I have a question, i just bought a couple of rear shocks and i tried to put them on myself but ran into a problem, when i removed my old shock assembly i could not figure out how to get the shock apart from the spring and mounting plates or what not, i got the whole assembly out but not just the shock, how do i go about taking apart the assembly and puting the new shock in?

 

spring clamps if your brave, or just take them to a local shop.

 

requesting more pics of the car in your avatar

 

Get yourself a set of spring compressors. Autozone lends them out for free, all you have to do is put a deposit down in case you don't bring them back.

First find yourself something that can fit into the holes in the top of the strut mount, I used an allen wrench. Now, after you have the spring compressed you need to stick the allen wrench (or whatever) into one of the holes and use it to keep the mount and shaft from turning while you try to break the nut on the end of the shaft free. I accomplished this by putting the strut on it's side and placing the long end of the allen wrench between the ground and the socket I was using to remove the nut with the end pointing in the opposite direction I want to turn the nut. I then put my foot on the assembly to hold it firmly in place and broke the nut free. You will need to repeat this in reverse to install the new parts as well.

I do not recommend taking a tool to the shaft of the old or new strut. The last thing you need is to put the new one on and blow it and have no backup.