I'm replacing my rear springs/shocks, and I can't seem to wriggle the shock absorber free from the body. I'm having a hard time getting it through the space shown in the picture I attatched from Dale Clark's writeup. Are there any tricks I could use to squeeze it through, or should I just loosen that bolt and drop the whole brake assembly down?

edit: the pic would be helpful.

 

what you said or give it a few hits with the rubber mallet.

 

"If it doesn't fit, force it. If it breaks, it needed to be replaced anyway."

You could try that method.

Honestly, though the rubber mallet sounds like a good idea.

 

Just remove the bolt from the top of the upright and the upright will fold down out of the way. Cake.

You don't want to force it because with the shock not connected the only thing limiting further travel downward is the axle.

 

both wheels up in the air?

 

You could carefully pry the bottom of the strut up with a pry bar.

 

Well I'm going the opposite way, so no I can't use a rubber mallet, because there's not enough room BEHIND it to knock it out that way.

Damon, I'm 19 and the mental equivalent of a retarded manatee, so I'm guessing by saying "unbolt the upright" you mean remove that bolt in the picture that's directly below the shock, right? That way the whole brake assembly flops down and I have tons of clearance, or am I thinking of the wrong bolt?

 

Exactly.

 

I had the same problem. I used the brute force method (pryed it up and out). I try to avoid the sledge hammer whenever possible but have actually found it really usefull on occasion. The learning curve with these cars is so steep that sometimes brute force is just what's needed.

 

I did what Damon suggested, easy and only a little more work. Car sits fine now, and all I need is a 4-wheel alignment/corner weighting! Thanks!