Hi bl,
When I recenntly did this same job(bushes, ball joints , struts etc.) I removed the strut as a unit and brought it to a service station to compress the springs and disassemble and reinstall the cartridges. They have a wall mounted strut compressor with a heavy safety shield that surrounds the spring just in case it manages to get loose. I was only charged $50.00 for the whole procedure(both struts). As an aside, it took major pneumatic power to unscrew the large retainer nuts on the strut tubes...I was told I NEVER would have been able to unscrew these in the driveway with hand tools. This was on a 745T. Years ago I did the same job on a 245 by hand with a spring compressor and was having visions the whole time of walking around with a spring through the side of my head. In my opinion the $50.00 spent on the 745 suspension was worth the peace of mind alone.



Dan