OK, that’s how I recall it’s configured on my Corolla too. I didn’t recall seeing a ball joint at the lower connection point on the front strut. And now I think about it, I do remember having to disconnect a ball joint at the lower control arm when I remove the axle to service my CV joints.
What? Sorry but messing with carbs is NOT easier than FI, especially if you have the right tools (which I think a teaching institution will have). And you can make many adjustments in software and see the results of them the same way.
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At its core, from a conceptual standpoint, a FI system is not more complicated than a carb. Conceptually they are identical - both dump air and gasoline into a little squeeze-chamber in the right ratio to allow a spark to blow the mixture up.
From a hands-on learning perspective, I’m gonna agree with @TwinTurbo and say it’s a whole lot easier to play with numbers on a laptop and look at the results than it is to dive under a hood and wrench around.
It depends on the Carb. I’ve rebuilt many carbs back in the 70’s and early 80’s. Carbs with electronic controls were a pain, but a simple 1 or 2 barrel Holly or Carter was easy. You also physically see what is happening when you replace the jets from a 55 to 60.
Yeah! Feedback carburetors were a nightmare. And while a Q-Jet(pre-Feedback) can be intimidating at first sight it is quite logical in operation and easy to rebuild compared to Holleys.
With 65 replies I’m not going to add much to this conversation. However might I say that I deal with this daily. I get those cars all the time having been to 3-5 shops before they get here. The one point I’d like to make is the youngsters are technicians and they were taught to diagnose with electronics and replace parts. The oldsters like myself are mechanics who were taught to diagnose with your tools and rebuild everything. And use your 5 senses. Have you ever watched an old guy look, touch, smell and listen to an engine run? I do every job. Best diagnostic tools I own. And sometimes taste, but I gotta say cars taste nasty. 
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I was taught the look, touch, smell, and listen diagnostics by the old mechanic who had a one man shop. He only had 2 electronic testing tools. A 6 volt light bulb with wires soldered to the contacts and alligator clips. He had another with a 12 volt bulb for those newfangled 1960s vehicles.
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Yes, sometimes technology changes fast. Back in the late 60’s, I worked with a man who sometimes worked on other people’s cars for them. He developed the Famous Ed Allaire Guarantee. After he worked on your car, if it broke in two pieces, you were allowed to keep both pieces, free of charge.
He was told in electronic school that the only frequency higher than 108 MHZ he would ever see would be coming out of a flashlight. His first project was a radar altimeter at 4.3 GHZ. 
In the late 90’s, not long before I retired, we got in a couple new techs right out of electronic school. They were not taught anything about tubes. “You will never see one!”
One of them was promptly assigned to setting up; aligning; and potting cockpit display units for the attack choppers. They were based on a CRT, which means cathode ray TUBE. One day he came to me and said one CRT didn’t work, and he had no idea why. I grabbed an old Triplett 630, I think it was called, a VOM from the stone ages, and ran it across the leads and told him to Return To Vendor for “shorted G-2”.
He looked at me as if I had just walked on water. I took a few minutes and taught him all he needed to know about tubes.
…because nobody would tune in for the “Swimsuit Competition?”
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True. With all the nudity that’s readily available on the internet today, I don’t think many are tuning into the Miss Universe pageant anymore either. I doubt of a “world’s best mechanic” contest would draw a single viewer.
Besides, I doubt if the NASCAR teams, the NHRA teams, and the other pro race organizations would give their guys the free time to engage in such a frivolous contest… and what good would a “world’s best mechanic” contest be without the world’s best mechanics? Can you imagine telling John Force you want to take time off to compete in a “world’s best mechanic” competition?
Just some trivia, but some strut equipped vehicles do have both an upper and a lower ball joint. My Lincoln Mark is a front strut equipped example.
The size of the upper ball joint is ridiculous though. It’s about the size of the end of my thumb and combined with the garbage roads here a short lifespan is the norm.
I replaced the uppers the last time with a pair of AutoZone brand control arms and those arms are not only way heavier but the ball joints are also considerably larger. Hopefully that will make a difference in longevity.
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Exactly how would you define “best mechanic” anyways, for that matter?
Most accurate diagnosis?
Flags most hours in an established time period?
Least amount of comebacks?
Highest csi score . . . you dealer- and former dealer-mechanics know what I’m talking about 
And so on
An nhra mechanic, a domestic dealership mechanic, and a fleet mechanic, to name just 3, aren’t exactly doing the same thing
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I’d say that’s using the term “strut” loosely. That upper ball joint is on the upper A-arm, no? Does your “strut” play a role in locating the hub, or just act as a shock absorber?
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Both ball joints are on their respective control arms; upper and lower.
The strut looks just like this one. FOMOCO calls them struts. This particular strut is the coil spring replacement. The originals use air bags. The rear uses standard shock absorbers with air bags with the bags often replaced by coil springs.
That’s a strut all right. Here’s what I found for a 1994 Mark VIII:
What year is yours?
Coil-over shock absorbers are common today, even used on half ton pick-up trucks for the last decade.
My old Stratus has upper and lower control arms with coil over shocks both front and rear.
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I prefer this setup. Perhaps it’s the enjineer in me. It provides better control over the system’s dynamics, especially if it’s a four-link setup.
But if I like the car overall, I’ll simply accept whatever it has and enjoy the ride. I’ve had some vehicles that I really enjoyed that had less-than-optimum suspension design.
Best to work on? Double A-frames with separate shocks and springs, like my old Toyota pickups had. Sooper easy to put new shocks on those.
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That may be called a strut but it isn’t a McPherson strut
which dates back to the 1948 Chevrolet Cadet.
What’s the difference between a coil-over-shock suspension part and a strut? Both have coils over a shock absorbing element right? And what is the difference between a McPherson Strut and a generic strut ? And what is the design difference between a front strut and a back strut? The front strut has to accomodate the front wheels angling left and right for steering, while the rear strut doesn’t.
The McPherson strut eliminated the upper control arm.
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