Have a 97 4runner with 89,000 miles... will be replacing the shocks with Monomax this weekend. Took a look yesterday to survey the work... and noticed that there is not a lot of room to work with to remove the upper nut on the rear shocks... are there any tricks, tips out there? Should I extend the rear shocks before attempting to loosen the top nut. I have also looked for an access hole in the rear trunk area for the upper nut on the rear shock but unfortunately there were none. :-(

The fronts looks pretty straight forward though the springs seems to be tightly spaced.

TIA,

George

 

Welcome to the forum. The top nut is a pain in the to get to ,hope you have small hands. If you really want the room to work on it you can loosen your body mounts and lift it up a few inches, other than that patients is all I can say.

 

Jeff,
thank you for reply... did you use anything to hold the rear shock from turning while undoing the upper nut or just letting the shocks extend will be enough force to hold it in place?

George

 

keep the bottom mounted and loosen the top one with closed end wrench. you can connect two of them together for more levelage.

 

I don't think that's going to do anything...the "can" can still rotate independently from the rod, and vise versa.

In the past I've used waterpump pliers or a strap wrench to keep things from turning.

 

Make sure you soak the nut with PB blaster at least a couple of days prior to removal. This help help alleviate the frustration you'll encounter in doing this job .

George

 

Use a box end wrench to hold the top nut in place and use one of those strap wrenches to turn the dust cover of the of the shock.

That worked for me.

 

All shocks will have a flat spot or a hole for an allen wrench on the top of the shaft where you can hold the shaft while you turn the nut.

 

When I pulled mine, we knew that the shock was going to get tossed, so one of the guys helping used a chain wrench wrapped around the shock body while another used a box wrench to hold the nut on top. The shock was removed by twisting the body, not twisting the nut. Yes, the shock body was trashed.

I had occassion to have to do it again on my own a few weeks ago, and this time I knew that I was going to _keep_ the shock. So, like lanai, I went and bought a rubber strap wrench to hold the body, then I bought a 17mm deep socket and cut about 3/8" off of it. A straight deep socket was too tall to really sit down on the nut with the ratchet handle on it, and I couldn't get enough leverage with my box wrenches. A regular socket wasn't deep enough to get onto the nut and clear the threads.


Jeff - Really? I guess I never looked that hard at the shock, but I dunno that I could get an allen wrench in there at get enough leverage to turn against it with a box wrench. Interesting though!

 

I found pictures on the internet of the two most common ways that shocks are made to hold the shaft while tightening.

Allen Wrench

Flat Spot

 

Hmmm... I still dun't tink I could get an allen wrench in there and get enough torque to tighten it down. I'll give it a look the next time I'm under the truck.

Thanks Jeff.

 

thanks to all. I guess my assumption was correct that I would have to use a strap wrench to aid the removal top shock nut. My other alternative was to use a cut off wheel and cut the lower portion of the upper piston rod (below the upper mount) off.

George

 

The stock shock on my 2000 4Runner had a flat spot on the top of the shaft.
But, I knew I was tossing it anyway so I used a pair of these to turn the shock while a box end wrench kept the nut from turning.

 

I tossed mine too when I removed them for ome. I used a wrench to hold the nut while turning the shock's body by a big plier.

 

So Im guessing getting a new shock back in there isint as hard?

 

Ohh!! It is day and night!! Extremelly simple and straight fprward

 

ok this thread is scaring me .. I thought removing the rear was supposed to be easy compared to the front. No special tools requires, just patience. My OME stuff should be here soon .. I guess well see

 

Guess yours should't that bad since your rig is fairly new. Mine is a 96, used to lived up in New Jersy for awhile. Rust was my problem. But hit it with PB Blast for a few days, it should help. So no worry and enjoy your ome !!!

 

Hey Mark,
I believe the OME's have the flat spots, but if you ever have the chance to remove a shock with that type of inset allen head, the best thing to do for enough leverage is to use an allen socket on your ratchet combined with your wrench of choice for the nut. I usually only use the regular old type of allen wrenches for much smaller intricate work. Allen sockets are your friend

Back on topic, like others have said, a strap wrench on the shock and a wrench on the top nut works quite well for 3rd gen rear shocks.