Rear Shock Mounts (Uppers)

[focalepointe]

I am at my wits end with these shocks. I have Bilstein 5125's on the rear and after soaking them with PB Blaster and everything else, I still can not budge the top nut to remove from the mount.
I am thinking about taking measurements and buying a 2 or 3" hole saw then drilling out a hole in the trunk/cargo bed just above the shock mount. I figure I could get better leverage from this angle. Just seeing if anyone else has heard of or has tried doing this themselves before I proceed.

I am not crossing rivers or creeks so I not worried about the hole, and if push comes to shove, I am certain I could find a plug to squeeze in there.

I know everones first response is to "cut it off" but these shocks have less than 2k on them and it would be a terrible shame to cut them up.

 

[AlpineCoder]

I assume you're talking about the top post (stock) style shocks, and not the adapter used for Taco style (eye to eye) shocks.

Short answer is that they're just a pain in the nuts. That said, I wouldn't drill a hole in the body just to save the shock, so if it comes down to it I'd just cut the shock off. That said, the way I got mine loose (stock w/ 100k+) was to clamp the top nut with a pair of vice grips as hard as I could, then spin the shock body with a strap wrench. If you get it right the vice grips will spin until they jam against the frame rail (make sure they aren't jammed against your brake lines if you're doing driver side), then you can crank on the shock body until the nut breaks loose. That said, if the nut is really rusted on there, you'll probably end up crushing the shock body to some degree while trying to turn it.

 

[Scat Adams]

I made a gap, which allowed for a much better angle and less of a headache.

Good luck!

 

[txbonds]

I made a gap, which allowed for a much better angle and less of a headache.

Good luck!

Good idea. I went the hard way and used a box wrench on top and turned the shock body with channel locks. It crushed and ruined the shock but they did come off.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

My rear shocks were shot. One completely dead when I bought it. It took literally 15 seconds per shock to cut off with a sawzaw.

 

[focalepointe]

yeah.... this is my second set of shocks installed on here. They are good shocks, I just need them to come off for maintenance reasons. The first two sets of shocks, I did cut off, and your right, it only took 20-30 minutes to change out the set that way. But I am trying to retain this set.