rear shock

[Breedlove]

My rear shock is busted and has been rattling at me for weeks, I have never changed rear shocks before, it looks pretty easy though. Is there a tutorial for that, I did a seach but couldn't find much. Thanks, breedlove

[GenevaDirt]

OMG....easy....hahahahahahahaha...I spent 2 days on it just this weekend and only have 1 done.
Make sure you have a heat source and heat the bolt in the swingarm before you even try to remove it....and hopefully it is not frozen in the sleeve inside the bushing in the strut.....otherwise it will not come out unless you cut the bottom off and then find a way to get the bolt out. Sheeeeeeeeesh.....easy.....haaaaaaaaa.....lol. You watch...yours will come right off. Ihope it goes well for you...I am dreading the other side on mine!

[mattswabb]

It all depends on how rusty your car is. If it is rusty then it is a pain to get the lower bolt out.

[GenevaDirt]

lol...actually...my car is not really that rusty under there....but man was that bolt froze into the sleeve!

[25Horseplay]

Just remember to put antiseize on the bolts when reassembling it.

[batstiva]

Wow, I must have gotten lucky with mine, took less that 3 hours to do both sides. And that's without a spring compressor, just a 2 by 4 and good old fashioned leverage. :roll: If you don't already have one, I would highly recommend laying hands on a Haynes Manual, walks ya right through it. :wink:

[25Horseplay]

Rear struts don't need a compressor, just use the weight of the car on the rear.

[GenevaDirt]

lol...I know how to do it....just accomplishing it was a major task. I didn't need any spring compressor or anything after I finally got it out. There just is not enough time to type all the problems Ihad leading up to completion of just that one side....lol. I did the fronts in the middle of the week...after work and drove it in the next morning....lol

[Damkid]

ha i spent maybe an hour to change one rear spring, i only un-did the top of the strut and basically forced it around so i could change the spring, it was kind of a PITA to do it that way but i never would have got the lower bolt out (found that out later when i did the aspire swap)

[festerzilla]

HaHa...25horseplay have you ever thought manufacturers should have anti-seized bolts and screws from the factory? I mean they sell repair manuals so I guess they expect people to take them apart. I wonder how many cars have been junked because of frustration over stupid things like that.

[freshtiva]

An impact on those lower strut bolts really helps. Try removing the torsion beam (swing arm) sometime. I swear the left side swing arm bolts wont come out. You have to remove the whole bracket.

[dahodges]

If you break that lower bolt, don't even try to fix it. Do the Aspire swap.

[]-[owler]

I've be at it for 2 days now. impact and penetrant like crazy, got drivers side but passenger just wont budge. going to try heat I guess. on drivers side got frustrated trying to start bolt in and ended up busting welded on thread insert thing(hammers can be a bad thing to have around), had to put a nut in torsion beam(I can't believe it worked, could barely reach in there).

[batstiva]

2 days?? Man, I feel lucky. Nothing seized. No impact. Just ratchet, sockets, and a 4 ft. cheater bar. Mine came right apart. I feel for you.

[]-[owler]

Ya, just rounded off the bolt w/impact & 6pt socket. Gonna get a new bolt, break insert off on purpose this time, and set up the same way as driver's side I guess.