well, the main thing that got me to change my struts was that the old ones are 45mm thick, the 2002+ ones are 50mm thick. I dont think the old ones are totally bad, they do the job and pass all tests, but I just changed my tires and control arms, and had vibrations for the last 40-50k miles, I got so sick of those vibrations that I wanted a whole new suspension.
The tires were the cause of the vibrations, but my lower control arms were also installed wrong and wore out within 2 years and my strut/springs did get extra wear during that time. I'm sure the old struts arent anywhere close to what these new struts would be like. I also got new springs because I have a feeling they got shorter and are weaker because of the stress all the vibrations constantly put them through.
Mainly I want the ride to feel like a new car again, and its almost there, especially once I get these struts/springs changed...

Its been a little chilly these last 2 days so I have not started yet....

I'm still wondering how to change them, all I mainly need is a spring compressor to change everything out one by one, right? Or is there something special that I'm not seeing yet? I dont want to be half way through one side and find out that I cant really do it myself with what I have...

 

Getting the front out is not such a pain. You loosen 3 bolts from under the hood and pop the springs out from underneath. However the rear ones can be quiet a pain, if you don't want to disassemble half the stuff back there, get a 2nd strong guy who can push down on the wheel knuckle while you get it out.
Anyhow once they are out, get a good and strong spring compressor and be very careful! If you get that made in China crap it might actually break on you. Maybe not on the first one or the 2nd but maybe on the third. If that thing goes while under pressure it can literally kill someone. That is the reason I brought mine to a local shop and asked them to do that real quick for me. Also it is such a pain to use the little compressors that aren't mounted.. it takes like an hour per strut .. a shop does like all 4 in 30 minutes

 

i know how to get them out of the car, i just am not familiar with how to change the struts and springs... i guess i'll find out tomorrow, i got the spring compressors, i'll be very careful and point the springs parallel to me at all times, and i'll work alone in the garage

 

If you need to get the springs compressed and you don't have spring clamps, then I have a billy bob way of doing it that works.
Get 6 to 8 3/8" wide, heavy zip ties and feed them around as much of the spring as you can and space them out evenly round the spring.
Apply tension to each zip tie going round and round until you have enough compression to do the job you need.
I have used this method in a pinch and it worked great.
Obviously the more ties you use the safer it is, but still use caution.

 

UGHHHH, what a day. I get the driver side strut assembly out of my car, I couldn't get the nut off the top of the strut out myself so I took it to the local shop (they had the compression machine (ugghhh again, since I paid $35+tax for the compression tool) and they got the bolt off.
I take it back to my garage and compare the 2 struts and new springs. my strut had a 50mm shaft ALREADY and the new springs are 1.5inches longer because they have an extra 180degrees of coil. WHAT THE HELL! I dont want my car to be higher, and anyways how the hell would I put the new spring with strut back into the car since the strut will now be an inch and a half longer (NOT HAPPENING!) I called blauparts, they are going to call me back. My struts are definitely bad, they dont go up at all after I push the shaft down, but after a while I come back and they extended anyway.... It takes almost no force to push them down compared to the new ones (which are probably not right for my car anyway)... I guess I'll be returning this whole strut and spring kit from blauparts, not happy as I have new tires on and dont want to ruin them, going to have to drive less until my struts are replaced.