August 28, 2016: I started hearing a loud knocking sound from the rear suspension a few weeks ago. I first noticed it when I was hauling a bunch of stuff in the trunk, and thought my cargo was making the noise. But it was still there after emptying the trunk.

I isolated the noise to something inside the LR strut. Replacing a strut normally involves removing it from the car and disassembling the various components, (the shock absorber, coil spring, upper mounting hardware, insulators, etc.). Parts are usually replaced as needed. However, the struts in my car are OEM from 2000. Replacing a strut without replacing the 16 year old coil spring and rubber insulators just doesn't make sense. Monroe makes a complete assembly for this car which makes life much easier, and much cheaper. And a strut/shock absorber assembly is one of those items that is always replaced in pairs.

Access to the upper strut mounts is through the trunk.

Pulling back the trim reveals the two mounting nuts and the dust cover.

I removed the dust cover on the RR strut. Notice the upper rubber insulator in the photo above.

There is a noticeable difference in the upper rubber insulator between the LR strut (above) and the RR strut (previous picture). It looks like something came apart in the LR strut shown above.

The first step in this ordeal is to get the back of the car in the air.

Once the strut is unbolted from the rear suspension, some flexibility may be needed to actually remove it from the car. So I am placing the jack stands at the subframe rather than on the rear suspension arms.

I started with the LR strut assembly.

The lower end of the strut is bolted to the rear suspension in one spot.

This is the time to make sure the parts I received in the mail are correct, (i.e. BEFORE I start unbolting and removing things).

I unbolted the rear trailing arm so I could move it out of the way of the lower strut bolt.

With the bolt loose, I used a long screwdriver to pry upward on the strut just enough to easily remove the bolt.

With the bolt removed, the strut can be slid inboard to clear the rear suspension.

Back in the trunk, I then removed the two upper strut mounting nuts.

With the fasteners removed, the strut lowers from the body of the car, and can then be tilted for removal.

This is another good time to make sure the parts are the same, which they are.

A lot of deterioration has occurred over the last 16 years.

Installing the new strut is a matter of reversing the removal procedure. Here I see that the strut is tilted slightly, (i.e. a larger gap exists to the right). I wonder if rotating it 180 degrees would make the mounting more even.

I rotated the strut 180 degrees which make the gaps more even.

Back in the trunk, I installed the upper mounting nuts, but didn't tighten them all the way just yet. It's a good idea to leave them a little loose in case some flexibility is needed during the installation.

Using my screwdriver, I pried downward on the rear suspension knuckle, slid the strut into place, and installed the bolt.

Once the lower bolt is installed, the upper mounting nuts can be tightened, and the dust cover reinstalled.

I then repeated the same process for the RR strut assembly.

After the nuts are tightened and the dust cover reinstalled, the trunk trim can be put back into place.