How to Replace Shock Spring Assembly 2002-06 GMC Envoy XL
Created on: 2014-08-28
Learn how to remove the wheel, rotor, and axle to replace the front struts on the 02-06 GMC Envoy XL with the help of our experts
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Upon completing this procedure, it's recommended to get an alignment
step 1 :Removing the Wheel
- Pry off the hub cap with a flat blade screwdriver
- Loosen the 35mm hub nut with the vehicle on the ground
- Loosen the 19mm lug nuts
- Raise the vehicle with a floor jack
- Secure the vehicle on jack stands
- Remove the lug nuts
- Pull off the wheel
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step 2 :Removing the Rotor
- Remove the 17mm bolts from the brake caliper while using an 18mm wrench to hold the inside nut
- Pry the brake pads into the caliper with a flat blade screwdriver to push in the pistons
- Pull the caliper aside
- Pry the brake pads off with a flat blade screwdriver
- Remove the 18mm bolts from the brake caliper bracket
- Pull off the brake caliper bracket
- Pull the rotor off
- If the rotor will not come off, hit the rotor with a ball peen hammer
- If the rotor still won't come off, thread the bolts into the press holes and slide the rotor off
- Remove the center hub nut
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step 3 :Removing the Axle
- Place a pry bar onto the back of the axle where it connects to the transmission
- Hammer the pry bar to push the axle out
- Remove the 15mm bolts from the panel to access the driver side
- Remove the 15mm bolts from the control arm with a socket, ratchet, and wrench
- Hammer the upper control arm off the ball joint
- Pry open the clip and remove the brake line wiring harness
- Wire-tire the caliper onto the backing plate
- Remove the two 10mm bolts from the brake line bracket
- Pull the control arm back from the steering knuckle
- Place a drip pan underneath the differential
- Maneuver the axle out of the differential
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step 4 :Removing the Front Strut
- Spray the bolt on the sway bar link with penetrating oil
- Remove the bolt with a 15mm wrench and a 4.5mm Allen wrench
- Loosen the two 15mm bolts from the top of the front strut
- Push the wheel knuckle up and loosen the nuts till they're finger tight
- Remove the 18mm nut from the base of the strut
- Tap out the 18mm bolt with a hammer and pry the bolt with a pry bar
- Spray penetrating oil around the base of the strut
- Hammer out the base of the strut
- Wire-tie the wheel knuckle to the control arm
- Remove the two 15mm nuts from the strut
- Pull the strut down and out
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step 5 :Installing the New Front Strut
- Place a floor jack underneath the lower control arm
- Place jack stands to support the vehicle
- Feed the new strut into place
- Thread the bolts onto the top of the strut
- Replace the 18mm nut into the base of the strut
- Torque the 18mm nut to 90 ft/lbs
- Tighten the 15mm nuts on the top of the struts
- Torque the 15mm nuts to 50 ft/lbs
- Tighten the nut on the sway bar with a 15mm wrench and 4.5 Allen wrench
- Clip the wire ties from the steering knuckle
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step 6 :Installing the Axle
- Fit the axle into the hub and then push it into place
- As you go, place the steering knuckle into the ball joint on the control arm
- Make sure the axle is locked
- Replace the brake line bracket
- Insert and tighten the 10mm bolts to the brake line bracket
- Re-clip the harness to the brake line
- Hammer the upper control arm onto the ball joint
- Replace and tighten the 15mm bolts to the control arm
- Torque the 15mm bolt to 55 to 60 ft/lbs
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step 7 :Installing the Rotor
- Slide the rotor on
- Thread on one lug nut to hold the rotor in place
- Apply brake grease to the caliper bracket bolts
- Put the bracket back into place
- Start the 18mm bolts by hand and tighten them
- Torque the bolts to 110 ft/lbs of torque
- Install the new brake pads into the bracket
- Apply brake grease to the brake pads
- Put the caliper on
- Thread the 17mm bolts by hand
- Torque bolts to 40 ft/lbs
- Replace the hub nut and remove the lug nut
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step 8 :Reattaching the Wheel
- Slide the wheel into place
- Start the lug nuts by hand
- Tighten the lug nuts preliminarily
- Lower the vehicle to the ground
- Tighten the hub nut
- Torque the lug nuts to 100 ft/lbs in a crossing or star pattern
- Torque the hub nut to 103 ft/lbs
- Reattach the center cap
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step 9 :Testing the Brakes
- Pump your brakes repeatedly until they feel firm
- Test your brakes at 5 miles per hour and then 10 miles per hour
- Road test the vehicle
Tools needed
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35mm Socket
A Piece of Pipe (for leverage)
15mm Wrench
Socket Extensions
Torque Wrench
Hammer
15mm Socket
Pry Bar
18mm Wrench
17mm Socket
Jack Stands
18mm Socket
19mm Socket
Brake Parts Cleaner
Flat Blade Screwdriver
4.5mm Hex Wrench
Wire Ties
10mm Socket
Drain Pan
Ratchet
Floor Jack
Brought to you by 1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet.
Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.
In this video, we're going to show you how to replace the front strut on this 2003 GMC Envoy XL. We'll show you on the passenger's side, but the driver's side is the same procedure. The items that you'll need for this include a new front strut from 1AAuto.com, 10mm, 15mm, 17mm, 18mm, and 19mm socket, a ratchet, piece of pipe for extra leverage, a 15mm and 18mm wrench, flat blade screwdriver, torque wrench, hammer, jack and jack stands, pry bar, and a 4.5mm Allen wrench. We recommend that if you replace the strut on one side, that you do it on the other side as well.
Start off by prying off your hub cap, and then just loosen out this 35mm nut. Now, loosen the lug nuts in a crossing pattern. We'll just fast-forward as Mike does this. Once you've loosened them, just jack the vehicle up, then remove the lug nuts the rest of the way. Now, the wheel will pull off.
