I was bored a little bit ago so I figured I would go ahead and remove my old front shocks. I loosened the 2 top bolts on the shock tower and expected the "arm" to come up, yet it stayed down. I went ahead and unbolted that mounting plate below it(forget the name all a sudden), but its still there. Isnt it supposed to raise up like in the "How to install a export brace" FAQ sheet?

Also, I removed one of the nuts on the bottom end and it seemed the whole suspension "moved". I didnt see what happend very well since I wasnt looking up, but I just want to make sure its ok to remove the shock without compressing the spring, so it dont kill me...

 

noone?

 

There's three top bolts????? If the suspension is in good shape, you should be able to unbolt the top, and the bottom and pull it out the top. If the shock is old as hell, it might not move up.

 

Just thought something...car is on jackstands, so the suspension is loose. Could it be fully uncompressed and thats why its not coming up?

Yes, there are 2 bolts holding the shock down, and 3 bolts on the cap that the shock bolts too.

 

Only gas charged shocks will automatically extend the shocks. My off-road shocks don't automatically extend even when new...the same can be said for my SPAX shocks on my '71.

 

Baddog just pull up on the shock after removing bolts and shock tower thing the shock then should rise, when i did mine this weekend i was told by haynes/chilton to have the jact stands under the lower arms which i did with some wood for protection, could thatbe why your suspension moved?

 

I recently removed both of my front shocks with the car on the ground, no problem. The shocks didn't come up on there own at all, I had to grab the end and pull them out. IMO, jacking up the lower arms helps with the angle that you have to deal with when putting in the new ones but isn't a necessity. I could be wrong.

 

Lumbergh,

You could get at the lower perch bolts are did you just take of the front wheel?

Paddy