OEM shock won't compress for removal
 

Hey guys,

I'm in the process of removing my OEM shocks to install coilovers, and my driver's side shock won't compress to allow me to remove it. I have all the bolts off top & bottom, I have allowed the lower arm to rest freely and the shock is still pressing firmly into the boot at the bottom. I have hammered a flat bar in there and tried to use it as leverage while pulling on the shock, I have lifted the whole assembly with the jack and released it while trying to pull on the shock, etc.

Anybody know any tricks on how to remove it, or am I doing something wrong here?

The fronts are pretty easy and mine came right out. The rears were a different story. Do you have the spring compressors installed on both sides of it?

Yep, the shock is fully extended though and will not compress at all whatsoever. I was going to try to put it all back together and drive around the block & see if it would help, but I can't even compress it enough to put the bottom bolt back through.

take a strong screw driver or metal rod and see if you can get it in the bolt hole and move it

I think you're trying to remove it with the sway being connected. Take off the sway end links and it will have more space for the lca to drop. Also the upper control ball joint needs to be removed

When I did mine, I pushed down on the brake disk and wheel assembly with my feet. There is some give, and it will go down enough to get that bolt in.

Got it, I ended up unbolting the caliper to free up the brake line, and pushed down with my foot and pulled it right out. Now if I can somehow magically remove the other bottom bolts! My impact wrench can't remove those bottom bolts, they're on there pretty solid.

Just make sure you are working on the nut side, and not the bolt side. Will be much harder to turn the bolt with the nut still tight.

Definitely on the nut side, I've been hitting the wrench with a hammer, I put both my legs up into the inner wheel well and pulled the wrench with both hands (I'm 6'0" 185 and lift 3-4 days a week) I've sprayed wd40 on the threads, wire brushed the threads to clean them up, etc and still can't get them off.

The back bolts I've gotten off with relative ease compared to the fronts, still don't have the shocks out yet. Looks like this is going to be a multi-day ordeal just because of one damn bolt!

Heat....just a little. Works wonders if done carefully. I had to get the bolt on my idler pulley for my old Toyota truck off....two days later, several friends, several special impact wrenches, still couldn't get it off. Last effort was putting a torch on it for ~20-30 seconds max, and then the impact took it off. Good luck :-)

Try 'Deep creep' instead of WD40. Or PB Blaster.

Sold at local auto parts store.

Thanks alchemist, PB Blaster did the trick, wish I would've thought of that sooner. Anyway here's a few pics of the finished product. I still have some adjusting to do with the dampness and will most likely be raising the rear a tiny bit to have a uniform wheel gap on all four corners. I went with Megan EZ streets, as this is just a daily driver, so don't want to tuck, go super low, and rework/roll fenders like many of the crew on here. My weekend toy is the '67 Scout 800 in one of the pics below. Even with the bigger wheels and lower profile tires, it feels like much smoother of a ride compared to stock, with some added firmness in the corners. I think I'll be doing a rear camber kit soon, the outside of the rear tires don't even have any dust on them ffrom driving to work this morning so I'll want to correct that soon and get another alignment (definitely suggest the 1 or 2 year alignment at NTB).

http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/...psfdbf85db.jpg

http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3cf53fd7.jpg

http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/...psf5bb76d6.jpg

http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/...psb2f58f0e.jpg

That looks great! I know what you mean about those bottom nuts. I've done bodybuilding and still about have myself a hernia breaking those loose!

Yes jsnbrn definitely, even with the PB Blaster it was still very difficult to loosen those bolts. I had both feet pushing the inner wheel well and pulling the wrench with both hands and still couldn't get them loose until I went through a couple pulls, trying to tighten, then reloosen them. Nightmare! Definitely worth it in the end though, especially with what local shops were looking to charge for the install. Now I just need to "tint" the chrome trim (the wheels are black chrome, tinting will match the black chrome look) and wrap the roof in gloss black and I'll be done with her for a while. Long term goals are to get rid of the red wood trim through the interior, I know the pieces on the doors are part of the entire door panel so no telling how it's going to work.