Shock removal question

[Mountainmotors]

Just a quick question please...yes, it is Christmas and I am in the garage working on the V....putting on some soft Rancho 5000 for the wife....
Had little problem with the rears but the driver front...removed the lower shock bolt and still could not get the shock bolt out....is this bolt just a slide out after removal of its nut????....or does it actually thread in?????....or is it just plain frozen to the lower barrel of the OEM shock?????

Before I go apply the heat to it I fhought I would at least ask the question....

I would like to have a dollar for every shock I have replaced that the barrel was frozen to the bolt.....

Thanks in advance and hope all had a merry christmas.....

[Ldub]

I haven't ever removed my fronts, so I don't know for sure, but...
I do know that PB blaster/ liquid wrench is your friend.
If you turn the bolt & it doesn't back out of the hole, they're not threaded into the mount.
Sometimes a BFH & a center/drift punch are your friends too.

[Hotsauce]

The bolt passes through the shock mound, and through a metal tube that lines the rubber shock bearing.

The bolt can sieze there.

Only 2 solutions:

1. put the nut slightly back on, and hit it hard with sledge to knock it out. Not much room to do this, even with nice drift punch.

2. Cut the eyelet off the shock, and saw the bolt out. I had to go this way in 1 front.

Don't use the torch on those shocks, if they get hot the oil inside will find you.

John C.

[Navigator]

Find a shop that will let you use their lift for a minute, my local Pep Boys let me use theirs (remember to tip the tech ). Lift your VX overhead, use your longest 20mm wrench and a 3 foot piece of iron pipe to extend the handle to put more leverage on it. From a standing position that item will come off with minimal effort with the proper leverage. Hope that helps.

[Chopper]

Do Not Use A Torch On These Shocks

[Mountainmotors]

Yep....still trying to get that bolt out.....wife really likes the way it rides now with just the two back shocks changed out and quite frankly, since the shocks that came out were OEM and since they push in and out way to easy I am assuming that the stuff was long gone out of them anyway and the bad boucing was probably the body slammin to the frame or such....
anyway, I think I may try the cut the eye off the shock method cause there just isn't a heck of a lot of room in there....

and I thought VW's had some oddly placed items for removal....damn....

thanks for the help and I'm still glad I kept the car...every time I look at it I keep thinking its so ugly its cool looking.....
and it sure doesn't look like every other SUV out there....if I can just find me a Lotus emblem for the front....(wait, maybe one of my VW emblems will fit...no one will ever know....a new 2008 VW off road bus.....damn....)

[mbeach]

iirc, your swaybar may be preventing you from removing this shock.
Support the truck, and (with both front wheels removed) have a helper stand on the upper control arm. This will flex the swaybar and allow you to remove the upper shock mount stud. Once the upper mount of the shock is free, you can wiggle the body to your heart's content in order to free up the lower mount.
It seems that there's just enough tension with the upper mount in place to cause this lower mounting bolt to bind in the eyelet.

I went through this about 6 times, and have never needed anything more forceful than PB Blaster.