Help with rear shocks installation

[Atreyus]

After reading the need help with lift install who ever thought of unbolting those 4 bolts on the lower control armed saved my frustrated/cursing of a day lol. That helped ALOT. I forgot who it was but thanks! You know who you are lol. Install my new struts and shocks now I just gotta break em in.

 

[theizzardking]

Throw in a 1 or 2" body lift and it's cake!

Or get a set of deep sockets and a smaller ratchet, i had no problem with this, it's a little fiddley and you can only get 1/2 a turn in but it's not that bad.

But i completely agree engineers should be the ones who assemble the prototype. I work for a engineering firm that also fabercates assembles and installs all of our own tooling and98% of our employees are have engineering degrees, i work with tons of other engineers and can honestly say that a good portion have no clue how to actually work or hold a wrench. I really like my companies philosophy on design. The engineer who designed it is the same guy who gets it fabercated is the same guy who assembles it
Installs it and supports it. It's fun to watch the new m.i.t grads come in and start getting dirty and after a few projects you can see the ease of assembly and support improvements in their design. We can only hope auto manufacturers do something similar. And i can only hope to get better at my math,lol

 

[theizzardking]

After reading the need help with lift install who ever thought of unbolting those 4 bolts on the lower control armed saved my frustrated/cursing of a day lol. That helped ALOT. I forgot who it was but thanks! You know who you are lol. Install my new struts and shocks now I just gotta break em in.

Right?!?! It was brian's idea or mentioned it and after reading it like 4 times in other lift threads where most ignored brians suggestion i thought id give it a try! I mentioned it in that thread but robbed it from brian2sun ! Lol i agree it is the way todo it lol

 

[WhiteManFlail]

So I don't understand what's wrong with my T4R but at the top of MY rear shock, you barely have room for an open ended wrench let alone an Effin deep socket! WTF! And I have a strap wrench, but its a closed loop, so I can't even get it around the shock to use it! AAARRRRRGGGGGGGGG! The front is lifted 2.5" now and the back is stock. It's a funny sight to see. I'll have to get pics tomorrow.

 

[blcktpgsr]

So I don't understand what's wrong with my T4R but at the top of MY rear shock, you barely have room for an open ended wrench let alone an Effin deep socket! WTF! And I have a strap wrench, but its a closed loop, so I can't even get it around the shock to use it! AAARRRRRGGGGGGGGG! The front is lifted 2.5" now and the back is stock. It's a funny sight to see. I'll have to get pics tomorrow.

You either have to use an offset flared wrench or get underneath the truck and dig deep for that top nut...there is room under there most especially with the springs removed. If you're replacing the shocks for new ones and all else fails, then sawzall is your best friend and cut the shock stud beneath the top shock mount.

I don't know how the 4th Gen is, but I can't see it being that much different.:heh:

 

[WhiteManFlail]

Yeah, I finally realized that Bilstein wouldn't automatically provide you with a new top but and bushings if you didn't have to destroy the ones on it during removal. So long story short, I grabbed my grinder with a cut-off wheel.

 

[eatmorechickenx]

I found on the rear shocks a 1/2 in ratchet with a deep socket is just the right size (no I don't have a body lift). The shock is at just the right angle to be able to get almost a half turn out of the ratchet.