick work of many of those bolts. I don't understand how I would use locking pliers on the sway-bar links. Can you elaborate?

[@aarona5839]

@@DansWayi appreciate it greatly. A lot of these videos never show the struggles of real car work.

[@fortyfourrobo544]

Great video, thank you for taking the time!

[@DansWay]

Thanks for the comment!

[@TherdBuddhist]

Thanks well you put too much effort to tell us everything how to change Strut by ourselves. I have ever did it but 40 years ago with spring clamp with Toyota Corolla . It is pretty hard work but we can save money a lot and don't forget to wheel alignment after .

[@piggyis27]

Dan , why couldn’t you be my neighbor lol 😂 thank you so much for this video. My Strut is shot as well and taking to a friend to fix.

[@DansWay]

Haha, wow... You would be welcome to the neighborhood! Love your handle by the way! (and I don't mean sideboobs...)

[@palace5917]

Love to see the pitfalls of dyi. Great job.

[@ferndog1461]

Yeah, most KZbin cats edit out the stuck moments. Quick struts from KYB are good.

[@INTERNA9]

Thanx

[@wayne8001]

I wish you showed the installation of the top strut cap/hat, bearing, and mount :( That's what I needed.

[@terencescott3957]

I'm getting ready to do this on a 05 Camry. I think i'm going to try loosening both bolts on the sway bar link first. It seems as if they were both connected, you could have used the extra leverage since it wouldn't have been able to flop around. Good tips in this video. I did the rear struts yesterday and they took a 19mm. I noticed you said 22 or 23 for the front. Does anyone know if they are different on all models front to back?

[@ponchotran9004]

Would a long pole extend the length of the breaker bar?

[@briant7652]

A piece of exhaust pipe over the breaker bar works well

[@moisespiura5000]

Very Instructive video and Helpful.

[@DansWay]

Glad you think so!

[@mightyheididreamwarrior7518]

Hey Dan, I’m sorta in the same position your neighbor was. Pepboys wants 4K for front and back shocks/struts. I’m pricing parts so that I can have someone else do the work cheaper. My question is I see the term struts and shocks used interchangeably and not 100% sure if I should be looking for just a loaded shock assembly or that and struts as well. I have a 2009 Toyota Camry LE. Since your knowledge I thought I might ask for a little parts knowledge 🤣

[@DansWay]

Hey there Mighty Heidi! So 4K sounds totally rediculous. I would send a guy in there with the same question and see what they say. Sorry to say that shops are money-grubbing to say the least... Anyway, good on you for getting the parts and doing this with some help. So a simple shock is just a round tube with fluid inside. As I recall, the rear of the camry has a set of shocks, and separate springs. The front uses struts which are a combination of a shock and spring together.

[@mightyheididreamwarrior7518]

@@DansWayyes, someone else just explained the same. Also found doing a search with the vin number gives the correct all around set. Thank you for your vid, it was very helpful in helping me understand the parts.

[@thedeerhunter4407]

you like to struggle.just cut off those studs on the sway bar links you are replacing them anyway and use a pipe on breaker bar on strut bolts

[@someguy320]

Love the vid Dan, amazing work, wish you could be my neighbor lol.

[@DansWay]

Haha, sure! Thanks for the complement. 😉

[@DooWops4U2]

Geez those 22mm nuts where a bare to break loose are we in snow/rain country? Great video BTW

[@MariaGonzalez-ei1pv]

😊awsome video man ...I have that car 02 im a diy😊do youneed to get Alignment ?did you ever do a video of the catalytic converter?

[@DansWay]

Thanks! It is a good car even at 20 years old. Definitely looking tired, but still drives!

[@SG-bb8pq]

That inner cv axle didn't look like it wasn't sitting right. I'm sure you addressed that, though.

[@ninh05]

Good thing the newer sway bar on camry face the front on both ends.

[@DansWay]

Good to know. Yah that might be easier to deal with.

[@henryz9130]

Newbie here, planning to do it myself tomorrow. Wondering what is the number setting for the torque wrench when tightening up the upper three bolts? Thanks~

[@DansWay]

You can google the exact value for your specific model and year. I purposely don’t quote torque specs because they could be different for each model. Let me know how it turns out!

[@mediacreationsusa]

gonna tackle this soon - I hope your detroit axle choices were good - that was the kit I got - I maybe should have just gone KYB - oh well... good point on the brakes - I just did mine on that car lol - so have to be careful. Im thinking if the sway bar links seem ok... perhaps I can just re-use them... seems like a 1/2 the job to get those off... BTW spray down all nuts/bolts with PB blast - let it sit for an hour, makes life easier - even having to still use a breaking bar... I wonder if my earthquake would break it loose prob not.... lastly - do you need to get a front end alignment after?

[@DansWay]

Hey there. Good luck on this installation. I didn't have to get an alignment as this job doesn't change the steering system of the car, just the support. You could definitely get it checked if you have any change to alignment that you notice, such as pulling left/right when it didn't before. I changed the sway-bar links because they are so hard to get off the first time, might as well just replace them and be done with them for another 100K miles...

[@mediacreationsusa]

@@DansWay I thought the camber changes because you have more downward pressure on the tires with newer springs and struts like that - not so much the toe alignment, but the way the tire meets the ground... yeah, I hope these Detroit Axel brand struts are decent....

