Replacing rear struts WITH ABS

[44downlow]

Hey everyone. I am new to MX-3's as this is my girlfriends car. I am however familiar with working on other cars (namely Nissans). I am replacing her rear struts as the one is completely blown and the strut shaft is actually moving side to side within the strut body (very bad haha). I was surprised to find out that the mx-3 has struts in the rear and I took a look and it actually looks like I will need a spring compressor to get it apart and back together (Please correct me here if I'm wrong.).
The suspension design is kind of ingenious, almost like a passive mechanical 4-wheel steering. The electronic 4 wheel steering on my 240SX is sure a lot different.

Also, the car has ABS. I do not have experience with ABS cars. I know how it works but I've always chosen to own cars without it as I personally like to be in control of my own brakes. So am I going to need any special tools to do this job other than a spring compressor? I ordered struts specifically for ABS cars as they were the same price anyways. Does the ABS strut have an extra tab to mount the abs line or sensor or whatever? I tried doing a search but couldn't find anything specific to ABS for this job.

Anyways any help would be greatly appreciated as I worry for my girlfriends safety driving the car the way it is and I would like to get it done this weekend.

[colinsmx3]

Yep the only difference with ABS is the tab welded on the strut to hold the wire... When I got mine the ones without the tab was like $15 cheaper per strut so I just used a ziptie to hold the wire to the strut.

The only major tool is the strut compressor that you will need. It's a pretty straight forward operation though!

[44downlow]

Excellent! Thanks for the advice, I'll rent a spring compressor this weekend and get 'er done! The help is much appreciated. My girlfriend thanks you!

[colinsmx3]

And I thank your g/f! ahahhaah Sorry I couldnt resist! Have fun post some pics!

[44downlow]

Yeah absolutely my friend. It's a pretty nice MX-3 for the money. We found it for 1700$ Canadian, it has about 230k. 1.8 V6 and 5 speed. Power EVERYTHING ac sunroof even airbags I was surprised about that. It purrs, engine runs flawlessly. The more I work on this thing the more I like it haha, a little cramped under the hood though. Are those cars in your signature your own ?

[colinsmx3]

Yep the first car was my Escort GT, 2nd was my 323, 3rd is my current show car the MX3! check out my worklog and you will see! http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=68746" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Good to hear all is well with the car! Where are you located? in Ontario?