Going to be pulling out the stock suspension tonight for the Koni 2812 replacement. Heard from some other people that they had trouble getting the front dampers out (spring base catches on the upper a-arm) so I thought I check and see if anyone has some front damper removal tips from having been there and done that.

Thanks

 

The fronts were super easy for me - simply disconnect the upper control arm from the frame and the units drop out with zero issues.

 

Same here. I just disconnected the upper A-arms.

 

Ok, that's probably where the issue came into play for him because the shop manual says just the lower ball joint.

 

Just past the nick of time for me. The lower ball joint method is a PITA.

 

What about knock the stock perches off the stock shocks? I assume I can just use a bearing press to seperate them?

 

To install / uninstall my Penskes, I unbolt the lower arm from the knuckle. It achieves the same thing as splitting the lower ball joint.

 

I just used a hammer and a drift. Turn the shock upside down and put it in a soft jaw vice, or just leave the vice slightly open to avoid damaging the shock shaft.

The press fit is very light, but you do need to give it some good whacks with a hammer to start it toward coming off. Its probably faster than rigging something up on a press.

Steve

 

Whack the perches with a dead-blow while they are upside down. Just put the top of the stock shock on a 2x4 block on thfloor. They come off easy. Unbolting the upper a-arms from the chassis and swinging it up and over the shock is the right answer. You will need to drill out the hats. The koni shaft is too wide to fit through the stock bushing hole. I used a 10mm drill and that same block of wood when I did mine. Obviously a drill press and a vise is the ideal but you use what you've got

Disconnect the sway bars from the knuckles first! Yes both sides. Unless you do you'll have a bitch of a time getting the rear shocks on and off (in compression all the time).