Struts suck. They will still suck even after these tips. They take blood (literally), sweat, and swear words to get them out and in. Here are a few tips on how to lose your mind a little less when taking these out.

First, DO NOT FOLLOW THE FSM, there is no need to take out the drive shaft.

Second, the process is different than that of the rwd model, the struts on the awd model have a knuckle they have to fit into (this is the hard part).

Third, when taking out the strut you WILL need to remove the upper control arm ENTIRELY, the top bolt of the sway bar end link, and the outer tie rod end. And, of course, all of the bolt holding it in. You can technically get it out without removing the end link and the tie rod end, but you will not be able to get the new on in.

Those are my tips. Feel free to comment any other questions below. Again, this pertains to the awd sedan model.

PS: just take it to a shop for this one, this took me nearly 7 hours on the first side, then 4 hours on the second. And that's with power tools.

 

I just did this and the easy way is to have a big buddy to help. I actually got them out ok after taking off that little metal bracket thats in the way and pulling the bottom of the strut towards me while leaving the top attached to separate them. Putting them back in was another story I pulled a bucket over and had a buddy put ALOT of his weight on it (1 foot on the hub 1 on bucket) Got them in in like 4 minutes did nothing to upper I removed 1 endlink when trying to get them out but I don't think it helped much. The bucket was a key tool here without it my buddy could not put enough weight on it also made it so he could slowly let up so I could line em up (again with a bolt in the top so its hanging and the botton loose) Another thing is if your not replacing the lower part which I doubt many are cleaning any rust from the inside is a good idea.
Edit: I missed the sedan part mines a coupe sounds like the same issue though.

 

OP sorry to hear your frustrating experience, sounds like quite the ordeal. I went through this process recently too. I was dreading putting OEM suspension back in the G a week or so ago as I was preparing it to be sold. I remember researching the process of removing it years ago and fighting to get it out and was expecting the same returning it to stock. I'm not sure if it was because I've done extensive work around the suspension over the years or I just got lucky but I found putting the stock suspension back in remarkably easy. I also swapped the upper control arms and sway bar back in as well. The steps I took was to:
1.) Upper control arm detached from the knuckle, I used a bungee cord to keep the knuckle out of the way and to keep the driveshaft from deflecting too far.
2.) Sway bar was completely out of the picture (but detaching the end link would suffice).
3.) I removed the fork completely.
4.) I'd recommend making sure that both damper and fork surface are clear of rust to help them slide together better.
5.) Install damper/spring assembly and loosely place the upper bolts to hold in place.
6.) Take the fork and slide it over the drive shaft, then push the driveshaft downward as you slide the fork up onto the damper. It's somewhat finicky but can easily be done with an average sized person.
7.) Slide in damper bolt and ensure the damper and fork is seated properly and get the bolt started.
8.) Line up the fork with the lower control arm and put the bolt in place.
9.) Then put the knuckle to upper control arm bolt in place.
10.) Re-attach endlink.
11.) Attach brake line and abs.
11.) Torque everything to spec.

I think the entire install maybe 30 minutes. Surprisingly I don't think any obscenities came out either.

Just some thoughts on what made the process a little easier on me. My OE springs/dampers were brand new. All my suspension hardware was relatively new, I replaced every nut, bolt, etc when I had installed my upgraded suspension components and used anti seize so everything came apart and went back together without fighting. I also had previously cleaned up the forks and painted them so they were clean and easy to manipulate. Also it is always handy to have a really long 1/4" extension to help line up bolt holes when mating suspension components, just slide the extension through and wiggle it until you can slide the bolt through without damaging things. Also helps to have a small lightweight jack to put pressure on suspension to help line things up.

Hopefully this will help someone along the way.

 

Oh, I imagine it would have been much easier with two people hahaha.