Hey all,

My 02 ES has some suspension issues and I am fairly sure it's the struts and ball joints. I had a mechanic look at it briefly and that's what he said. I am wanting to do the work myself but it's my first time for these things so I am trying to clear up some things before I start. I have heard of upper and lower control arms. Does mine have an upper? Can I replace just the joints? I have seen videos on how to press the old one out and the new one in.

Also I see struts ranging in prices from around $50 to around $100. Any thoughts on the difference? Is it really noticeable? Is it durability? It's a daily driver.

Thanks for any tips on this.

 

02 protege has lower control arms. officially the ball joints are not serviceable. however some people have reported being able to press out the old ball joints and press in 626 ball joints.

struts are a personal choice. i hear good things about KYB and you will get the original ride quality and your wallet will be happy. Tokico HP and Illumina products are one of the few performance upgrades available to the protege, and a must-have if you are going to upgrade the anti-sway bars. be wary of eBay finds, there is no consensus of reviews and your mileage may vary.

 

One other thing to throw out there, if you are doing the work yourself and don't have access to a strut spring compressor, it will be worth the extra $$ to buy a loaded strut, meaning the strut comes assembled with spring. Makes strut change out fast and simple.

 

U can rent/loan them out at parts supply if its ur first time doing job be careful as struts are loaded with power and can spring back....doing job urself saves lotsa $$$ but u need to be confident and be mechanicaly inclined and have all the tools do work with...plus somewhere to be able to work on car safely....