So I've done some searching, and come up wth a few good tips, but I'm just looking for anything extra that I might need to know.

in a couple of days I'm going to be replacing the shocks and struts on my truck. I've never done suspension work before, but I've done plenty of other stuff, so I'm sure I can handle it. I'm not too worried about the struts, because they look fairly simple. Probably the hardest part being changing the coil with the spring compressor.

I'm more concerned about the difficulty of the rear shocks. The chilton is pretty vague, so I'm just looking for any tips/tricks, or necessary information that I might need to know for this job. OH, also, tools that I may not have.

I'm out today to buy a new jack and some jack stands.

Thanks for all the help people! You are an endless resource for tacoma info!

 

Also, someone once said something about having to cut off the original shocks. Anything I should know there?

 

You should not have to cut anything off. The rear is easier than the front. The only hard part about the rear is that when you go to remove the nut on the top of the shock the entire shock may spin. If that happens you have to grab the stem of the shock with some plyers.

Good luck, it will make more sense when you are under the truck.

 

not true at all! sometimes it is necessary to cut the rear shocks, as anyplace with salt use causes the nuts to rust on to the shock. MUCH easier to cut them right off.

 

Sorry, I have not lived anywhere that has snow for about 9 years. I forgot about the rust factor. I assume you are talking about cutting the top of the shock near the stem?

 

A lot of people (myself included) had to use channel locks on the rear shock dust cover to keep it from spinning. This pretty much destroys the shock, but you're probably not going to be using again anyways.

 

The rear shocks were a PITA to get off for me and I don't live in areas w/ salt. The difficulty was the angle of where the top nut of the shock was placed and getting there. It was also difficult as you had to hold the shock w/ some type of grip to get the top nut off.

If you can just saw off the shock, this would save time and frustration. I did read though that you have to be careful where you cut the shock or liquid will spill out and get all messy.

 

A couple of days before you try to take off the rear shocks, climb up under there and SOAK the top bolts with PB blaster. The way the mount is made, dirt and other junk collects up in there.

 

Good thing is that I'm not anywhere where they use salt, but we have plenty of snow. I will get under there in the next couple days and start spraying those top bolts with some bg or seafoam or something.

So, WHen people talk about cutting something, it's usually the bolt that is rusted? And also that sometimes it helps to cut the shock itself? WHere exactly would I cut the shock?

I also saw in the chilton about taking off the U bolts on theleaf springs. What's the purpose of this? To release pressure on the shocks or soemthing?

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

When you cut the shock you try to cut the stud off (right at the rubber bushing above the shock) the top so the shock basically falls out after that. With a sawzall it will take about 3 min tops per side.....without it can take quite a while of knuckle busting and you still end up destroying the shock with a pair of channel locks. Anyone in a rust belt should save themselves the frustration and just cut them off.

No idea on the u-bolts.

 

soak it in PB blaster for a few days

the rear easy easy to do.

the front, take them out and take it to shop to compress the shock into the spring for you, should be about $30. It's just not worth the risk and hassle of trying to do ti yourself with those cheap $20 spring compressors

 

I did the spring compression myself, I would take it to shop if I had to do it again. Those spring compressors were about to bust.

The rear is a pain to get to, it helps if you are two. If it isn't rusted it should be easier than the front.

 

I think these are the original shocks, so with 192k, I wouldn't be surprised if I can't get them off too easily. Luckily, I'm pretty skinny, so I should be able to take the spare out and have enough room to work. Hopefully.

I may take the advice to take the strut to a shop, but don't they make those spring compressors strong enough? I'm not planning on using a cheap one. The one they have at the Napa warehouse down the street looked pretty heavy duty compared to others I have seen, though I've not ever used one. That's where I planned on renting the spring compressor from.

 

it's just plain dangerous to use anything but the wall-mounted ones.

 

Well, after much consideration I decided to take the truck in to get the struts replaced, and I'll do the shocks myself. If I'm going to have to pay someone to do the spring compression anyway, might as well make it even easier on myself. So, they replaced them this morning. Can't wait to feel the difference.

But they also found that the drivers side wheel bearing needs to be repacked and seals replaced, so may as well do em both. Can't do the alignment until then.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll probably do the shocks here soon.

 

I live in the rust belt and even with 88k on a 98 the top shock holder was full of dirt and rust. The drain hole was clogged and it just filled up. Even with air tools the nut never moved so I used a air cut off tool and it still took two disk. It was the longest part of the repair.

 

Wow, that sounds horrible. I did mine this afternoon. It was cake. I have an air impact wrench, and they all came off like butter. The old passenger shock won't even extend on its own. I was surprised that I didn't even need to jack the truck up.

This was way easier than I thought.

 

Ricky - this is a strange thread. The rears should take about 10 minutes to get off, I have no idea what all this cutting or U-bolt removal talk is about! The rears have nothing to do with actually supporting the truck and come off with 4 simple bolt removals while the truck is sitting on the ground. You could technically drive around without 'em.

I guess you've already taken the truck in for the fronts, but if you haven't, it's not that hard if you know how to use a spring compressor safely. Just make sure that you follow the directions and get all the washers and rubber bushings in the right order (and right side up, as I learned the hard way). The old coilover shocks won't necessarily have the same number or organization of bushings and washers as the new ones.

If you haven't done it yet, keep in mind that shops charge a premium for that work, and you'll spend much more putting them in than you did on the shock replacements themselves.

Good luck, happy motoring!

What shocks did you go with for replacements, BTW?

 

You don't have to remove the U-bolts unless you're replacing your leafs. If you're gonna be doing more offroading, you may want to consider upgrading them because stock leafs WILL bend and warp from offroad use much faster than a set like Deavers.