According to my haynes manual it sounds like I have to take apart the whole front end almost to replace the Struts, including caliper, disc, front hub, wheel bearing assembly, backing plate, brake line bracket etc.
I thought that maybe there is an easier way. Can't you disconnect the brake lines from the caliper, the outer tie rod end from the tie rod, and the ball joint's three bolts and then unfasten the strut assembly from the top and drop it out? I plan on replacing the outer tie rod ends and ball joints at the same time as well as getting an alignment afterwards. I wasn't planning on taking out the wheel bearings and all that other stuff at the same time.

Sorry I seem to be unable use the search function on this awesome website. I am sure this has been covered before, if you for some reason can post previously written how-to's on this feel free to re post it.
For some reason doing wheel bearings always freaks me out.
Are there any other hardware related parts I should have on hand when replacing the front strut shock absorber units?
thanks in advance