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Rear Shock Replacement up to 2002

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    #16
    I guess I'll add, slop a finger load of grease onto the shock studs when you are done to fight off the road grime and salt, give you a better chance at easy removal later on.

    How much space is there from the wheel well on the 2002? I'm trying to find a pic of it, but after my last shock replacement I made a 'long reach' ratching wrench (snap on makes one, I made it out of a 5 dollar (now a lot more) princess auto ratching wrench (reversable, just in case) and a piece of emt). The box has enough space to work it from the wheel well, you still need the vice grips on the shaft but you can work it a lot easier).

    [elbow wrench. heres the closest I found. The snap on version, and mine, have about a 2' long handle]

    Alex.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by GM_Guy; 07-13-2018, 08:34 AM.

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      #17
      I'll definitely be using anti-seize on the threads and constantly spraying it with purportedly 'rubber safe' oil afterwards. I'll try to remember to stick a tape measure under there. My photo above makes it look deceptively close, but its way in there.

      The KYB's that are going on have a regular nut and a thinner locking nut to go on top. I have an idea as to how I'll piss around with that, but any suggestions would be welcome.

      2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
      mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

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        #18
        Ratcheting wrench is for speed in removing the old nut. You can hold the lower regular nut in place and tighten the jam nut using regular box wrenches once they are in position.
        03 Marauder DPB, HS, 6disk, Organizer Mods> LED's in & Out, M&Z rear control arms, Oil deflector, U-Haul Trans Pan, Blue Fuzzy Dice
        02 SL500 Silver Arrow
        08 TC Signature Limited, HID's Mods>235/55-17 Z rated BFG G-Force Comp-2 A/S Plus, Addco 1" rear Sway, Posi Carrier, Compustar Remote Start, floor liners, trunk organizer, Two part Sun Visors, B&M Trans drain Plug, Winter=05 Mustang GT rims, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R-2 235/55-17
        12 Escape Limited V6 AWD, 225/65R17 Vredestein Quatrac Pro, Winter 235/70-16 Conti Viking Contact7 Mods>Beamtech LED headlight bulbs, Husky floor liners

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          #19
          Me likey firm rear end.

          Finally had a cool enough day to tackle this job. It took me practically a whole fricken day, but I dood it. For the passenger side, sly’s suggestion about going from under the car worked for me (i.e. use the access rectangle for the air spring). Here’s a photo of the ratcheting wrench I had on hand:

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          I got two sets of four (standard and metric) for ~$10 each on sale back when ratcheting wrenches were just starting to become mainstream, though I don’t actually use them much. They ended up working great for this job, though getting only ~1/8 turn at a time was a big PITA.

          When working from the outside, the distance from the top nut to the inner lip of the wheel well is ~8-8.5".

          My experience certainly confirmed that destroying the original shocks appears to be the only practical way to remove them. An alternative is to make use of the hex part at the top of the plastic cover:

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          The hex is 1-1/4", so in theory a big wrench or whatever would work, but I didn’t have a wrench that big and didn't bother seeing what it would take to make it work. My initial impression was that it would not be practical.

          The step on the bottom threaded piece measured ~0.540", while the hole on the axle bracket measured ~0.550 on the one I measured first. By the time I decided to check the other, the shock was already installed up top, so it was in the way, and my measurements were in the ~0.530-0.540" range except for once when I got ~0.550". The ‘step’ on the KYB mount is ~0.510", so I’m not sure that trying some kind of bushing would be practical. Curiously, based on what I could feel with my finger, the axle mount holes seemed to have a wee bit of an angle, seeming to be narrower on the mount side than the nut side.

          Here’s a photo of one of the KYB mounts that I got powder coated for cheap:

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          The place presumably did only new stuff since they don’t do sandblasting, and they did the mounts for $5 each. I doubt they bothered to clean them properly, but meh. My main concern is preventing surface rust where the bushings sit, so that the bushings don’t become grinding pads like what happened on my front stabilizer bar.

          I didn’t bother with a power tool for cutting into the old shafts. I just had a piece of a file and went at it in between my attempts with the vice grips. On the passenger side, I eventually got a small “bang” when it broke loose. On the more accessible driver’s side, it took more effort and produced a little bit bigger “bang”. I doubt that the Liquid Wrench got down far enough in either case to help with the initial breaking loose. (I really envy the folks who have multiple vehicles and indoor places to work on them. It can be a bit nerve wracking when your only vehicle might be inoperable for longer than expected if things don’t go as planned.)

