Shock install, in driveway

[bd100]

How to change the shocks with the vehicle on the ground without taking off the tires, and including shock bracket skid plates:

Blew the Sport S shocks in 13K miles. Fronts were leaking and making squishy sounds. One trip to CO and AZ did them in.

Got Bilstein 5100s. Nice improvement.

For the install I used a trick I saw from someone's video. I had to line up the lower shock eye plus the shock mount skid plate, at the same time. A chain of zip ties to the rescue!

Mount the top of the shock, but keep it loose enough that it can pivot. Make a loop of big zip ties end to end on the shock to keep it at some fixed length. Use a small jack to compress it a little and pull a zip tie a little tighter. Pivot the lower end into place to see if the shock is short enough. If not, use the jack to compress it a little more and pull up more slack with a zip tie. When you get close just do one zip tie click at a time. Once it's correct the shock will stay at just the right length while you add the shock mount skid and line them up with a beveled pin.

The front shocks can be done on the ground by turning the steering wheel all the way left or right.

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[phranican]

This was helpful guidance to get the front shocks on, had to use extra large/wide zip ties.
Can the rear shocks be installed one side at a time with the tire jacked up a bit and a jack stand under the frame?

 

[bd100]

Probably.

And a cam-buckle lashing strap may work as well. Get it slightly loose then pull the strap away from the shock slightly to compress a little more as needed.

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