Lift Install Help: Rear shock will not come off!?!?!

Left_Coast_T4R96

Left_Coast_T4R96

New member
I can't seem to get the damn rear shock to come off. Everything I have read and everyone I have talked to has led me to believe it should slide right out. The lower rear shock bold has been removed and the shock is free from the axle. It looks like the rubber bushing on the top is preventing it from breaking free. The track bar is disconnected, but I don’t see this causing any issues. I have not touched the sway bar yet. I’ve also tried a decent amount of force. The rubber bushing is very elastic and bounces right back. I am looking for any suggestions.

If this was the easy part I don't know how I'll pull off the coils.

Thanks


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Left_Coast_T4R96 said:
I can't seem to get the damn rear shock to come off. Everything I have read and everyone I have talked to has led me to believe it should slide right out. The lower rear shock bold has been removed and the shock is free from the axle. It looks like the rubber bushing on the top is preventing it from breaking free. The track bar is disconnected, but I don’t see this causing any issues. I have not touched the sway bar yet. I’ve also tried a decent amount of force. The rubber bushing is very elastic and bounces right back. I am looking for any suggestions.

If this was the easy part I don't know how I'll pull off the coils.

Thanks


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Well first off did you take the nut off the top mount? Up in that little area so call it where the top bushing is there is a nut on the shock. gotta get that off first. Then it should just slide right out. I replaced mine earlier this year and the top mounting bolt on the shock broke due to the nut seized. I am a Toyota Technician and work on Toyota's every day so you have to get the top nut off.
 
BFEATHER2008 said:
Well first off did you take the nut off the top mount? Up in that little area so call it where the top bushing is there is a nut on the shock. gotta get that off first. Then it should just slide right out. I replaced mine earlier this year and the top mounting bolt on the shock broke due to the nut seized. I am a Toyota Technician and work on Toyota's every day so you have to get the top nut off.
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That space is really tight. I can hardly get my hand up there let alone a wrench. I thought there should be nut but the instructions didnt mention it anywhere. I'll give it a shot.
 
Left_Coast_T4R96 said:
That space is really tight. I can hardly get my hand up there let alone a wrench. I thought there should be nut but the instructions didnt mention it anywhere. I'll give it a shot.
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Yea i know its a tight spot but i know for a fact there is a nut up there. If you have a hand ratchet that has a head the swivels try using that first thats how i did it at work. Granted i have access to a lift. You have to get your socket on first though then get the ratchet up there and try to get it loose and when doing this dont try to turn the wrench or ratchet turn the shock itself and hold the ratchet or wrench.
 
Left_Coast_T4R96 said:
That space is really tight. I can hardly get my hand up there let alone a wrench. I thought there should be nut but the instructions didnt mention it anywhere. I'll give it a shot.
Click to expand...

I just took one of my rear shocks off this afternoon.... I put a crescent wrench on the top of the tube. There is a flat spot where I could hold it, just under the mount bracket. Then a (14mm?) socket wrench on the top. I used the handle of my ball peen hammer as a pry bar to turn the crescent wrench against the socket wrench (bottom of the shock has to be loose from the axle.) This gave me some leverage, cause yeah, there ain't no room in that spot to work. Turned pretty easy until the stud on the shock broke off, then the shock fell out.
 
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this^ x2

I took my rear shock off today. And yes, there is a definitely another rubber bushing, a washer, and a nut on top of the shock mount.

I used a combination of bending and cutting. First I bent the shock towards the front of the truck as much as I could, then stuck the sawzal up in there and cut into it for a minute. I didn't even cut all the way through. Then I grabbed the shock body again and just broke it off. Easy as pie. I had them both off in 10 minutes. (And there was NO way the top nut was coming off the "correct" way...they were so rusty, they didn't even looks like nuts, rather more like a lump of flaking metal)
 
there's two bushings, one on each side of the frame where it mounts along with a 14mm nut.. Break out the saw, save yourself the time and the headache of trying to wrench on it.. at the very least it rusted, probably seized up as it sits in basically a cup. cut it right below the bushing and just pull it through.

and disconnect the end links on the sway bar- or just ditch it all together- that will make it easier to get your lift on..
 
My nuts were rusted so badly they wouldn't turn. I put a socket with breaker bar on the nut, wedged it against the frame and twisted the shock with a large pair of channel locks. It broke the bolt and they came right off. That or the saws-all is the way to get them off.
 
A deep 14-mm on a 3/8" drive with 8" handle always has worked for me. I stick it on, wedge it up against the frame/body, and turn the top shock body with my hands or grab it nice and tight with channel locks.
 
On the hunt to borrow a saws-all. I have a few ideas to try first but it sounds like it's inevitably coming down to cutting which I'm all for. I'll need the saws-all to chop the coils anyway. I'm not going through the madness again and I'm not one to turn down the chance to use power tools! Thanks to all for the advice.
 
Left_Coast_T4R96 said:
On the hunt to borrow a saws-all. I have a few ideas to try first but it sounds like it's inevitably coming down to cutting which I'm all for. I'll need the saws-all to chop the coils anyway. I'm not going through the madness again and I'm not one to turn down the chance to use power tools! Thanks to all for the advice.
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You can always buy one from wal-mart. Buy a separate blade and use it with the sawzall. Then return the sawzall. You lose a few bucks by buying the blade.

I do this at Bestbuy and wal-mart all the time. If I don't like it I just return it. I never have a problem.
 
Left_Coast_T4R96 said:
I can't seem to get the damn rear shock to come off. Everything I have read and everyone I have talked to has led me to believe it should slide right out.
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What you say right here has me thinking you got mixed up between the removal of your coil springs and the removal of your shocks.

Everybody seems to have trouble getting their old shocks out and usually cuts them off or breaks them off. TheDurk recommends this "If you're talking stockers, a big honking pair of Channelocks beats either Sawzall or Cut-off. Just stand by the wheel well and grab the top boot and rotate forward or back. Breaks off right at the nut in seconds and I am hardly Superman. Won't work on shocks that don't have the steel upper boot like the stock Tokkicos.

I spent an hour getting the first one off until I tried this. I had the second one done in less time than it takes to type this.

You do have to get a 14mm deep socket on the top nut beforehand and wedge it against something."


Your coils should just slide out if you use a pry bar and keep everything detached. Why are you chopping your coils??? If you can't get them out then you're not going to be able to get the new ones back in.
 
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cj80cruiser said:
What you say right here has me thinking you got mixed up between the removal of your coil springs and the removal of your shocks.

Everybody seems to have trouble getting their old shocks out and usually cuts them off or breaks them off. TheDurk recommends this "If you're talking stockers, a big honking pair of Channelocks beats either Sawzall or Cut-off. Just stand by the wheel well and grab the top boot and rotate forward or back. Breaks off right at the nut in seconds and I am hardly Superman. Won't work on shocks that don't have the steel upper boot like the stock Tokkicos.

I spent an hour getting the first one off until I tried this. I had the second one done in less time than it takes to type this.

You do have to get a 14mm deep socket on the top nut beforehand and wedge it against something."


Your coils should just slide out if you use a pry bar and keep everything detached. Why are you chopping your coils??? If you can't get them out then you're not going to be able to get the new ones back in.
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I had something to say on this subject but I forgot what it was....

[Thanks for saving me the trouble of posting :) ]

P.S. Don't forget the to drop the spare when trying to get at that top nut. A 14MM flex-head GearWrench makes tightening the new top nut much easier.
 
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Danny are you really going to cut your coils out? Your so lazy, The same bolts to remove the coils must be loosened when you install the coils.
 
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