          Curiously, when I cut the straps on the new shocks, they didn’t rebound as I had expected. They both stayed put and needed some encouragement to extend. They seemed fine after that though.

          For installation, I basically had a wrench holding the big nut on top while turning the metal shaft cover. I could feel the bushings compress, and then things hit a point where I couldn’t turn any more. NFC what the torque ended up being, but there’s no way to get a torque wrench in there, so it will have to do.

          For the lock nuts, I managed to get a wrench under the two lines on the passenger side to hold the big nut while turning the lock nut with a long wrench. The driver’s side was significantly easier due to the lack of lines.

          Unfortunately, I got stupid with the lower mounts. The instructions say to use the manufacturer’s torque specs, which in this case for the axle bracket nut is 66ft/lbs, though I went well over 70ft/lbs since I could feel it could take it. That went fine enough, and I didn’t even need the cheap 23mm wrench that I got and filed down to hold the mount. For the washer nut, I was figuring that the same torque spec should apply since it’s the same size nut.


          Here’s what happens when you overtorque the washer nuts:

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          Since I needed a long extension for the axle bracket nut, I just kept it on my 1/2" drive torque wrench for the washer nut. I initially tightened the first washer nut with a 3/8" drive ratchet and then switched to the torque wrench. It seemed strange that the rubber was compressing but nothing was bottoming out. When the torque wrench clicked, I noticed the lock washer was wide open. I just left it initially.

          On the other side, I tried to be more careful and got to the point where I thought maybe the extension was messing things up. After removing the extension, the torque wrench clicked right away, and the lock washer was relatively intact. At that point, I went back to the other one and discovered my carnage. I finally realized that the smaller shoulder and thinness of the flat washer were not comparable to the axle mount end and that such a high torque was not required. I just used a BFH to make the washers useable and squeezed the one lock washer closed and tightened the nuts using only the 3/8" drive ratchet.

          It ended up being a long ordeal for me, comparable to my recent parking brake ordeal. Ford gets no customer loyalty from me, though I’d probably do it all over again in the right circumstances.


          My test drive was interesting. The experience clearly revealed that I will not have to continue driving ‘gently’ once a few other things are taken care of. No more atrocious back end bounce, though the fronts are noticeably due. One of the things I had read about recently was the effect of shocks on braking, and that proved to be obvious too, though not as marked as when I changed my front control arm bushings. In retrospect, I probably should have done the shocks back when I did all that other stuff, but meh. Live and learn.

          Edit: Despite all that, I forgot to include something. I noticed that the cable for the ABS sensor on the driver's side was rubbing against the shock and getting a noticeable wear spot. I ended up putting a couple of zip ties loosely around the ABS cable and parking brake cable since nothing else seemed possible.
          Last edited by IPreferDIY; 08-23-2018, 07:31 AM.

          2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
          mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

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            #20
            I also forgot to note that I had checked with a local Ford dealership about the labour cost for rear shock replacement, and it was something like CDN$195 plus taxes, and they would even put on shocks that I brought in.

            2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
            mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

            Comment


              #21
              That looked to be the perfect shape for the ratcheting wrench. I will be honest and say I don't torque anything suspension related.
              ~David~

              My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
              My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

              Originally posted by ootdega
              My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

              Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
              But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

              Originally posted by gadget73
              my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




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                #22
                I've done rear shocks on 7? 8? '88-'98 Panthers and they're all irritating. On my '96, the rear shocks would not budge, surprising to me because the car was only 12 years old and totally rust free and garage kept. Resorted to cutting thru the bushings with a 12" blade on the sawzall. My '97 Town Car rot box, the original shocks unbolted like they'd been installed yesterday, can't figure that out, but they came out easily enough with vice grips on the shaft and a ratcheting wrench on the top. His '91 Wagon, we gave up because there is zero access from the wheelwell on a wagon and neither of us felt like laying in his gravel driveway to wrestle them out. His '97 Town Car which was only slightly less rusty than mine, those were so seized in there that we resorted to the sawzall. My '98, they wouldn't budge, but I got too looking at it and had an idea. Since its a whale with less intrusive control arm arrangement, and it has RAS so its stupid easy to deflate the bags and move them out of the way, I put a box end wrench on the top nut, then grabbed the shock and bent it as far as I could in towards the center of the car. The wrench up top wedged against the floor of the trunk and the stud bent, so I spun the shock 180* and repeated, bending the stud the other way, by round 3, the stud snapped just below the washer and the shock was out. That was by far the easiest and least potentially damaging "destructive" way I've ever done them.

