simplifying shock removal?

[BerniniCaCO3]

Hi!

Bought a 1990 colony park 2months ago. I'm a college student and this is my first car.
To get it to pass inspection, yesterday (...and into today) I replaced the front shocks.

My god, the top nuts were hard to get to and impossible to remove. I spent literally 5 hrs with the driver side nut, shredding the shaft with a locking wrench before finally running out to the store and resorting to a dremel cutoff wheel, which only barely sufficed. It couldn't, actually, reach the shaft due to angles; but i was able to slice up the nut until it broke free.

So tomorrow I'd like to do the rear shocks, but I confess that I'm terrified. I was told that they're even harder to get to (is that possible?), and if the nuts are as frozen as the front ones were, it seems likely that I'll never get the 20yr old shocks off??
I'm also nervous about the warning that I have to brace some part in the rear before removing the shocks, or the axle will come down? Not sure if I understood the haynes manual correctly.

[91waggin]

I thought the rear shocks were much easier than the front shocks when I did them on my wagon, simply because the damn thing doesn't spin when you don't want it to.

Jack up the car by the frame, let the rear axle hang. Put jack stands under the rear axle on both sides.

Because of where the top of the shocks are mounted, the easiest way to remove the nut from the top of them is to use a ratcheting box-end wrench, aka "gear wrench." There isn't enough room to get a socket wrench in there, and with a ratcheting wrench, you don't have to keep taking the wrench off and putting it back on.

Once you pull the top nuts, the axle will settle onto the jack stands you put underneath. Remove the bottoms, and install the new shocks.

Welcome to GMN, and I'm glad to see another late-model wagon around here! They're a pretty rare breed, with only a few thousand made each year.

EDIT: Could a mod please move this to the suspension forum?

[Piece-it pete]

You can use a recip saw with a long metal blade to cut the top bolts, just watch the lines on the drivers side

Good time to do springs, sway bar end links too if you're so inclined.

Pete

[zoomie]

rear shock are asy if you cut a hole above the shocks lol also i usually just cut trhough half the bolt and then snap it of with a rachet, works great

[gadget73]

Cheater trick for the front shocks. Use a deepwell socket and a really long extension. Rock the extension back and forth until the stud on the top of the shock snaps. Remove the two bottom bolts and it falls out of the hole.

You really can't cut a hole above the shocks. Its up against the edge of the trunk where its difficult to access. Cutting holes for stuff like that is a hackjob anyway. A proper long wrench to hold the nut while you spin the shocks out with a pair of channel locks isn't that horrible. If you can't fit a wrench in there, your car needs new body mounts. Those are a pain in the ass though. You can jack the body up a smidge to get enough clearance to sneak the wrench in if required.

[zoomie]

Cheater trick for the front shocks. Use a deepwell socket and a really long extension. Rock the extension back and forth until the stud on the top of the shock snaps. Remove the two bottom bolts and it falls out of the hole.

You really can't cut a hole above the shocks. Its up against the edge of the trunk where its difficult to access. Cutting holes for stuff like that is a hackjob anyway. A proper long wrench to hold the nut while you spin the shocks out with a pair of channel locks isn't that horrible. If you can't fit a wrench in there, your car needs new body mounts. Those are a pain in the ass though. You can jack the body up a smidge to get enough clearance to sneak the wrench in if required.

i was in a hurry had to get the car back in operation ,and needed it the next day .so i cut a hole with my dremel lol

[gadget73]

you'll spend more time cutting holes in that trunk than shoving a wrench in there, especially if you're using a dremel.

[Southern_Pride]

I always reached in around the mufflers to get to mine. Way simpler. Of course I don't have much for mufflers.

[CheeseSteakJim]

I can't fucking stand people that cut holes in the body to access stuff. Hackjob-o-rama.

[1987cp]

I can't fucking stand people that cut holes in the body to access stuff. Hackjob-o-rama.

Well, there is always the fact that Ford never should have used bayonet upper mounts on Panther rear shocks in the first place .....


For folks who've only worked on sedans: Sedans have a bit of a cutout in the wheelhousing that allows access for a wrench from the wheelwell side, which makes things relatively simple. Wagons lack this feature. Not that you can't still get a wrench in from the other side, but my experience has been that it's a good deal more difficult.

Also, for those inclined to perform a hackjob, the access from above in a wagon is excellent, once the troublesome bits of floorpan have been cut away. The best solution in my mind, short of altering the chassis to accept eyelet-style rear upper shock mounts, would be to cut the offending bits of floorpan away neatly and fashion an easily-removable panel for future access. I attempted something like this a number of years ago by screwing and siliconing pieces of aluminum over the hackjob holes, and no one would know how ugly it is once the aluminum decking is back in place, but it admittedly didn't end up being very neat solution.

[91waggin]

I don't understand about people whining about how hard rear shocks on wagons are to do! Just get a friggin ratcheting box-end wrench and go to town! Plenty of room up there for a flat wrench!

[sly]

I don't understand about people whining about how hard rear shocks on wagons are to do! Just get a friggin ratcheting box-end wrench and go to town! Plenty of room up there for a flat wrench!

that would be the problem for me... lack of proper tools. I need to put a set of ratcheting box-end wrenches on my wish list though. *puts on to-do list*

[1987cp]

I don't understand about people whining about how hard rear shocks on wagons are to do! Just get a friggin ratcheting box-end wrench and go to town! Plenty of room up there for a very long flat wrench!

(can't reach with a normal-length wrench IMO)

[BerniniCaCO3]

Did them last week, and my god, they WERE a pain!
I'd tried to get to them through the interior trim, being a bit ignorant, but realized of course that I could not.

I'd not heard of ratcheting box wrenches before. Went to harbor freight, and, I don't think I could have done the rear shocks without one. It was a lifesaver.

Couldn't see a bit of what I was doing, just bent my wrist awkwardly and reached up into the shadowed gap, lying uncomfortably on my side with just the jack stands. But got it done in an evening nonetheless, saved $250 versus paying the mechanic!

Thanks for the help!
And... these are easier on most cars, right? Just not the old wagons?

[Piece-it pete]

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