Need to mess with ball joints to replace front strut?

[Gooch]

Did a front brake job over the weekend and I noticed that the rubber boots that cover the upper half of the front struts are split and move freely. I've been wanting to replace the rear shocks. I wonder about the difficulty of replacing the front too.
I noticed that the front strut assembly has three bolts holding the bottom in place. Can one disassemble the front strut from the front end through the three bolts without having to pry apart the lower ball joint?

1994 525i

[bimmerd00d]

ball joint does not have to come off to replace the struts. Just the 3 bolts on the bottom, the sway bar link bolt, and the 3 bolts on the strut tower. When those are off, you can pull the bottom of the strut assembly towards you and it will come out leaving the ball joint attached. The rears are just simply the shock bolt and the 3 tower bolts under the parcel shelf.

[632 Regal]

id this the stock boot setup or Bilsteins or what? The stock ones just float on there and if someone lowered the front it had to be shortened about an inch. If its the stock foamy boot deal thats normal and the slice made it easier for someone to put it back on after they probably forgot to do that.

[Elekta]

I have a question regarding struts.

I have had a minor alignment problem since buying my car. I allowed it to trash the tires that came with it, and when I bought my new XGT Michelins I was determined to get an alignment and not ruin the left front.

Well, I got the alignment and I was told that ( I can't find my receipt right now) that I had a minor toe-in/camber issue and that they could not get a perfect alignment, and did I hit a major chuck hole recently.

Their suggestion was to start with replacing the left front strut, which they believe is slightly bent and the cause of a barely discernible pull to the left.

Can I change it out with out replacing the near new bilstein too? Anyone ever experience a similar symptom and remedy?

Thanks, and I'll hang up and listen. :)

geoffrey

[632 Regal]

if the strut housing got bent then theres a good chance that the shock is bent and probably wont pull out of the housing. Look for a strut housing if yours is bent. The only adjustments the shops can do is toe.

[Elekta]

Indy couldn't tell if it's bent or not. I never hit anything. This event happened on the previous owner/s watch.

I replaced the front shocks when I bought the car. Indy just said that that would be the first place to start, by replacing the strut and then try to align the car again, and see if the toe-in numbers would come out the same.

I was just feeling out the board to see if anyone concurred.

thanks,