My front shock is done on my 92 dakota 2wd. Its just rattling around in there and Ive never replaced shocks. How hard of a job is it? Someone said I needed a coil compressor? Anyway wanted to check before I pulled them.

 

No you don't need a spring compressor. It is very easy. 2 bolts on the bottom. And 1 nut on top. The top one can get stuck There is a notch on the top of the shaft. Use an adjustable wrench on it and a open box wrench on the nut. Or vice grips on the shaft. Don't worry it is trash, so if you tear up the shaft it is okay.

The only way to know if a shock is good or bad is to fully remove it. Compress it and see if it goes back to a full state quickly and strongly.

 

I replaced my front shocks last week, it was the easiest shock repacement Ive done, but I screwed up and tore out the factory grommet and used the new ones from the new shocks. Having Bipolar disorder and OCD, I wanted it done my way and to be perfect, but If your factory grommets are good, I'd use those. It took me a while to get the shock straight, because after removing the factory grommet, theres a huge 7/8" or bigger hole and the part of the new grommet that seats into the hole is only 5/8" or so. I had to use vice grips on the shaft like Crazy said and a socket on the bolt. I also had to tighten the shocks again two days later, maybe because of the crappy grommets that came with the shocks.