Yeah, I don't know what happened. I did exactly what you said and the strut came out no problem, but I'm assuming corrosion/rust didn't allow the top plate to separate like it should have when it was still bolted.
The first strut came out whole. I threw it on the floor and it separated. The top plate flew to one side, the shock flew to another. Luckily I was alone and it flew under the truck.
The second strut I removed the bottom bolt first and then tapped it with a hammer. It was much less violent than the first strut, but once that top nut was removed, it shot the top plate up into the fender well and the shock down onto the floor.
Now the instructions for re-assembly of the strut without a compressor were golden. Re-assembly took much less time than the disassembly. The rear was actually a lot more aggravating than the front. Dealing with the muffler/exhaust pipe right next to the upper shock mount and then trying to re-align the axle after I dropped it so far.
I'm just excited it's done. But now I really, really want 285's.
