Difficulty level of changing rear struts on 2001 Hyundai Elentra GLS?

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nichts_einhornchen

New member
I'm under the belief that a new car I bought, this 2001 Hyundai Elantra GLS, requires at least one rear strut. The inner side of the passenger rear tire has random flat spots in it's treads. I'm pretty sure this is common sign of a bad strut. I'm not sure which strut going bad would cause the right rear tire to get these flat spots, I'll assume it's the right-rear. Common sense says to replace both struts as replacing just one could make the ride uneven and have the opposite strut wear prematurely. First off, are these the proper struts?

Item Number: 333500 and 333501
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?carcode=1373385&parttype=7584&a=FRc1373385k502633

http://info.rockauto.com/getimage/getimage.php?imagekey=502232&imageurl=http://info.rockauto.com/KYB/333501.jpg

and second, how difficult would it be to change these? I know there are heavy-duty spring coils that are involved which will likely need to be compressed. If possible, can you provide me with a general idea of how to do this?

Thanks for any information and help.
 
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Glman1

Member
The tire wear you are seeing is called Cupping. It is due to lack of rotating the tires at every 6000 miles & or improper tire inflation. there are two ways to tell if your struts are bad. 1-st, are they leaking, (oil film around below the chrome shaft). 2-nd bounce the struts being tested, rears, up-down Hard from the bumper, let go. There should be 1-1/2 bounces to the car. Normal. Any more then that then they are going bad. To replace the struts you will need a strut spring compressor that is made just for this purpose. If you have never done this b-4 I say bring it in to have it done. I say rotate the tires to the front or replace them & stay up on tire PSI & rotations.
 
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