How do you get to the rear struts on a 2003 taurus

Replace it as a unit. Strut, spring, strut mount all in one. It's called a quick strut. Raise car by the body not the wheel. Remove brake line (1 bolt) from strut lower. Remove 2 large bolts holding lower strut end. In the trunk 3 smaller bolts hold the strut mount (upper end) in place. DO NOT remove the single large nut at the top of the strut assembly. Wiggle the strut assembly out. Slide the new strut assembly in bolt it back in. Put wheel back on. Done.

you need to remove the seat to remove the deck... pull up on the lower half of the seat, once that is outta the way there are 2 bolts holding the backrest of the seat on. remove them and pull up

if u look under the car u will see metal rods called strut rods, these have rubber bushings at each end, the rubber bushings are the common source of the noise you have

there is a tool to compress the spring.
you need to be very careful working on this job
you can get hurt very easy

it is quite possible that you have a bad strut mount, noticeable by rubber moving from metal, or a leaking strut, looking at the strut you would see hydraulic fluid on it. also sometimes removal and disassembly is the only way to tell. also you could check for bad sway bar links or bushings. hope this helps

strut usually around 80 2 150 each

Hello; In regards to the Post, you can do a Strut Converstion and Retrofit, by using the Taurus/Sable struts. This convertion will work, but only for a limited time. The Coil Springs for the REAR, on a Taurus/Sable are much to "soft" for the large Lincoln Continental, it requires stiffer springs, or DO NOT CARRY much of a load in the rear trunk. I used a used pair of Rear struts from a 1994(r) and 1990(f) struts from a Taurus/Sable for the conversion. In all I spent, about $100. I did this conversion, to my 1992 Con in 2004, it lasted without any problems until June 2009, when one of my Rear struts collapsed, due to to much weight in my trunk. You can not carry much of a load, using the Retrofit struts, I gather. The bottom coil Seat of one of my struts has bent downwards, and is not rubbing against the inner well/bead of the tire. Not a nice thing, and very unsafe, and the car will eventually bottom-out due to the week spring arrangement. The car needs springs that are about 50% stronger. FYI. Other then that, it works OK.
The front struts retrofit, are better suited for this conversion, since both vehicles, use the same engine/tran arrangement, and the weight of the vehicle is not inquestion. Only the Rear, but I have not found, a low cost solution to this problem. The only other Alternative, is to buy the Monroe #90001 or Arnott conversion kit, their is also is Strutmasters.com

shop rate labour is 2 hours and the struts are about a $100 each.

you will need sockets and a socket wrench, a screwdriver, jacks and jack stands, and a set of combination wrenches.

also this site should help, it's a very thorough step by step on strut removal