Now, you want to remove these two 17mm bolts. You can see Mike is using an 18mm wrench to hold the nut on the inside. It will just make it easier to remove that bolt. Now, using a flat blade screwdriver, just pry out on the caliper, and then you can just set that aside. Now, pry out your brake pads. Now, you want to remove these two 18mm bolts. We'll just fast-forward as Mike does that. You can see, he's using a piece of pipe for some extra leverage to help brake those bolts free. Once those are removed, the bracket will pull right off. If your rotor doesn't slide right off then you may just want to tap it with a hammer, turn it, and then hit it again with a hammer.
Right, so if you have trouble getting the rotor off, it actually has press holes. You would get a bolt that's the proper size. I believe this is an M12 bolt. Use two bolts, thread them into those holes. As you tighten them up, they press against the hub and push the rotor off.
To get your axle out, maybe use a pry bar or some other the long item. You will put it up, in, and put it on the back of the axle right where it connects to the transmission or the axle, I should say. Make sure you're hitting the metal and it comes right out.
If you want to do the driver's side, you'll need to remove these four 15mm bolts and pull this panel down in order to access it. Using a 15mm socket, ratchet, and wrench, just remove this bolt. We'll fast-forward as Mike does that. Now, using a hammer, just hit the upper control line off the ball joint. Now, just pry open this clip and pull the harness free. You want to secure your caliper to somewhere out of the way, so we'll just wire-tie it right here on to the back end plate.
Now, you want to remove these 10mm bolts. We'll fast-forward as Mike does that. Now, just lift up on the upper control arm, pull this back, and make sure that the axle is loosened. Pull your axle the rest of the way out of the differential. You step around a little bit, and you can get it going up in. Just got to ankle it up, get it going up and in a little bit from the hub. Careful with all of your ABS wires, hoses and stuff.
Just spray this bolt right here on your sway bar link with some penetrating oil. Then, using a 15mm wrench and a 4.5mm Allen wrench (you can use some other wrench with some extra leverage on the Allen wrench), you want to just separate that nut and remove it. Next, you want loosen up these two 15 mm bolts. Just spray them with some penetrating oil. Then we'll just fast-forward as Mike loosens those up. Just push the wheel knuckle up, and then loosen those just so that they're finger tight and just a few threads on. That will hold the strut in place.
Then you want to remove this 18mm bolt right here. Using your socket, ratchet, and a piece of pipe just brake that free. Once you remove the nut, just tap out the bolt a little bit. You'll notice the brake lines in the way, so you just need to use a pry bar and pry that bolt out the rest of the way. Just lift up on the wheel knuckle, and then that will allow you to pull that out.
Spray some penetrating oil around the base of the strut, and then just hammer the wheel knuckle off with the strut. To keep the wheel knuckle from going all over the place, we're just going to wire tie it up. If you do this, you want to make sure that it's still kind of loose so you can still move the upper control arm up and down. Then remove those two 15mm nuts at the top of the strut, and just maneuver the strut down and out.
On the bottom is the old strut; above it is the new strut from 1A Auto. You can see they're identical, and they'll fit exactly the same.
Feed your new strut up into place. Then once you get the studs through, just replace those two 15mm nuts to hold it in place. Place a jack underneath the lower control arm. I've also got the lift where you have jack stands next to the vehicle. Just line up the strut and jack up the control arm into the strut. We will fast-forward as Mike tightens up that bolt. Now, just torque this bolt to 90 foot-pounds. Tighten up those two 15mm nuts and torque them to 50 foot-pounds.
We'll fast-forward as Mike replaces the nut in the sway bar. Using his 4.5 mm Allen wrench and his wrench, he's going to tighten that back up. As you're tightening up that final bit, make sure you have a wrench between the Allen wrench and the sway bar so you can still remove the Allen wrench from that bolt. Then just clip those wire ties if you ended up using them. Be careful not to hit wires. I just set it right into the hub and pull it, staying up around, and get it all the way into the hub. Then pull on it and feed it into the axle. Careful with the seal. You want to put that in, just doing a kind of back up in place that you go. Do not overextend. Just put that in place and push your axle right in and make sure it's locked.
Now, replace your brake line bracket in the two 10mm bolts to hold it into place. You want to just use the upper control arm to hold the wheel knuckle in place while you're doing this. Re-clip this harness. Now, hammer your upper control arm back down into the old one. Replace the bolt and the nut and tighten them up. You want to make sure that these holes line up in between the two holes that are on the hub. Then you just slide your rotor back into place and replace the lug nut to hold it into place. You want to check these slides on your caliper bracket and make sure they're greased up. If they're not, just apply some brake grease to them. Then fit the bracket into place. You can then just start twisting in your bolts by hand and then tighten them up.
Now, torque these two bolts to 110 foot-pounds. Torque each of these to 110 foot-pounds and then just replace your brake pads. If there's no grease on the ends, just apply some brake grease. Now, push your caliper back down into place and replace those two 17mm bolts. We'll fast-forward as Mike does that and tightens those up. Now, torque each of those to 40 foot-pounds.
Replace the hub nut. Remove the lug nut that you put on there to hold the rotor in place. Then put your wheel in place. Then replace each of the lug nuts and tighten them preliminarily. Now, torque each of these to 100 foot-pounds in a crossing pattern. Then torque the hub nut to 103 foot-pounds. Then replace your hub cap.
After you've done any work on the brakes, you want to just pump the brake pedal until it firms out. Then you want to do a stopping test from 5 miles per hour and 10 miles per hour.
We hope this video helps you out. Brought to you by www.1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet. Please feel free to call us toll-free, 888-844-3393. We're the company that's here for you on the Internet and in person.
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