I suspect there is a difference in replacing the struts on the early model and late model 'tours/stiques'. If you read the umpteen million posts about this subject, it seems that you have some people who say it is relatively easy, and some who say it is very difficult. I've had mine out 2 or 3 times, and even though it gets easier after you've done it a time or two, I would have to say that it is still a very difficult job.
I suspect that when Ford changed the control arms, from horizontal to vertical bushings (or was it the other way around?), that the change also affected the ease or difficulty of removing and replacing the struts. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd go back through all the posts, and see if the people who thought the job was easy/difficult drove a car with the early model or late model control arms.
