Easier to replce entire strut assembly?

[serialize]

Hello,

My wife's car is getting flimsy on the front with 2 broken strut mounts and suspension link.
Also lose tie rod. Normally I would try to do it all myself (I've done her cam shaft gasket twice, timing belt/pullies/waterpump, brakes, oil and other odds and ends).
But it deep into winter here in Canada and my garage is very small and not heater, so considered a mechanic.
They gave a quote of $1041.0 to replace both strut mounts, struts, suspension link, and right side tie rod + alignment.
This sounds awefully high priced when I see complete strut assembly kits online for $350-400 a pair!

My question is if I attempt this myself in the freezing cold, is it possible to replace the entire strut mount and complete assembly (with spring already on it) and not need to mess with the spring comressor tool and all that?
I am thinking of doing this and just swap the entire strut with spring on it and not sure if that makes any difference or the job easier.

Any tips or info would really help out.
Thank you.

[avguy]

With a full strut/spring replacement the total time for the entire job would of course be less. However, the entire disassembly and reassembly of the strut can be done inside where it's nice and warm. So the amount of time you would spend out in the cold is exactly the same either way. Also, the strut dis/reassembly is not a long or tough job. If you don't already have one, Autozone has a very nice loaner spring compressor that works great for our Aveo struts.

[MikeC06]

I just dropped my old struts, and slapped in my new springs, was really easy.

[Adan_Lucio141]

i don't have any special tools and I have to do this as well.... new struts+mounts do I need any special spring compressor or anything special or can I just do it with average tools

[avguy]

Autozone has a quality spring compressor in their loan-a-tool program. The way this works is you "buy" the tool just like a regular purchase. After you're finished, you can either keep the tool or return it with the full purchase price refunded. I did this twice for both of our Aveos, and it worked out great. This AZ program can be a big $$ saver for us DIYers.

[milesvinson]

too bad the QUICK STRUTS are not available for our cars. It would have made my job a lot more simple.

[petrified.rabbit]

unfortunately the "quick struts" are usually made of the lowest quality parts, and personally i wouldn't want to have those cheap springs on my car. the mounts and shocks are acceptable for a few thousand miles, but i wouldn't trust those springs, i've seen quite a few broken sets.