I thought rear shock replacement was supposed to be easy.

[MACHINA]

Strange, I have changed mine out twice now and have always used a ratchet and socket on the top. Its a tight fit, but works.
Keeping the shock shaft from turning is the hard part..

I did the rears yesterday on mine. The previous owner had installed Ranchos, and those had a nut on the shaft below the frame mount, which made disassembly super easy- wrench on nut holding the shaft from turning, and deepwell socket to loosen the top nut.

Installing the Bilstein 5100s I bought was a different story. They are keyed for a 5mm or 13/64" Allen bit on the top to prevent the shaft from turning, but access above the mounting location is of course cramped..

For tightening the top nut, a long 5mm Allen wrench, flexhead ratcheting wrench, and a crow's foot for the torque wrench did the job. Just ended up wasting time trying things that didn't work to get to that point.

 

[bushpilot]

Rear shock replacement

It was a little bit of a pain. I did both rear shocks just now. I was fortunate enough that the passenger side shock had already broken the push rod at the upper mount so it was just a matter of unbolting the bottom and pulling it out.
The driver side was a little tougher. I was able to get a deep socket 9/16 on the upper nut and after pulling off the wheel was able to get a pipe wrench on the upper shock body and hold it tight enough to get the upper nut off. Removing the wheel just makes it easier to get a good angle with the pipe wrench.

 

[tvpierce]

It was a little bit of a pain. I did both rear shocks just now. I was fortunate enough that the passenger side shock had already broken the push rod at the upper mount so it was just a matter of unbolting the bottom and pulling it out.
The driver side was a little tougher. I was able to get a deep socket 9/16 on the upper nut and after pulling off the wheel was able to get a pipe wrench on the upper shock body and hold it tight enough to get the upper nut off. Removing the wheel just makes it easier to get a good angle with the pipe wrench.

Interesting.

My passenger side/rear shock broke at the upper mount too -- and my truck was never offroaded by the previous owner or me.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

I use a sawzaw and cut the stem just below the top shock mount.


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