Hi,

Question on replacing rear shock absorbers.

Any tricks that I should know?

Do I need to get a rear end alignment?

Anyone know of a thread with a "how to".

thoughts on stock vs. aftermarket and replacing one OEM not the pair?

 

Unclip and unbolt your ABS sensors first.

Have a long pipe and / or a friend to help with leverage.

Look in some of the aftermarket coilover install threads. They have pretty good pictures.

 

The rear shocks would take roughly around 15min each side if you are fast. The hardest part is to release the driver's side rear shock upper nuts. Other than that, it's very straight forward and easy if you have the right tools (ie. spring compressor and impact gun).

If you are ONLY swapping out the a rear shock or two, without loosening other suspension components, you may not necessairly need an alignment.

The fact is that alignment specs change all the time. An alignment setting may change very slightly just from driving around the block (as another member has rightly pointed out). As long as you are not introducing too much height changes from the shock swap, then you wouldn't really need to do an alignment. If you haven't had an alignment done in a while, then now may be the good time. As stated, alignment settings change from normal driving due to bushing and spring wear.

 

If you only jack up the side of the car you are changing be sure to remove the rear sway. It makes the new shock hard as hell to put the bottom bolt back on.

If you do have a problem with the bottom bolt, use a small crowbar or flat blade screwdriver to lift the shock into position. You can then insert a small screwdriver into the bolt hole so you can get things lined up and that will make life easier and probably save you a few skinned knuckles.

 

If you assemble both sides before tightening anything down then the sway bar isn't a problem. Good luck (disconnecting the fuel filler hose is worth the space to work in)!

 

this should help -> https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=303417

 

Thanks for all the input. Looks like I have a job for the weekend.

 

shouldnt take more than a couple hours. unless you run into a snag