How to get at top rear shock bolts
 

Trying to replace rear shocks, bottom is easy. I cant even see the top bolts. is there something I am missing? From where I am sitting the only way to get at those bolts/nuts is to take the whole damn body off. Who the hell would design something this way.

when i helped a friend put the lift on my 4runner it was a challenge. we had it up on a lift too and we still had to be contortionists to get in there. it wasn't bad just to get my hand on it, but fitting a socket and ratchet in there and then having the leverage to crank it off after 10 years in iowa was the big challenge. also, i had about an inch or more of dirt and sand that had to be cleaned out of the little cup area before i even got to the nut holding the shock on. i can't give you specifics about how to do it, but it does involve some twisting and maybe some odd yoga poses :D

sawzall

Use a sawzall and cut right through the top stud of the shock at the rubber bushing.
You'll have them both done in about 30 seconds per side.

crap, I dont have a sawzall

Buy one, you'll use it again. They come in handy.

Then buy or rent one.

If you don't go that route, you can just put the socket up on there, then use a pipe wrench or something similar, and turn the shock body itself, as the socket/ratchet will wedge and hit the body/frame and thats all you need to do. Don't bother trying to turn the rachet itself, it will be too hard.

sawzall.

I had like a 7 foot 300lb mechanic put new shocks in for me. I wondered
how he was gonna put his ginormous mitts in there. he just cut them off
and new shocks went in fine with a ratchet and holding the shaft of the
shock

I ended up using a sawzal on mine.
I read tons of posts on how to get those rear shocks off. I tried everything that normally works: PBblaster soaking for days, torch, hammer, strap wrench, vise grips.
On one shock I had everything starting to work & then the top bolt rounded. That was the last straw!

I borrowed my friend's sawzall & bought a metal blade. They were off shortly after that.

Good luck!

Cut the chrome rod as close to the top as possible - it holds fluid lower down. If you cut where the fluid reservoir is, you'll get doused with shock oil. I don't have a sawzall either, I used a high speed angle grinder with a cutoff wheel.

I guess the general consensus is to cut them off. By the way what are the torque specs for the top and bottom bolts, the all the online manuals I can find are all for tacomas and are hence useless.

I'm having this very problem right now....only thing is I can't use a sawzall at the top because my flares get in the way....gonna take it to a shop tomorrow with air tools and get them to cut it off. I've tried everything else too including heating it up with a torch and using wax to break the bond the rust has. No dice.

bottom bolt is 47 not sure about top

edit: Did you guys have to bend the sawzall blade to get it snug up to the top? Will the blade take that safely?

I don't understand why your flares get in the way, you need to take out the spare tire and sit underneath to cut them out. I used a 9" Milwaukee torch metal cutting blade on the sawzall and yes, it did bend a bit but no problems cutting them off.

easy way
 

just install a body lift, then it is easy to replace...just hold bolt from outside of frame(by tire) since now there is a gap between body and frame...

I tried screwing around with a wrench/pliers etc for hours. Eventually I gave up, bought a $20 angle grinder and cut the shock shaft. Then started slicing it away bit by bit until it pulled out the top. You must slice from the bottom because there are brake lines above the shock mount.

Top shock nut torque specs for 3rd gen 4Runners: 14ft/lbs or 168in/lbs according to the FSM/Hanes manual.

Just about had it with my rear shock nuts too. Looking into the strap wrench/vise grips/cut-off methods at getting this POS off. PB blaster might need a little more help. And good grief, the access design is just bull. Not sure if torquing that top nut is actually possible less a smaller 1/4 drive torque wrench was available.

skip all the steps... just go straight to cutting it off. Trust me. Just try to cut ABOVE the rubber bushing (between the rubber bushing and the mounting cups). I first cut THROUGH the rubber bushings just to find out that they are attached to the shock shaft. They are nearly impossible to get off, so just cut above them taking caution not to cut the mounting cups.

As for torquing the nuts, just hand tight using a small socket wrench with a deep socket... I tried hand tightening with a torque wrench on another nut, and found what 14 pounds should be, then applied similar force to the crown nut. Not scientific, but hey, it worked. I have since put 10k miles on them with no problems.

What i did was put a socket up there and held the shock with some dykes, it tore the crap out of the old shocks, but it got them off.

I second just sawing them off, its the easiest way, since they are gonna get ruined period.

Sawing off the old shock is good and all. But how do you tighten the new one if there was no way to get the wrench in there in the fist place?