What part does the wheel bearing assembly sit attach too. big round steel connected to the strut

i have purchased bad struts off the shelf. sometimes they sit forever then when you buy them the seals blow. check to see if it is fluid coming from the struts them self. if not check wheel bearing assembly. or follow the stuff and hopefully find where it is from. also check the seals on the trans axle.

could be loose strut springs , strut shocky mount , top strut bearing, loose wheel bearings, suspension mounts.
have it inspected by an accredited suspension shop.

You will need appropriate spring compressor unless you plan to replace the whole assembly. Also, spring compressor is much easier with access to pneumatic tools. You may need a tie rod end seperator too. Here is the procedure straight from the manual. Reverse for assembly. It's worth noting the importance of marking with paint or scribing the spring placement as well as the big bolts at the base of assembly prior to removal as this can affect alignment.

1. Remove the nuts (1) and the bolt (4) attaching the top of the strut assembly ,(2) to the

body.

2. Raise and support the vehicle. Refer to Lifting and Jacking the Vehicle in General Information.

3. Place jack stands under the front suspension support.

4. Lower the vehicle slightly so that the weight of the car rests on the jack stands and not the

control arms.

5. Remove the tire and wheel assemblies. Refer to Wheel Removal in Tires and Wheels.

6. Remove the brake line bracket.

7. Scribe the strut flange. Refer to Strut and Knuckle Scribing .

8. Remove the bolts (3) attaching the strut to the steering knuckle.

Important: The steering knuckle must be supported in order to prevent over-extension of

the axle joint.

9. Remove the strut assembly from the vehicle.
10. Disassemble the strut.

Wheel bearings and struts.

Chet, First of all, you don't mention if you are replacing the front or rear struts. I'll try to take you through both of them. The front struts, Jack up one side of the car and remove the wheel. Place a jack stand under the frame and lower the car on to it. Let the axle assembly hang freely. There are usually two lower bolts and two or three bolts holding the top inside the engine compartment. If the brake line is attached to the strut, remove it. Also, it may have the sway bar link attached, remove this from the strut. Take the nuts off the lower strut and as the bolts are usually splined you will have to pound the bolts out. If there is a thread all the way to the end of the bolt put the nut back on so that it is flush with the top of the bolt so as not to damage the threads when they are pounded out. Some bolts wont have the threads so you wont have to worry about thread damage. Use a screw driver to separate the two. Remove the upper nuts, being careful not to let the strut fall down and possibly damage the brakes lines or ABS wires.
Before I continue let me inform you that you can purchase struts that are complete so you dont have to remove the spring and related parts from the strut. These are called "Ready struts" or another name that escapes me at the moment. These can be purchased from most part stores. These are preferred by most people as they have new bearings, new struts as well and new springs which will return the vehicle to the normal ride height, should this be part of the problem.
If you want to replace just the strut. Yes, you can rent the spring compresser that will be needed to complete the job.
Take the spring compresser which usually comes in two pieces and put one on one side of the spring and tighten it by hand until snug. Place the other piece on the opposite side of the spring and again hand tighten it. Tighten one one side of the compresser two turns with a socket and then do this to the other side. Be VERY CAREFUL to make sure the pieces don't shift when doing this. Continue this until you can turn the upper bearing plate by hand. Place a vice grip on the highest part of the strut shaft as possible and tighten as much as possible. Remove the nut holding the upper bearing plate. Remove the upper bearing plate and the boot covering the shaft and finally the spring. Reuse all the rubber bushings for the spring and place the spring over the shaft. Once again, place the vise grip as high as possible on the new strut shaft and replace the upper bushing, boot and bearing plate on the shaft and tighten the bolt holding everything together. Making sure that the spring sits properly slowly remove the spring compresser, again two or three turns at a time, one side at at time. Replace the strut assembly back into the car.
Rear struts, The only difference here is the way the struts are mounted in the car. Upper strut mounts on some vehicles are accessible in the trunk with three nuts holding them in. Others are accessible under the panel behind the rear seats. Others still have to accessed from the wheel well. The bottom mount is usually one bolt. Again the spring removal procedure is the same as the front. Be VERY CAREFUL the compresser doesn't shift when you are using it. If it is the front struts you are doing then a wheel alignment is advised. Good luck with this.

