Replacing front struts on a Venture van
 

I want to get this down before I forget the details.

It takes two people to do this job. Make sure the engine is cold.

There is no doubt that strut replacement is a bear on these vans.

The driver side is difficult. The passenger side is a pain in the lower back.

It takes a 15 mm box end wrench and a lot of patience.

Begin by removing the wiper arm from the ball stud on the wiper motor. Two 8 mm nuts clamp the ball stud. Loosen them enough to pull the ball stud out. Place the arm out of the way.

Say goodbye to the skin on your arms and knuckles.

Begin with the passenger side. Take the windshield wiper hose and clamp it out of the way. The inboard and rear nuts are easy. Lean into the engine compartment and stick your arm in. It just takes a quarter turn and flip the wrench. You get a rhythm going after a while. Work your way around to each nut. A few turns and move on. You will be able to unscrew the outboard nut only so far. A metal brace prevents you from unscrewing the nut completely. You have to let the suspension sag a little bit to gain enough clearance to get that last twenty turns. Make sure you leave the most accessible nut on to hold the strut while you work on the two bolts connecting the strut to the steering knuckle. When you have the bottom bolts knocked out, have someone unscrew the last nut and you pull the strut assembly out of the wheel well. My struts where rusted to the shock tower. A little nut buster and a couple of whacks with the hammer broke the rust.

Installation is a two person job. Slip the strut assembly into the wheel well and get the studs into the holes. Don't push all the way. Have just enough stud sticking up into the engine compartment to allow someone with small hands to get the nuts started on the studs. Work your way around the studs. A couple of turns and move on to the next. Get the nuts as tight as you can. You will never get a torque wrench in there. The driver side is the same procedure. There are not obstructions on that side that prevents you from unscrewing all the nuts.

2000 Chevy
 

how about replacing the front wheel studs on a 2000 silveradfo 1500...........easy work? only 6 studs but they are all stripped

Take it down to the repair shop and have them press off and press on a new set of studs. This is not a DIY job. These studs must be perpendicular to the surface of the steering knuckle.

Have it towed to the shop. They can press them off and on with the steering knuckle still on the truck.

How in the heck did you manage to strip all six studs?

I managed to change out the struts on my 2005 by myself. What I found made the job MUCH easier was removing the entire wiper arms assembly out of there, 'cause it freed up so much space & made it easier to work on the strut nuts up top. Going by memory now, 'cause it's been a couple of years, but I believe I also removed the bolts fastening the wind-shield washer tank in place, so that it could be moved around down a bit to make it easier to get the wiper assembly out from under the wind-shield area. But when you go to put the wiper assembly back in service, BEFORE you attach the wiper arms, PLEASE ensure that you cycle / park the wipers (WITH NO ARMS ATTACHED) at least a couple of times to ensure that they're parked properly. THEN attach the wiper arms properly & test for function. I learned the hard way that if you do NOT have the assembly parked properly before attaching the arms then you can overload a part in the intermittent wiper module & then you have a problem.