I am trying to replace my rear struts on a 2003 Toyota Camry. How do you access the top part of the strut assembly

jack up rear of car and place on jackstands. remove rear wheels there is two bolts that hold strut to the wheel assembly also unbolt brake line bracket now inside of car is top of strut tower there is a plastic cosmetic cover once removed there are three bolts to be undone. DO NOT LOOSEN CENTER BOLT. strut will drop out with a little manouevering. Use strut spring compressor to remove strut springs. and reinstall on new struts be sure to follow all safety instructions and warnings. autozone rents this tool, or take to shop to have someone do this part of job for you. now installation of strut is opposite of removal. hope this helps

I just replaced my rear struts on my 2009 Camry Hybrid. This was the second time in my life I ever did this kind of work. The trick is to get access to the top of the strut. You have to fold down the back seat cushions. In my hybrid there are two pull levers in the trunk that release the seats. The levers are at the top of the trunk.

Once you fold down the seats, there will be two side cushions on the side of the seats that did not fold down. At the bottom of that side cushion, between the side cushion and the bottom seat is a bolt holding the side cushion on. It is way in the back so you will need an extension with a 12mm socket to get to the bolt. Dont be afraid to dig into the space between the cushions to find the bolt. Once you unscrew the bolt, you can lift up on the side cushion and it will come out (lift upward). You now have a clear (and easy) access to the top of the strut.

I just replaced my rear struts on my 2009 Camry Hybrid. This was the second time in my life I ever did this kind of work. The trick is to get access to the top of the strut. You have to fold down the back seat cushions. In my hybrid there are two pull levers in the trunk that release the seats. The levers are at the top of the trunk.

Once you fold down the seats, there will be two side cushions on the side of the seats that did not fold down. At the bottom of that side cushion, between the side cushion and the bottom seat is a bolt holding the side cushion on. It is way in the back so you will need an extension with a 12mm socket to get to the bolt. Dont be afraid to dig you had into the space to find the bolt. Once you unscrew the bolt, you can lift up on the side cushion and it will come out (lift upward). You now have a clear (and easy) access to the top of the strut.

I belive you talking about strut tower bushing.
Yes you can replace it without repl. strut , but you have to take strut apart. Very common on Toyota's.
You need a strut compressor for this job.

Hello, and welcome to FixYa. I'll be glad to help you out.

When you had the struts replaced, one of two things happened.

one - the rear strut retention bolts were not tightened up properly at the tops of the struts

two- the top supports on the struts were not replaced. Whenever we change the struts, we always replace the top supports. More than likely, this is your problem. The rear strut supports are notorious for wearing out, and, when they do, they make loud banging noises.

2004 Camry rear support part numbers:

Left: 48750-33062
Right: 48760-33062

I would suggest replacing the top supports to cure your problem.

Thank for choosing FixYa for advice!

Basically the shock inserts in the struts are what hold the spring in place, and the axle knuckle to the fender.

On a very few cars, they were slick enough to design it so that you don't have to do very much.
On these exceptions, you just remove a plate from the top of the strut, in the engine compartment, and pull the insert up after unscrewing a cap.

But on most cars, you have to first drop the top of the strut down from the fender, then undo the pinch bolts at the bottom, in order to remove the whole strut from the car. Then you put a large spring compressor on it to remove the tension. (this is dangerous) You can rent or buy inexpensive spring compressors, because some are just a pair of threaded rods with hooks on both ends. Then you take the top plate off the strut by removing the nut threaded onto the insert shaft. Then there is a cap on the end of the strut tube, that allows the insert to be removed. The tube may be filled with oil. By accident if leaking, or be design with some cars, for cooling. Then you slip the new intsert in, cap it down, put the compressed spring back on, tighten up the top plate with the nut threaded on the shaft, uncompress the spring, and then place the strut back on the lower knucke, and finally back in the fender.

The difference between the fronts and rear is that the front may have an excentric bolt on the bottom, so that you can adjust the camber. If so, mark it before losening, so that you can put it back at the same angle of rotation. A chisel mark will do. The rear usually does not have alignment.

As long as you have the ready struts no. They come with the spring and mount already attached. If you don't, you better have a good spring compressor to remove the old strut and replace it with a new one.

the camry has struts on the rear they have to be removed and put in a strut spring compressor to hold the spring then you can remove the top nut and replace the shock part of the strut

Whoever replaced the strut neglected to replace the "bearing support cap"...Tthat is the black thing that is on top of the strut, above the spring... this also has the 3 studs on it that holds the top of the strut to the vehicle. The rubber in the center of this plate has failed. What you are hearing is the strut banging back & forth inside of this plate. What you need to do is remove the strut, re-compress the spring, and get a new "strut cap".
This will fix the problem.
Very common that this item is omitted whilst replacing struts.

You will have to remove the rear seat.Go to the bottom cusion in the front and yank it up,about a foot in from the outside on each side.Once it out there are some bolts on the bottom of the back rest cusion remove those and push it up and remove.Then you cen get to three nuts on each strut top.