Ayep...

Nonsense.

True, a set of coil-spring compressers is needed (Cheap and easy to get
- Last set I bought was under $20, and the local autozone has 'em on
hand as part of their "loan-a-tool" thing.)

Also true that it does take some reasonable care. ("Don't undo the nut
holding the upper spring plate to the strut until the spring compressers
are solidly engaged and the spring is compressed" is the biggest item)

Not true that it isn't a DIYer job - struts are no biggie for anyone who
has the smarts to be able to change a set of spark plugs. Typically
either three or four bolts on top, and two on the bottom are what's
holding it in place, and removing/replacing the old cartridge usually
means unscrewing a collar after the spring and upper plate are off the
strut. Not at all complex, and difficult, at best, to screw up without
it being too obvious to overlook.

The one critical item other than not letting the top strut-spring plate
loose before the spring is unloaded is to check and see if your
particular vehicle messes with camber by turning the upper mount plate -
Some do (My Mazda adjusts camber in 0.5 degree steps based on which way
the little stamped-in arrow on the mount-plate points) and some don't.
If the Windstar does (and I have no idea whether or not that's the
case), you need to make sure you put the mount-plate back in exactly the
same way you found it, or you'll blow your alignment all to hell.

Here you raise a good point - From the symptoms we've heard from the OP
so far, (sloppy steering, especially) I'd be suspecting either bad ball
joints, tie-rod ends, pittman arm, and/or idler arm before I'd suspect
the struts. Not that struts can't cause all the described symptoms, but
it seems to me that it's more likely to be something in the "connect the
steering box to the wheels" hardware. Then again, he DID say it has 130K
on it, so it might well be time for struts, too.

(Personally, I dealt with mine by "shotgunning" everything in the front
end - Mainly because it all needed it to some extent, and I had
everything needed on-hand to do a complete "replace everything that
moves, plus some stuff that doesn't" operation. Since I was in as deep
as I was already - looking at an absolute minimum of ball joints and tie
rod ends - it just made sense to do the whole job once, rather than
having to redo parts of it half a dozen times as the old stuff failed
under the changed stresses that come with only putting some new parts
into an old, "worn in" system.)