I have read a ton of posts on shock replacement and got the rears done last weekend.

Today I am tackling the fronts and am stumped.

I have disconnected the upper A arm ball joint, lower shock mount bolt and upper shock mounting nuts. Could see no way to get the shock down far enough to clear the upper mount studs. So I removed the forward and aft wheel hub mount bolts and dropped the whole assembly.

I now have a huge pile of front brake disc and wheel hub lying on the ground and yet still cant get the shock down through the A arm enough to clear the studs. Pushing the A arm down all the way till it hits frame pinches the lower coil mount on the shock. Pushing it all the way up and the coil will not clear the rear frame of the A arm to drop out of the way.

I tried getting to the A arm stud nuts but don't have enough room to get the torque required to break them loose. Any ideas are welcome

 

lift the A arm up just enough to get the lower spring perch through it,
then turn the whole assembly and it should unthread through the A arm
NOTE a helper is a good thing here to assist in holding the A arm with the prybar while you thread the strut through the arm

 

Well thanks Merlin 2 times today

I was able to run a long pry bar under the A arm and put the handle on top of my sholder to apply pressue while I wrestled the shock and coil down. Can't say I am looking forward to the reverse

Old shocks don't feel that bad but I be damned if I am putting the old ones back in

 

your welcome