I changed the front shock / springs and back shocks on my 2004 F150
new style Scab. The back shocks were easy, and after 120k miles, they were indeed shot.

The fronts were less fun. The worst part was when I had to remove the upper ball joint and the suspension stabilizer bar link from the control arm so that I could drop the arm down low enough to get the spring / shock assembly out.

Once I was a few turns off on the nut, the whole stud started turning. I had to grap the end with a pair of vicegrips, to get the nuts off. Nasty job.

Anyone have any suggestions?

The only other piece of advice I can throw up is to get new nylon-insert nuts for the steering knuckle, the stabilizers and the tie rod. The old ones were shot after 10 years.

Thanks

 

For whatever reason, the Chiltons book failed to mention having to remove the ball joint and stabilizer bar to get the spring / shock out. I discovered that info here, which saved me a lot of head scratching. Thanks everyone.

 

 

I'm not sure about these f-150's, but a lot of vehicles have a slot on the bottom of those studs to fit in a hex socket or allen key to hold the stud from spinning. Or you can use an impact.

 

So am I correct in understanding that the weight of the truck compresses the spring, and that tool keeps the spring from uncompressing when you jack the truck, which gives you the clearance for getting the assembly out without disconnecting the ball joint or the stabilizer link? I thought that tool was used if you wanted to keep your springs, and just replace the struts. I bought the Monroe complete units so I don't have to mess around with the springs.