[@landscapevision6553]

I’d you take the axle nut off? How did you get the Rotor,caliper to align with he strut holes?

[@DansWay]

I didn't have to remove the axle nut for this job. The top of the strut has a rotating plate with the screws sticking up out of it. You can insert the strut into the holes then just twist the whole strut to align it with the rotor assembly.

[@xinzang]

Nice to see brute force automotive when things go bad.

[@DansWay]

Pretty much had to just go for it!

[@xinzang]

Thanks for the video I just finished doing mine thanks to this video it was a success.

[@DansWay]

Awesome! Anything I didn’t show you would suggest people know about?

[@xinzang]

Just soak the bolts with wd and buy both sway link bars with brake pads. I did have to replace the both front tires and the ride felt like a new car.

[@DansWay]

Thanks for the thoughts!

[@paulb5497]

add W40 or other penetrating oil before unbolt

[@ngbdq]

It would easier to align the structs with the two big bots if you keep the top four nuts loose.

[@DansWay]

Good suggestion. Thanks for that!

[@Bobcatspiritdude]

The link for the struts says they are 2004 and do not fit the 03 model😮🤔

[@BrazitodeWawa]

Dan, I changed arms, rods , sway and struts aftermarket, steering is little rigid, what’s most likely the culprit? Which part may be preventing smooth steering? Maybe the ball joint? Should I go all parts Toyota or which parts? Thanks

[@DansWay]

I would give it a few weeks to soften up myself. Perhaps this is just the new components needing to break in? Not sure... You could remove the control arms and manually turn the tires to see if there is a difference on the driver vs. passenger side. If one is much different, then you likely have a bad component. Obviously really hard to tell when you first install these sorts of parts. Let us know what you find out!

[@BrazitodeWawa]

@@DansWay yes, thanks, I will try all options such as fluid change, steering wheel lubrication, and perhaps going original oem for arms, rods, sway bar, and ball joint. Most of these are metal but the ball joint seems to be important in moving smoothly. Unfortunately my mechanic is doing this, I can’t do this work. But I’m looking for ideas and hope to find the solution soon.

[@jesusalfaro6185]

@@BrazitodeWawafor the ball joint. Go Toyota OEM. The CarCareNut, a toyota master mechanic goes into depth on the Toyota ball joints

[@ddbobrow]

Dan do you have the link for the torque specs? Great video btw!

[@DansWay]

I actually prefer to have people google the answer for themselves as different cars have different specs just put in gear/make/model/trim and the words ‘strut torque specs’

[@mikeselsvik8357]

It’s a sway bar link not a tie rod the tie rod is for the steering

[@DansWay]

You are absolutely correct. Too bad I can’t update just one word of a video…

[@mikeselsvik8357]

@@DansWay l just wanted you to know if you didn’t that’s all just trying to be helpful

[@deananderson2143]

Good video good-neighbor

[@gerardomartinez9992]

Will the parts fit a 2003 Camry?

[@dgvg86]

I don't see a link for the torque specs.

[@GIXXRBRAH750]

Do you need to raise both front sides ? If r can you do 1 at a time I want to put coilovers on my 04 Camry but when I remove the OEM struts it’s impossible to get coilovers to fit ? Is it because the sway bars gets all the weight onto the side where it isn’t on stands?

[@DansWay]

Sway bar will take full load to one side if you only jack up one side. Lift both and they will hang equally and it is easier to remove.

[@GIXXRBRAH750]

@@DansWay will it also be easier to install

[@gregsutton6258]

Did you know that the bottom strut bolts are torque to yield and should not be used again because they stretch on the first installation and next time they are not as strong, also thread locker should be applied before the nuts are fitted.

[@mediacreationsusa]

oh like head bolts... never resuse those after they have been torqued...

[@thedeerhunter4407]

just reuse them and get them efifn tight

[@jeohua1193]

Been there done that it's not so easy

[@renyuanli]

Why you need to change the sway bar link?

[@DansWay]

The bushing was worn out so it was rattling around. The sway bar bushings were the biggest reason for the sounds.

[@lavafireground9758]

Lazy mechanic, just replace the strut..reuse the rest of the parts... if the rest of parts are good, why replace everything..

[@DansWay]

I would say I'm not lazy if all I would save is the spring itself. As a DIY, I don't want to recommend spring removal as it can be hazardous. Just not worth the savings just to buy/rent the tools to make it happen. With this many miles (>>150K) there is no point in not just replacing the whole thing.

[@lavafireground9758]

@DansWay I was in a situation where one side of my strut was broken.. two mechanics refused to replace the strut alone... the third mechanic did it without any question asked.. And I've never had a problem with it since then... they want to replace everything so that they can make money and keep and reuse the old parts...

[@DansWay]

@@lavafireground9758 So was it the strut cartridge inside the failed? If so, did they reuse everything else while just replacing the cartridge? In my case, with ~180K miles, I would have had to replace the top cap and the strut cartridge, and rent/buy the spring compression tool, and deal with the compression process which I'm not personally comfortable with. So for me the replacement of the whole assembly felt like the better option. I understand that there are times that repair at a shop could be simpler, but with the cost of shop labor ($125+ around me), replacing the part is much more economical.

[@lavafireground9758]

@DansWay you did the right thing... the car is over 180k miles... my car is new, just that potholes broke my strut... so it just needed one... i reuse the rest of the parts, and it works well...