Okay here we go. And I am not at fault for any damage any one does to their vehicle. This is a brief overview of how I change springs and is not to be considered as a professional guide. Let it help you, but dont blame me if you muck it up. refer to pictures as you go along.
PIC 1
PIC 2
1: Take your front wheel off and jack up the front end of the car.
2: Remove the ABS sensor from right behind the rotor inside the lower control arm(LCA). (PIC 2 Blue arrow)
3: On the forward portion of the strut there is a bracket for the brake lines (PIC 1 red arrow)
A: unclip the metal piece using a flat head screw driver
B: Pull the brake line out and reclip the clip. (just so you dont lose it)
4: On the rear (aft) portion of the strut there is a endlink bracket (PIC 1 green arrow and picture 2 red arrow)
A: Using a open ended or box wrench undo this with a 5mm allen holding the bolt in place take the nut off (PIC 2 green arrow)
B: Push back on the end link and free it from the bracket
5: On the back side (interior to the center line of the car) there is a huge bolt that clamps the C-clamp style strut bottom around the strut(PIC 2 purple arrow)
A: Take the bolt out. Feel free to use a breaker/cheater bar on this.
B: On the driver side be careful cause if you do use a cheater bar you have the chance of whacking the fender and chipping the paint.
6: Now take two pieces of wood. Place one at the top of the wheel well, and the other on the LCA between the strut and the rotor.
A: Using the OEM scissor jack out of the trunk slowly pry the LCA off of the strut.
B: once the strut is free you will need to pop the hood.
7: Loosen the three bolts in the top hat of the strut in the engine bay. For the last bolt, if you are tall enough you can hold the strut while you take the last bolt off. Cause it will fall on its own if not supported.
8: Now to take the springs off....
A: Clamp on your spring compressor and squish the spring down a bit.
B: On the top of the strut remove the nut using an allen wrench to hold the bolt in place
C: Remove the top hat and spring.
D: Remove compressors and place on aftermarket spring.
9: Put top hat back on and tighten bolt.
A: Release tension on the spring compressor and check for proper seating.
10: Now reverse the steps.
A: Bolt top hat in. (three bolts in engine bay)
B: Put strut back in LCA
***: For this part I recommend using the floor jack to lift the LCA and slide the strut into the hole. It probably wont fit right at first. Keep jacking it up until you get about one inch of compression on the spring and strut. Then wiggle/shake the strut. It should slide in a bit. Compress some more with the jack, wiggle/shake more. Eventually it will go back on. This was the hardest part for me aside from getting the strut out of the LCA.
C: Now align the clamp bolt hole on the strut with the clamp bolt holes in the LCA and clamp down. I went Hulk on this bolt and it was good.
D: Connect the endlink
****Ensure it is parrallel with the strut. Straight up and down.
E: Connect the ABS sensor
F: Clip the brake line in
G: Check loose parts or bolts
H: Put your tire back on (star pattern for the lug nuts when tightening)
That should pretty much do it. I hope this helps.
