So while I was underneath the truck today replacing my kid's strawberry shake maker (before it made the shake) I thought I'd take a look at what I'm in for when I replace the rear springs (1" taller OEM's) and shocks. What I saw did not make me happy. How in the hell are you supposed to get the top shock nut off in that teeny tiny little space? I've seen that some have cut the shock shaft off with a cutting wheel or sawzall but that can't be the preferred method, can it?
2000 4Runner 2WD Rear Shock replacement...
- Thread starter rzgkane
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Acorn22
Member
You can fit a 1/2 drive ratchet up there with some finesse and the right extentions/swivels. If you still have the stock shocks you can drill a small hole through the shock body (not the shaft, just the tubing that shields it) and then stick a screwdriver through it and use that to make the shock not spin as you try and unscrew the nut off from the top.
Super easy.
Remove the spare tire to have room. Use a wire brush and clean the exposed threads on the top mount (this is a guess work as you cannot see the bolt or the thread), and then spray some WD-40. Get a thin wrench and attach a 12 mm box socket (OEM I believe is 12 mm) and loosen it. If you prefer, you can also keep the wrench stationary and turn the shock top-half to loosen the nut.
If you don't clean the threads with a wire brush, cross threading might occur as dust/sand cutting into the stud.
Remove the spare tire to have room. Use a wire brush and clean the exposed threads on the top mount (this is a guess work as you cannot see the bolt or the thread), and then spray some WD-40. Get a thin wrench and attach a 12 mm box socket (OEM I believe is 12 mm) and loosen it. If you prefer, you can also keep the wrench stationary and turn the shock top-half to loosen the nut.
If you don't clean the threads with a wire brush, cross threading might occur as dust/sand cutting into the stud.
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Ghostrider
Registered User
I used a box end wrench on the top nut and a pipe wrench on the body. I also put lube on the new threads and put a piece of plastci tubing over it to help prevent rust on the new shocks. However a lot of people have removed the old ones with a sawzall - on the threaded part not on the body
I'm confused by this. How do you attach a socket to a wrench?
gmcmanus663
Member
If you use a flex head ratchet (here's what I used: https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-...onal-flex-head-long-handle-ratchet-62333.html) with a deep socket it works pretty well. If you don't plan on re-using the shocks then it might be best to just cut them off but if you need to get them off I have a post that might be helpful:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/260808-trying-remove-my-bilstein-5100s-rear.html
Towards the end I post what I did to get my shocks off since they were practically new and I definitely didn't want to buy new ones
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/260808-trying-remove-my-bilstein-5100s-rear.html
Towards the end I post what I did to get my shocks off since they were practically new and I definitely didn't want to buy new ones
Thanks. Since I'm replacing stockers with Bilsteins I think I'm going to just cut the damn things off. Then I guess I'll have to get the right allen and offset wrench so I can tighten the new ones. What a cluster. The Japanese are usually better at making maintenance-type things easier to accomplish.
gmcmanus663
Member
I'm with you there. It should be a 5 mm allen and a 17 mm nut for the bilsteins. Be careful with that allen up top though, can strip easily and you can't really see it to prevent it. That's what happened to me but I got around it and my solution has been fine
