Shock Swap

[mike.morris]

All, I am getting ready to order new shocks for my '03 D/A. I have never changed shocks, or seen this done before. What is involved? I am no stranger to working on things (I own a boat), just not sure what I'm getting into. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

Mike

[BassinRVer]

It was a piece of cake. Anyone should be able to replace our shocks.

[JimWilson]

As far as replacing things on a truck goes it's about as easy as it gets. Time consuming (sometimes), but easy.

Both shocks will have a nut at the top and the bottom. The rears shocks will have round "eyelets" that bolts on the frame and axle go through. The fronts will have a similar bottom to the rears, but the threaded post on the fronts is actually at the top of the shock itself.

You need only spray a little penetrating oil on all the threads, wait 1/2 an hour for it to soak in, then unbolt the old shocks, remove them and bolt on the new ones. It's really that simple.

You don't even need to jack up the truck or take off the tires, although it's a bit easier to do the fronts if the tires have been removed.

See my sig for an awesome set of shocks.

[mike.morris]

Thanks for the info guys. This makes me feel a lot better about doing this.

Mike

[jbplock]

Mike,

Dittos to what Jim said…. Also, the top of the front shock stem is square so it can be held with a wrench or vise grips. This allows you to hold the shaft while loosening the lock nut. Since your truck is an 03, you probably can get this off easy. On an older shock that’s rusted, I use a nut splitter. To make it easier to remove these nuts the next time, lube and cover the exposed threads with a plastic cap. (I have also used a piece of fuel hose with a plug on the end and/or some shrink tubing). Tighten the front lock nuts until the rubber spacer expands to about the diameter of the washer – be careful not to over tighten. There is a torque spec but unless you have an open end torque wrench, you can’t hold the shaft while checking the torque.
Per the 03 Helms GM Service manual, torque values are as follows:

Front Shocks:
Top Nut: 15 ft-lb
Bottom Bolt- 4WD 59 ft-lb
Bottom Bolts- 2WD 18 ft-lb

Rear Shocks:
Top & Bottom mounting bolts/nuts: 70 ft-lb
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