i bought some replacement for my 1991 civic hatch
the top part of the strut comes out easily by unscrewing it.

the bottom one is hard to access to unscrew

anyone have any tips ?
can i pop the ball joint socket out or do i need to remove the rear plastic car parts to access it?

thanks

 

Not exactly sure about the civic but on the crx, if you look closely at the ball joint there is a little wire clip. You have to unhook the clip and pull it down/out of the shock.

 

My Rex had the factory struts on it and there was no clip to remove it from the ball joint/screw thing. I had to use a open end wrench to get it off and a socket to get the other bolt off.

 

i used a 7/16 open end wrench. metric wrenches didnt fit.

 

i think i popped off some of the plastic panels that cover it... i did these to my 88 hatch like a year ago and it was very easy! bought them from ebay and they still hold like a BOSS!! haha

 

i just ended up cutting the ball joint off it didnt have clips to remove easily then the new ones were a cinch.

otherwise id have to remove all the rear panel which would be a pain

 

well there ya go! nothin like a DIY! haha