Here I have the Step by Step :

Wheel and tire assembly Brake caliper and secure it out of the way with a piece of mechanic-s wire. Do not let the caliper hang on the hose. Brake rotor Halfshaft retaining nut and discard it Cotter pin and castellated nut from the tie rod end and separate the tie rod end from the steering knuckle using a suitable removal tool. Discard the cotter pin. Separate the tie rod end from the wheel knuckle ABS sensor bolt and the sensor, if equipped Strut mounting nuts and the studs which attach the strut assembly to the steering knuckle Strut from the steering knuckle Lower ball joint pinch bolt. Carefully pry down on the lower control arm to separate the ball joint stud from the steering knuckle. Wheel hub, knuckle and bearing assembly from the vehicle

Please Rate, Thank you

Yes there is. one indication that bearings are going bad is, you will start hearing a whirlling noise or low vibration hum. the worst they get the prevelent it will become. one way to check is to raise tire suspected tire, grab(wiggle) it and check for up and down play. there should be none.

My procedure removing front shocks:

• Before I raise the car and place on jack stands, I loosen the top nut on the strut bearing. If you don't have an air gun to remove the nut there are tools available from online tool shops. A 1/2" drive breaker bar is attached on top of the tool while an allen wrench seen in the middle counter acts the by holding the strut in place.

Tool without the allen to use as a counter act, used with a regular L allen wrench.

• Remove bolts that secure the swaybar to the control arm.
• Use this tool to remove the tie rod ball joint with this tool.
• With a automatic center punch tool, mark three reference points on the lower control arm ball joint flange (not on control arm. This will help line up the ball joint to the control arm without messing alignment putting back together.
• Remove the 3 bolts that secure the ball joint to the control arm and wiggle out the ball joint and the wheel bearing housing away from the control arm.
  
• Remove the large bolts that secure the strut to the wheel bearing assembly, this will somewhat loosen the hold on the strut.
• With a long pry bar or a long pipe wedged on the control arm, position it when the time comes you need to counter act downwards.
• On the wheel bearing assembly where the strut is buried, there will be a slot which you need a 1/4" drive extension attached to a 1/4" ratchet wedged into the slot.
• Crank the ratchet slowly until it spreads the slot securely and wide enough to release the strut assembly.
• With the strut separated from bearing assy. secure the strut from dropping and loosen the top nut above the strut bearing, remove strut from vehicle.

I don't know how far you want assistance but if need further info just let me know.

1. Raise and safely support the vehicle.
   
2. Remove the wheel and tire assembly.
3. Unfasten the retainer(s), then remove the hydraulic flex hose bracket from the strut bracket. If equipped with ABS, the wheel speed sensor cable routing clip is also attached to the strut assembly bracket.

1. Support the rear knuckle, suspension and brake components before removing the clevis bracket-to-knuckle attaching bolts. Do NOT allow the weight of the knuckle and related components hang without support when the strut is removed.


WARNING The knuckle-to-strut attaching bolts are serrated and must not be turned during removal. Remove the nuts while holding the bolts stationary in the knuckle.

1. Hold the bolt with a wrench, then unfasten the 2 clevis bracket nuts attaching the strut to the knuckle.

Fig. Fig. 2: Location of the knuckle-to-clevis bracket bolts

1. Carefully lower the vehicle, then open the trunk. Access to the rear upper strut mount-to-strut tower attaching bolts is through the trunk of the car.
2. If necessary, remove the carpet from the top of the strut tower. Then, remove the rubber dust shield from the top of the strut tower for easier access to the upper strut nuts.

1. Loosen, but do not remove the 4 upper strut mounting nuts. Then, while supporting the strut assembly, fully remove the 4 strut mount attaching nuts.

1. Remove the strut assembly from the knuckle by sliding the knuckle out of the clevis bracket on the strut, then remove it from the vehicle.

Carefully pull the strut assembly out of the vehicle
To install:

1. Position the strut back into the vehicle with the 4 studs on the strut mount assembly through holes in the strut tower of the vehicle. Install the 4 strut mount-to-body attaching nuts onto the mount studs. Tighten the nuts to 25 ft. lbs. (34 Nm).
2. Install the dust shield into the opening on top of the strut tower. Install the carpeting back on top of the rear strut tower.
3. Raise and safely support the vehicle.
4. Install the knuckle into the clevis bracket on the strut assembly. Install the 2 clevis bracket-to-knuckle attaching bolts and nuts. Hold the bolts with a wrench while tightening the nuts to 70 ft. lbs. (95 Nm).
5. Install the brake hose bracket to the strut bracket and secure with the retaining bolts. If equipped with ABS, the wheel speed sensor cable routing clip is also attached to the strut bracket.
6. Install the wheel and tire assembly on the vehicle. Tighten the lug nuts evenly, in sequence, to 100 ft. lbs. (135 Nm).
7. Carefully lower the vehicle.
8. Have the toe checked and adjusted as necessary.

the wheel bearing will need to be pressed on so unless you know someone to press it for you you might want to take it to a shop.