:? Can Anybody Give me A clue On Replac'n the rear shocks, do You Have To Take The Pressure Off Of Them. Never Done Shocks Before So Any Tips Would Be Greatlly Appreciated. It's A 1983 Thanks Krusty! 8O

hey hey hey Krusty!

Put the car on jack stands, and support the rear axel with a floor jack in the middle of the pumpkin. Then it is a matter of 3 fasteners per shock and they are off. Often the new shocks come with new fasteners.
You dont have to "depressurize" anything. Make sure and use the jack to hold the axel or your springs could fall off when the shocks are out.

Hope this helps. :D

Hey,Hey- 80, When You Say, Put The Car On Jack Stands, Do You Mean Lift The Car Off The Ground?

Jack the rear of the car till the rear tires just clear the ground, both
sides. Place the jack stands at the frame, just to the front of the rear
tires, both sides. Now place the floor jack under the rear end, center.
Jack the rear end up aprox. 4 to 5 inches. Now remove the large nut /
washer holding the bottom of the shock to the mounting stud. You
should now be able to slide the bottom of shock off that stud, sometimes
it may take a little persuasion to get it off. Now you can swing the shock
to access the two bolts mounting the top. Remove those two bolts, now
you install the new shocks in the reverse order. ( If you were to remove
both shocks, with the car jacked up say one foot, and let the rear end down, you would see that the rear end would go down about 8 inches
lower than with the shocks attached, which would let your rear Coil
springs come out.) That's why it's important to use a floor jack under
the rear-end. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!! BE SURE TO DO THIS ON LEVEL
SURFACE. AND BE SURE TO USE WHEEL BLOCKS ON THE FRONT
WHEELS. With the rear of the car off the ground, it can and will roll
off the jack stands. SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY. Good luck, and you will
find it's a piece of cake to do.
Larry

I think coyote made things a little more clear. Thanks

:-D Much Thanks,Coyote, & 80' You Have Made It Very Clear. So Thanks Again! And Absolutly SAFETY, SAFETY! Krusty! :-D

:( well it seems the lower shock mounting bolt has snaped, as it (the Nut) is not coming off! It just spins. How Much Trouble Am I In. Is Car Safe To Drive. I Have No Idea.

:cry: I've Tak'n A Sawzal,l And Cut The Bolt, At The Mounting Boss. And The Bolt Still Wont Come Out? I've Try'd Heating It. And Then Punching It With A cold Chizel, But It Still Wont Go Through!Not Sure How Much Heat?. Till Red Hot? The Nut Spins When I Try To Get It Out That Way. So I'm Baffeled & Pretty Miffed At This Point! Any Suggestions. Thanks In Advance. Krusty.

Where precisely did you cut the bolt? Between the shock and nut, or
the shock and mount? If the later, then you for sure have the shock
removed from the car after removing the two top bolts. If its the other
way, the same should be true unless the shock (lower) grommet is
frozen to the mounting stud. Now in that case, if your using a torch,
the grommet should burn or melt away allowing for removal of the
shock. Now what to do you ask, If I'm correct, You will have to cut
any portion of the stud off flush with the mount, next I'd center punch
and drill out the remaining portion. I'd then obtain a new stud and put
it in it's place. If when you drill out the old one and the hole is too
large for the new stud, for a tight pressed in fit, weld the stud from
the back side to the mount where it went in. You can use a bolt instead
of a stud, in the right size, and weld around the head of the bolt.
Now your other question, safe to drive. Cars are driven all the time
with broken shocks, you will have a pronounced springing, up and
down effect, would I say it's safe? NO! but with care it wont hurt
anything if that is your question. If you wanted to drive it to a repair
shop to have it repaired instead of having it Towed that would not
be a problem. Hope this helps and I understood what you are
describing. Keep us posted.
Larry

I Cut The Bolt Right At The Mounting Boss. The Bolt Is Sticking Out About 1/16 Of An Inch. When I Try To Punch It Through It Don't Budge. When I Try Too Take The Nut Off Of The Bolt (other Side ) The Nut & Bolt Just Spin. (I'm Talk'n About Where The Shock Mounts To The Bracket)

It's possiable that the bolt is a stepped type bolt, not for sure, but if it
spins it should come out unless that's the case. My next step would be
to cut or grind off the other nut and see if the bolt will come out in the
other direction. To me that would only make sense and stand to reason.
Give that a shot and if that's the case, the rest of the bolt should almost just fall out as it does spin and is not frozen to the mount. Try it, you got
nothin to lose at this point.

Actually, don't worry about the cut off bolt in the ol dshock, just throw it away with the shock. Grind the piece sticking out of the bracket flush, then heat the *bracket* and punch out the stud.
Have you tried removing the other side?

:D Jive, Thats Exactlly What I Just Did! Finished About An Hour Ago. Thanks Everybody. Just Absolutly Love This Site. :D