                Front ones, don't even bother trying to remove the top nut. Put a deep well socket on it, grab a foot or 2 worth of extensions, and bend the stud back and fourth, it will snap just below the washer every time. Takes 5 minutes, destroys the shock but you're replacing it anyway.. The lower 2 bolts rarely fight in my experience, but I always spray the threads of them from on top of the control arm where they poke thru with PB Blaster before I even try and turn them. Front ones take 10 minutes a side to remove that way and you don't even have to take the wheels off, just lift the front end high enough to pull the shock out thru the hole in the control arm.
                -Steve

                2006 Audi A6 S-Line FWD ~132k miles, stock.
                1998 Mercury Grand Marquis LS HPP ~102k miles, slowly acquiring modifications.
                1997 Lincoln Town Car Cartier ~145k miles, Ported Plenum, Gutted Airbox, Mechanical Fan Delete, Contour E-fan Retrofit, Dual exhaust, Cats ran away, KYB Gas-A-Justs, P71 front sway bar, air ride reinstalled, Blinker Mod, Projector headlight retrofit, Caddy 4-note horn retrofit, Wood rim steering wheel, rustbelt diet plan..
                1996 Mercury Grand Marquis GS 117,485mi. R.I.P. 7/14/12

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                  #23
                  problem with the front shocks is the threads in the lower arm stripping out. Getting them out is rarely a problem, keeping them in can be. Drilling the factory hole a CH oversize and clipping a 5/16 speed nut in there takes care of it right quick though.
                  86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                  5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                  91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                  1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                  Originally posted by phayzer5
                  I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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                    #24
                    I've done my 91, 84, and 85 now. The wagon is surely the worst due to zero access through the wheel well as mentioned.

                    This is actually a serious suggestion: this job is much easier with the fuel tank removed. It makes the job more complicated by a long shot, but you can get a much better angle on those bastard nuts on top of the shocks, up to and including two wrenches, one to hold the shock shaft and the other to turn the nut.

                    1/4" wrench works to hold the keyed end of many shocks; the actual size is somewhat smaller but 1/4" will hold it and is the smallest wrench I own so that's what I did. Ideally you'd have a really long 1/4" wrench but not all things are ideal.

                    Current driver: Ranger
                    Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                    | 88 TC | 91 GM
                    Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                    Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                    | Junkyards

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                      #25
                      I prefer a torque wrench whenever possible, partly because I'm an ape who tends to overtighten stuff, and it's nice to know I'm in the right range for accessible stuff. (One deceptive torque was my TC drain plug. I think it's 25ft/lbs, and I initially did it hand tight to what seemed good enough, but it went in a lot farther with the torque wrench.) If I can't get a torque wrench on it, I just try to get it as tight as it was when it came off.

                      When I did my front joints and bushings some years ago, the front shocks seemed fine, but the bits at the tips of the shafts were useless for holding them enough to get the nuts off. I resorted to filing down one side of the nuts and scavanged nuts from something else. A good nut splitter would probably be ideal if the shocks are still good. I've always been gentle with the bottom bolts, so hopefully they won't give me any grief.

                      I remember another tip for the rears. I had the frame on stands and used a jack to support the diff. I had no problem breaking the axle bracket nuts loose, but they were a PITA to remove completely. (I have a corded impact wrench but actually didn't think of it before now. ) For the first one, I only moved the axle after the nut was off. For the second one, I got the nut part way off and was getting tired. I thought ahead and decided to lift the axle, but that just resulted in the threaded part turning in the rubber bushing. If you're lucky enough to have the threaded part jammed in the axle bracket, make sure the nut is off before you move the axle.
                      Last edited by IPreferDIY; 08-24-2018, 03:57 PM.

                      2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
                      mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

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