Installing new shocks - any tips or suggestions?

[Mile High VX]

I'll be taking my OEM shocks off the Proton and installing some new shocks. They are low cost and designed to be temporary so that I can send the OEMs off to be rebuilt.

Any tips for getting this done quickly and easily. The Proton has 157K and it is a rust free NV/CA vehicle that now lives in TX.

Thanks for any help or advice.

[Nikad92397]

Front... Jack up the front end till the tire is off the ground, use a jack stand, pull wheel and remove front top 1st, the pull bolt on the bottom.
Installing.. Bottom bolt 1st. Push down shock till the studs clears the tower and slip it in the hole.

Rear... You can just crawl under and being under you have leverage to slid off the bottom shock stud. USE a box end wrenches on both the bolt and nut on the upper bolts, rounding either can be catastrophic, If you have trouble getting a box end wrench on the tough upper side, You can grind down the outside of wrench to get it to slide on. I had to and have used it many,many times since..
Installing rear.. upper bolts 1st, tightin, push up on shock to slid on stud. I use a little grease in the eyes on the shocks for lube and ease installing.

[Nikad92397]

One other note.. On your OEM shocks, before you send them in, pull the caps on the top of the reservoirs and look for corrosion on the walls and on the cap above the piston. That can cause a big headache for your rebuilder and can raise the cost of rebuilding and extend the time. I'm not sure what you will be paying or getting done but just for a rebuild Clark at NolleenJ6 charges close to $550.00 ReValve is more.

[Mile High VX]

Thanks so much.

My rebuilder in CO will charge about $850 but he makes a custom seal for the expansion ends and revalves them to your specs.

[Mile High VX]

Do you have a pic of your modified box end wrench?

[Nikad92397]

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_04291.JPG
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_04281.JPG
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_04271.JPG

Best I can get.. Sorry haven't figured out this picture thing again on here.. If this doesn't work I put a few in my gallery.
And yes I know it should be a 19mm but I'm not going to grind up a expensive wrench. 3/4 is close enough.

[Mile High VX]

Those are great...thanks so much.

[Mile High VX]

Success! Took a bit longer than I expected, about 5 hours.

Backs ended up being simple and straight-forward. Thanks to Nicad92397 I started out with the right tools. Box end on the nuts, rachet and socket on the bolt end, and a big cheater bar to break it all loose.

I did have an issue on the front where I couldn't get the OEM shocks out after taking them loose. I ended up having to take the sway bar loose and the links out to get them removed.

When I do it again it will only take about half as long.

Thanks for the help!

[Nikad92397]

Sorry for the front. I just use a floor jack under the lower control arm but was thinking if I was giving advise I would go with a safty of a jack stand. Without weight on the A arm the angle changes a lot. So on the return trip of your shocks do the same as before but raise the Lower A arm to straighten it out. It WILL go in without removing anything. You will have to compress the shock more but once the bottom has the bolt in it, it's not that hard.