In the engine compartment…
…we use a screwdriver to pry off the cover of the upper support…
…and we take it off.
Holding the shock absorber rod with a 9 mm open-end wrench, loosen the rod nut with a 19 mm Z-wrench.
Disconnect the ball joint of the front suspension arm from the steering knuckle (see Removal the lever).
We remove the tailpiece of the outer joint of the wheel drive from the wheel hub (see Removal the front wheel drives).
Disconnect the outer end of the steering rod from the shock absorber strut pivot arm (see Replacing the outer tie rod end).
Subsequent operations to remove the shock absorber strut can be performed in two ways.
So, with the first method, the shock absorber strut can be dismantled without removing the brake pad guide and brake disc.
In this case, we remove only the front wheel brake caliper (see Replacing the protective cover and sealing ring of the front wheel brake piston) and tie it with wire or cord to the brake pipe mounting bracket.
In the second method, remove the brake pad guide with the caliper, tie them with wire or cord to the brake pipe mounting bracket and remove the brake disc (see Replacing the front wheel brake disc).
Do not press the brake pedal after removing the pad guide and caliper, as the piston may come out of the cylinder completely.
Using a 12 mm socket, unscrew the three nuts securing the upper support of the shock absorber strut to the body cup…
…and remove the rack.
We compress the spring with two clamps located diametrically opposite to each other.
After the spring stops pressing on the upper support cup, completely unscrew the rod nut.
We remove the upper support of the rack from the rod.
We remove the flat washer from the recess in the upper part of the support.
A disc washer is installed at the bottom with the convex side facing downwards.
Remove the flat washer from the shock absorber rod.
We remove the upper support cup of the spring with the cover.
We remove the spring with clamps..
…and a compression stroke buffer.
We remove the rubber gasket from the lower support cup of the spring.
Using a pipe wrench, unscrew the strut housing nut (you can also clamp the nut in a vice and turn the rack)…
…and remove the nut.
We remove the shock absorber from the strut housing.
We assemble and install the rack in the reverse order.
We install a new shock absorber into the strut housing.
We replace the rack housing nut with a new one.
We replace the worn upper support bearing together with the support.
We install the disc washer under the upper support bearing with the concave side facing up.
When installing the spring, the end of its lower coil should rest against the protrusion of the lower support cup of the strut..
...and the shaped protrusion of the upper support cup of the spring should be directed towards the pivot arm of the right strut and in the direction opposite to the arm of the left strut.
(The original material is located on the website ChevyMan)