How big of a pain is it to replace the rear struts on an XJ, mine are beginning to go. Also, is there a particular kind of struts that are better than others if I do this myself.

 

Soak ALL the bolts in PB Blaster for a week before you do it and you MIGHT not break any bolts.

 

That's a big MIGHT there. PB Blaster them, heat them, PB Blaster them some more, then try to back them out slow and easy. BUT, plan on breaking them anyways and have a backup plan ready. You don't have to torque much and they'll twist off like butta.

 

And technically that's not a strut, it's a shock. Struts are more integrated units into a vehicle's suspension system, where as shocks are quite literally just "shock absorbers."

 

Lasy week we had a cold snap and my hatch slllooooowwwlllyyy started to close itself. Walked into it twice getting tools out of the back.

 

It is a strut if he is refering to the rear hatch. I also thought shocks too. But the ones from O'Reilley's have been working for me for about 4 years and still seem pretty strong.

 

This is true. Since he just said rear, the hatch never came to mind.