[CREWZIN]

There are no lube points under the PT that I know of but after saying that, one owner did find lube fitting on the ball joints. There was a lively discussion about it and we think the previous owner had put them in, but from the factory there was none. The front bushings on both A arms have had to be replaced on numerous PT's. Check them out and see if there's any cracks or splits which would mean yours would have to be replaced also. The growning you hear might be the first sign of failure of those bushings.

The shocks are pretty easy to replace on the PT. It's the front struts that require special tools and if you've never done it before it's best left to a shop. The springs around the struts are under a lot of pressure and you can do yourself harm if your not careful.

As far as brands of struts and shocks, there's too many to recommend just one.