Hey guys, I'm trying to change my shocks. I decided to start with my fronts. I've removed all the bolts and the shock tower, and they won't come out. They are stuck on the bottom. I have spent over 6 hours beating and prying on them. They wiggle, and I can get them probably 1 cm up, but not further. I talked to a mechanic friend, and he said it just takes brute prying force. I must not be strong enough lol. Any ideas? Thinking of calling a local shop in the morning for a quote on how much to replace the fronts. Anything to try before admitting defeat and paying a professional?

 

A photo or two of your issue would be helpful to see where your issue is.

If I remember correctly, the front shock has a kinda foot at the bottom and two bolts that hold it in-place. If you can bring the shock down just a bit and rotate that foot with some pliers, it should come out from the top.

I'm assuming this is a 4WD truck?

 

2WD or 4WD? If it's 4 see if you can get something under it and pry it out.

 

If I remember correctly, there should be one nut at the top and two bolts at the bottom. Remove the top nut, then the bottom bolts and it should drop out the bottom. I don't remember removing the shock tower on my '96 1500 4X4.

 

Hey guys, sorry for not giving the details on my truck. I was REALLY tired. Yep, 4x4 2500. Thanks to whoever suggested twisting it. My dad had the same idea, and he pried on a piece of firewood set on the frame with a 6' pry bar looped through a section of chaid attached to the top of the shock. While he did that, I twisted it back and forth with a big pipe wrench. We finally got the passenger side out. Still have the drives side to do though. I sure hope the new shocks go in easier than the old ones came out! I'll try to take some picks so yall can see what we ended up doing.

 

I took some trash out and looked under my truck while I was at it. The top tower does come off. I think I used a long screwdriver to pop the bottom loose. Make sure you don't lose that tagged nut. Dirt and rust build up will make them hard to get out. Clean out the area where the bottom goes and pu some dielectric grease on the sides of the shock bottom so it slides right in.

 

I had a similar issue with my truck. Left front shock lower bolt had come loose, so I took impact gun and made sure it's tight. Years later, when it was time to change the shocks, I realized that when the shock was loose, inner sleeve had made room to the tabs where the bolt goes through. So when I tightened the bolt with the impact, it bend the tabs towards the shock eye. It took quite some time to bend them out, as there were not much room to work.