yellafeva

Guys, I need help again. I've done the front and they were pretty simple. However, I'm stuck on the rears. I took out the shocks and now am unable to put it back aligned to the bottom holes to screw in the bolt. The hole on the shock and the hole on the A-arm are 1" apart and I could not push the shock back enough to line 'em up. Do I have to remove the bottom sway bar next to the A-arm? So far, I spent almost 3 hours on the driver's rear corner alone and still stuck there. 3 hours!!!

I've read somewhere that someone could do all 4 corners in less than an hour. Things keep going wrong.

Did you guys have any techniques to align them up?

I'm talking about this, the hole where the bolt goes in:


Thanks!

yogi

YES YES YES

Unlink that freaking swaybar! We only told you four times . Undo the sway bar link (make sure you pull the bolt out of the hole in the sway bar), and step on the upper a-arm or wheel hub, it'll slip in. If you're still stuck, jam a wrench or screwdriver between the two and pry the shock into place (jam that bolt in there while you're prying). It won't hurt anything. An hour is about right. Like I said, the only POS is the upper mounting bolts by the fuel fill line.

Sorry, haven't had time to do the write up, been busy workin on the site.

yogi

What's that grey stuff on your rubber boots? While you're down there, you might as well spray them down with some silicone lubricant to freshen them up, but no big deal, you can easily do it later.

yellafeva

Thanks! I'll remove the sway bar. I don't remember anyone has told me so. But anyway, that rear corner alone took me almost 3 hours, not 1. I'll force them to line up tomorrow.

Actually, I found the upper mounts (blocked by the fuel lines) to be quite easy to access. Yes, there's virtually no space, but somehow I managed to put my tool in there and worked it without removing the strut bar, fuel lines, etc.

Well, thanks for all your help! I'm going to bed; it's late.

Btw, that pic is not mine. It belongs to the poster above--twohoos.

alexf20c

Just don't use your pinky to line up the lower shock bracket to the control arm. I made that mistake when reinstalling the leaf springs on my truck, when I put in some hangers. I was tapping it gently in place, because it was barely off. It was working well, but about 10 nudges in, the entire leaf spring falls... Or tries to fall but my pinky is holding it up. Mind you, my pinky was only about as as far in as the middle of the fingernail.

After screaming like a little girl, my friend rushed over and very carefully tapped the leaf spring up (don't want to go too far up!) to free my finger.

alexf20c

yogi

hahahaaa

my tool was too big to fit back there

yellafeva

Hahaha...dirty-minded you guys are. I just used an extension to the wrench and it was fine. I have not finished working on it, but will do later.

yogi

An extension?! Ouch!

Haha, dude you're taking way too long to do this...

yellafeva

Well, finished it today. It took another 3 hours to finish the rears. Things kept going wrong. When I was to remove the sway bar, the damn exhaust was in the way. Every freaking thing keeps getting in the way of another. One thing blocks another. Why didn't they just make it straight-forward? The fronts were pretty simple. But anyway, I managed to find a tool to take off the sway bar.

When it was time to screw back the upper mounts, one of the nuts accidentally dropped into that little well next to the mount. I could touch the nut with my finger but could not get it out. After half an hour of trying to get it out with different techniques, I got an idea. I put some super glue on my fingertip and touch the nut (no, not my testicle) with it. After a couple minutes, the nut was glued to my fingertip and I pulled it out. Too much troubles, I tell ya; one after another.

Well, the whole project took me a total of about 8 hours. But if I were to do it again, I could do it in less than 2 hours.

Anyway, thanks for the inputs.