Rear shock bushing replacement

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Among the long list of unintelligent questions I post here I add one more; is it possible to replace the rear shock top bushings without removing the shocks themselves? Not knowing what I was doing-a normal state of affairs-when I replaced the shocks I put the 2-piece bushings that came with the Bilsteins on the car. Now, knowing better, I ordered the correct bushings from Ben at LJI. They supposedly go in from the top, so if I can put the new ones in from the top and somehow reach up and compress the shock enough to get the bottom half of the incorrect bushing out... well you get the picture- or is it easier to remove the shock- I just remember it was rather an expletive filled experience putting the rears on.

Thanks,

 

[sfdon]

8 pound maul in ten seconds.
Hit it hard!

 

[30csl]

Having done this not long ago to while having the strut tops fixed I would say you will struggle to compress the piston enough as there is little room and its not easy. If the shocks are not that strong then you may be able to have someone force the piston down and then get a strap over it but the lack of room makes me think this would be too hard.

 

[Polariscsl]

I'm pretty sure you can do this with the rear of the car up on jack stands. Put a trolley jack under the rear hub and the. Undo the bolts on the top and then use the trolley jack to lower the rear trailing arm down. It doesn't have to go too low to get at the top of the damper and swap the little bushes over.

 

[deQuincey]

Having done this not long ago to while having the strut tops fixed I would say you will struggle to compress the piston enough as there is little room and its not easy. If the shocks are not that strong then you may be able to have someone force the piston down and then get a strap over it but the lack of room makes me think this would be too hard.

+1
absolutely possible

 

[sfdon]

Stop being so nice to your car peter.

Wheel off

Large nut off

Use a pry bar, breaker bar or big pickle fork and remove bottom
Of shock.

Remove nuts and rubber mount at top

When shock falls out- throw away rubber disks

Install correct rubber bush and metal sleeve

Tighten nut

Jack up caliper to best fit at shock and spindle

Use anything you want to beat the shock bottom on-
Last month I used a trailer mount because it
Was close.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Got it Don, I guess I know why my son calls me a pussy!

 

[Polariscsl]

If you undo the top nut first it requires a lot less 'persuading' with a big hammer to get the damper off!

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Thanks Polariscsl, Any help is welcome- I think Don's suggestion of "just do it!" is good, but if I can "just do it easier" I'm always happier. I have allot of suspension upgrades under this thing and it's starting to be worth the effort; 30 mile drives into the hills around Austin are starting to be more fun than worrisome, but that darn clink in the back when I push her a bit is annoying-especially when I know what's causing it. Also not looking forward to putting in the new strut bearings (correctly this time), but I am fully convinced that that will remedy my return-to-center steering issue.

Cheers!