Well, maybe not epic...I didn't get hurt or otherwise destroy anything. But I couldn't do the job. I can't get leverage on the nut at the top connection...thing wouldn't budge and began to strip! **** those things are on there tight and there is barely any room to work!

 

make sure you have some channel locks or vice grips on the shaft of the shock you are trying to remove. the shaft tends to spin and won't allow you to remove the nut on top.

might be easier to have a buddy help you. put something on that shaft and get it so the shaft will not spin. you should be able to get a ratchet up top to take the nut off. always make sure you are using the EXACT size socket that you need.

 

Thanks Chief! I did encounter that issue with the front shocks...though the rear shocks for my year vehicle the top mounting point is the same as the bottom...with a bolt that goes from side to side, so it's not a matter of the shock spinning.

Mainly it's a problem of location with the top mounting bracket being on the inside of the frame right close to where the gas tank bracket connects to the frame as well. Very difficult to get two tools up in there to hold the bolt head and to turn the nut which is a bit seized. I tried laying under the truck and sitting crouched inside the wheel well, a position from which seemed like I started to make some progress and then realized I was beginning to strip the bolt. I had to use the open end of a combination wrench because there isn't enough of a gap to get the box end wrench between the end of the bolt and the bracket. Maybe if I get a wrench that is a pseudo-box wrench that has the little gap in it to accommodate for a bolt.

Pretty sure I'm using right size...18mm. 3/4 was too big and 11/16 too small.

Think I might have to let the pros handle this one.

 

Maybe you can use a nut splitter or hack saw, because it sounds like you will be replacing both the nut and bolt anyway.

HYPO

 

Is the bolt anything special or something I can get at a hardware store?

 

Ok...got the rear shocks on! Nothing like the feeling of successfully doing your own work!

It turns out the nut I was trying to turn was part of a clip that slid over the mounting bracket...i.e. it doesn't turn. WHich turned out to be a good thing since you don't have to worry about manipulating two wrenches in that tight space.

Got back under the truck while it was on all 4 wheels and was able to get the right angle on the opposite side where the bolt head was and was able to break it loose. Turns out didn't have to remove the wheels at all to do the rear shocks.

Other than:
1) working around the gas tank which is in an awful spot and
2)properly wedging the new shocks up into the correct place so as to get the bolt through

....it was easy peasy!!

Now all my planned upgrades are done...but I want to do more! I guess I should paint those center caps.

 

Hey bud, glad to hear you got them on. I did Monroe Reflexes on my front and have yet to change the rears. Which shocks did you decide to go with?

 

I got Bilstein HDs. Took the bounciness out of my ride and firmed it up. I like em good, got em on Ebay real cheap. $40 each. There is another thread not that old where I posted the sellers name. DOn't know if he has any more but that deal is hard to beat.

I don't know if the SCrews are set up like the Expy's...but you'll want to get a 1/2 breaker bar with about a 5" extension to an 18 mm socket and kind of reach up and around the gas tank with it. And for getting the new one properly into place, once I had it wedged in just enough where the hole was partially lined up, I got the shaft of a phillips screwdriver in there and pried nicely into place. It's just a bit tricky because there isn't a lot of room to work.