2017 EL Limited Rear Strut Replacement

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JasonH

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Thought I would briefly share my experience swapping out the OE rear struts on my 2017 EL. For context, this vehicle has seen 10 - 20,000 miles towing over the past 3 years. I think the towing wore out the rear struts, because the fronts seem fine. The rear was bobbing and bouncing over bad roads, complete with passengers coming out of their seats on big bumps. It was clear that the struts couldn't control the spring rebound anymore. I initially tried to go with quickstruts for ease of replacement, but ordered the wrong KYB part number and could only get the strut tube in time for our 800 mile, 12 hour road trip.

The job is easily doable, provided you have the correct tools, including a strut compressor. I used the KYB Excel-G struts (part no. 340072) and the tools below:

27 mm socket
30 mm socket (6 pt preferred)
1/2-inch breaker bars (two if you have them)
17 mm ratcheting wrench
8mm socket
Torch
Floor Jack

The only bolts that need to come out on the bottom are the 27mm lower strut bolt, and the 27mm lower control arm bolt (with captive nut). Up top, the 17 mm ratcheting wrench will make removing the 3 upper screws easy. It takes several turns to get them loose, so I strongly recommend using a ratcheting wrench. Due to space constraints I didn't bother trying to squeeze a socket in there. I suggest starting by breaking loose the lower strut 27mm bolt, as it is held on by the 30 mm nut has the highest torque. If you can't get that loose, then taking the top nuts off isn't helpful.

The biggest complication I had was on the driver side, as the lower strut bolt was seized and no amount of force or hammering would release it. Strangely, the passenger side came out easily. I have an air compressor, but no air tools. Ultimately, what worked was lighting the lower strut bushing on fire with a torch and hitting the loosened 30 mm nut on the end to shield the bolt from the impact. This released the bolt almost immediately, after I spent hours with penetrating and a cordless impact driver trying to get it out. Impact sockets may be helpful here as well, since the parts can be seized or torqued down pretty tight. I suggest a 6 pt socket to reduce the chance of stripping the 30mm.

Once the strut is out, you can use compress the spring, spray some penetrating lube on top, and use an impact driver to loosen the 17 mm top nut. It may require a combination of 17 mm wrenching and 8 mm socket to keep the shaft from spinning, but my impact driver helped vibrate the nut loose even with the shaft spinning.

Take the lower spring perch insulator and put it on the new strut reassemble in reverse order.

Loosely support the strut using the top screws and start threading the bottom 27mm bolts. Once everything is properly positioned, tighten and up the screws and you're good to go. I don't have torque specs...perhaps someone can chime in with those.

The ride quality was improved substantially using the Excel-G. The roads on several segments of our trip were extremely uneven, and I had no issues with controlling the vehicle anymore. I can't compare to OEM, because the vehicle was purchased with 60K miles and I have "E" tires on, which are stiffer.
 
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mr_dave

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Good info, thanks. I plan on replacing mine with Bilsteins in the near future.
 

sjwelds

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Thanks for your post. I plan to go with the KYB strut-plus when it's time for mine. Some idiot before I bought it swapped in a Monroe quick strut on one side, so I don't have the factory parts to reuse.
 

BoDarville

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What type of spring compressor did you use? I tried to do mine and my friend's Snap-on jaw type compressor buckled from the strength of the spring. Had to send it to the shop. I ask because I think I ordered the wrong struts (non-EL) and now I've hit the bump stops a few times in the back, so I might have to replace again. I'm tempted to just get the KYB quick struts, but it would be nice to save a little money.
 

OREGON

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I just installed the Excel G on my 2017 and even compared to decent OEM it's a good improvement. Body control is definitely better without any harshness.
 
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JasonH

JasonH

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Screenshot_20210917-004856_Chrome.jpgNothing fancy, mine are some generic ones that look like this. I don't really trust the metal casting, but they haven't broken thus far after several strut swaps. I aim the spring carefully just in case.
 

1oldtimer

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What type of spring compressor did you use? I tried to do mine and my friend's Snap-on jaw type compressor buckled from the strength of the spring. Had to send it to the shop. I ask because I think I ordered the wrong struts (non-EL) and now I've hit the bump stops a few times in the back, so I might have to replace again. I'm tempted to just get the KYB quick struts, but it would be nice to save a little money.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no difference in the struts for EL or NON-EL. If there is, I've never seen it. So please correct me if I am wrong.
 

sandbuster

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View attachment 70429Nothing fancy, mine are some generic ones that look like this. I don't really trust the metal casting, but they haven't broken thus far after several strut swaps. I aim the spring carefully just in case.
When I changed out all the struts on my 2019 4runner I went over to Harbor Freight and bought a similar spring compressor on sale for less than $30. Having spent over 25 years in Ford service I was super cautious - even put on my full face helmet for the first strut/spring change. Following Youtube instructions (lube the threads on the compressor bolt and compress each side envyingly) I actually was successful in not killing myself. After the first strut I was confident enough to remove the helmet and proceeded doing the rest without incident. I have plenty of air and air-tools but I did this using a half inch ratchet.
 
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