Tokico Illumina 5-way adjustable strut cartridges - part #BZ-3125 for front, #BZ-3126 for rear. The top nut (which is listed as a replacement part in the Toyota Service Manual) is included with each cartridge, so you don’t need to order these expensive nuts from your Toyota dealer. Before purchasing the cartridges, be sure to check and confirm whether your MR2 has sealed or replaceable cartridges. It is my understanding that 91’s and 92’s all have replaceable strut cartridges and 94’s and 95’s all have sealed struts. Apparently, ’93 was the transition year. Tokico only offers replacements for the cartridge type, so look elsewhere if yours are sealed. You can check by lifting up a strut boot and checking for a large diameter, thin, zinc plated nut at the top of the strut body (where the shaft meets the body). If yours have these nuts, yours are replaceable. - if they don’t, they are not.

Strut Boots - unless your boots are nearly brand new, they’re probably junk. The stock boots fall apart quickly and are very expensive (~$120/set). Tokico’s product warranty does not cover problems resulting from damage to the strut shaft, so you will need to use good boots. I decided to go with an aftermarket boot with hopes that they will hold up better than the OEM’s. Several strut manufacturers (KYB, Gabriel, Monroe) offer one-size replacement boots that fit front and rear (OEMs are different sizes). I chose Monroe boots as they were readily available and look fairly robust. They fit fine and were less than half Toyota’s price.

Low Viscosity Oil - Per Tokico’s instructions, you should fill the area between the stock strut body and the new cartridge with a light weight oil for improved heat transfer. You can re-use the oil that’s in the stock strut, but it’s better to replace it with new oil. I chose a light multi-purpose lubricant from my local hardware store. 12 oz. is more than enough for all four struts.

Factory Toyota MR2 Repair Manual - Volume 2

Large vise on secure surface

Strut spring compressor

At least 2 jacks and 1 jackstand, more preferred

Wheel chocks for front when lifting rear wheels

Torque wrench(es) - 22 ft-lb to 127 ft-lb range

Hacksaw (or you will have to disconnect & bleed the brake lines - see below)

½" Drive metric sockets, 14 - 19 mm, with breaker bar & extensions

¼" Drive metric sockets, 10 - 14 mm, with extensions

Very large (~18 in.) channel locks (substitute for Toyota SST for removing & reinstalling the brass nut at the top of the strut body). Downside - the channel locks do not allow you to monitor torque.

1. (R) The Tokico rear strut shaft is longer than the stock rear strut shaft - long enough, in fact, that you don’t need the spring compressor to assemble the new strut. Once the new strut is assembled, there is actually a little slop with the spring relaxed, so you will need to confirm the spring is positioned correctly and has not turned when installing the strut on the car. Once installed on the car, the slop disappears. Unfortunately, this means the new strut requires compression before it will fit back on the car, so you have the same problem as listed in #8 below. Be sure to keep a thick towel over the drive shaft rubber boot to protect it from damage.

2. (F&R) You can avoid disconnecting and bleeding the brake lines by cutting a thin slot in the brake line bracket located on the side of the strut body. You must remove the clip from the bottom of the bracket first, hold the brake line away from the cutting tool, then cut a slot with a hacksaw or other cutter. Luckily, my friend’s workshop had an air supply and air drill w/cutting wheel which made the job much quicker and easier. Once you’ve cut the slot through to the center hole, you can bend the ends of the bracket with pliers to remove the brake line. When re-installing, the tabs can easily be bent back and clip re-installed.

3. (F&R) You will need to remove the brake caliper assembly by removing the two mounting bolts around the backside of the hub in order to make enough room to remove the strut. This is pretty simple but not mentioned in the manual and something you’ll want to do before getting the strut loose. If you leave the brake line coupled (per #2 above), be sure to have ty-raps handy to relieve the weight of the brake caliper from stressing the brake line (tie the caliper to the sway bar or other stable part). Be sure to release the parking break before removing the rear caliper assemblies.

4. (F&R) The Toyota Repair Manual recommends temporarily re-installing a lower mounting bolt and nut in the strut body when putting the strut in a vise in order to avoid bending the mount ears. Instead, place a snug fitting socket between the mount ears to bear the compression load - this will provide more contact area and better stability in the vise.

5. (F&R) When removing the stabilizer (sway bar) link from the strut body, you must get the sway bar into a relaxed position or the link will be heavily loaded. This is accomplished by jacking up the opposite side like tire (front w/front, rear w/rear) and adjusting the sway bar load by adjusting jack height (slight tire to ground contact will provide the best position).

6. (F) Toyota’s instructions for removing the stabilizer (sway bar) link from the strut body do not apply to the front, at least on my car. Unlike the rear, there was no 5 mm Allen Bolt to grab to keep the shaft from spinning with the nut. I found the best method is to first apply penetrating lubricant to the nut, then loosen the nut until the shaft turns with it, then grab the exposed shaft just beyond the rubber boot with a thin pair of pliers while turning the nut. Mine did not require much grip force (no damage) to remove the nut.

7. (F) Once the stabilizer link is disconnected, you will need to compress the strut to gain clearance to pull the link aside or else the link will be positioned inside the mounting bracket making it impossible to remove the strut. In hindsight, you may be able to further raise the jack described in #5 above to gain enough clearance, but I did it by positioning a floor jack in contact with one edge of the bottom of the strut body and raising it enough to compress the strut slightly.

8. (F) Unlike the rears, the front struts are pre-loaded when the car’s suspension is fully extended. The Toyota Service Manual makes no mention of this, and it’s an unwelcome surprise when you remove the final lower mounting bolt and the strut body crashes into the steering knuckle. Be prepared by sliding a screwdriver through the other lower mount hole to stop the strut before it contacts the steering knuckle. Also, I highly recommend placing a thick towel against the backside of the knuckle to help protect the rubber seal if things get out of control. I found the jack trick referenced in #7 above to work well in keeping the strut compressed while guiding it away from the knuckle. You will also face this same problem when you try to put the strut back in. I found the hub could be pushed downward a little to help alleviate this problem.

9. (F) Positioning the spring compressor correctly on the front springs is difficult as the stock springs have barely more than 2 full coils. The compressor is supposed to be positioned so the two compression points are opposite each other, but I was unable to do this. I found the compressor to work okay with the two pieces positioned as close to opposite as I could get them. Depending on the compressor design, yours may have problems with this.

10. (F) Once the strut is removed, it will be difficult to remove and reinstall the top support nut as you must hold the spring seat from rotating. The Toyota Repair Manual recommends using an SST, and the seat is too large to fit in a large vise. I was fortunate that my friend’s workshop is equipped with an air supply and impact wrench which made easy work of nut removal. For tightening, I was able to apply the required torque while my friend and I held the top plate from rotating by hand.