I was told yesterday, I have a slight leak in my left strut. I was wondering how difficult is it to replace the front struts; do I need any special tools, etc? I'm mechanically incline, although, I've never did any "strut" work before. I've been quoted from $250-$350 depending on the strut I want. I'd like to save the money and do it myself. I'd like to get some advise and opinions about what's involve doing the replacement. What's a price of inexpensive struts. So far, I found some Monroe's from Sears and Kragens for around $65. Is this a good price? Is there any others that are worth to buy, but less money? I figure I need to realign the car, if I do this, or is there a tip I should know to avoid an alignment? I'm trying to save the money, because yesterday, I had to buy new tires for the car. The total job and cost of tires were around $600. Thanks, Sam 1978 Mustang V6

I've had Sears replace the struts on an '81 Mercury Zephyr, whose suspension is pretty much the same as the Fox body Mustang. The price you got from Sears is on the money with what I paid (cost to do all four corners, parts and labor, was about $100). I've been generally satisfied with the Sears struts/shocks, though they tend to be firmer than the original Motorcraft ones. With a Mustang, you'd want something firmer than for a Zephyr, so it shouldn't be a big deal. As for doing the work yourself, from what I've read, it should be doable, and shouldn't require a spring compressor (the Fox chassis uses a modified McPherson strut design that allows the struts to be removed without worrying about the springs). It's a bit of labor, but if you're mechanically inclined, you should be ok. If you have a late model Mustang (post-Fox chassis era, which I believe is anything newer than about 93 or 95), then I can't say. My experience has been with 60s Mustangs and my Zephyr, which is the first generation of cars to use Fords Fox chassis. Good luck, Joe