hahaha... sounds pretty similar to the problems i had. The front drivers
side was my major difficulty. the nut splitter did absolutely nothing for
me. i ended up getting out the dremel and cut the washer and bushing off
and let the damn thing fall through the hole. I got the rears done with
little problems and did those on friday night. I will also have to agree
that the exhaust shields on the passenger side made it a little difficult to
get off but with enough coaxing and cussing it came out ok.
The ride is 500% better with the new shocks all around. the noises are gone
and its so much smoother. Again i have to agree that the reflex (napa
branded Monroe shocks) shocks are pretty damn good and now that they are
installed correctly both front and rear it makes a world of difference. Its
better now than it was when i first got the truck. And now with a new set
of michelins on the front (the rear tires were fine) and an alignment the
truck is better than it ever has been. The tire guys said i needed new
lower ball joints so i guess i will make a trip to the dealer and see what
they can do about it.
""Josh Battles"" <jbattles@bankfinancial.com> wrote in message
news:beuckc$cni$1@bent.twistedbits.net...
>
> Well, First let me say that I'd like to never have to do these again. The
> only one that wasn't too difficult was the FR, it just unbolted like it
> should have. The LF on the other hand took about 3 hours and a trip to
the
> gas station for a 12-pack afterwards. For some ungodly reason, the nut
> became bonded with the shaft of the shock... what's so weird about that
you
> might say??? well, an impact wouldn't move it, i tried to grab the shaft
and
> hold it in place and that wouldn't do it either. It also took me 3 cuts
> with a nut splitter to get the darn thing off because of that little
washer
> that's attached to the nut. Grrr!!
>
> Now i move onto the rears... the left side wasn't too bad other than the
> fact that a 9 million pound gorilla installed these shocks. the right
side
> was considerably harder, the upper bolt head was facing inside, with that
> nut with the "tab" on it on the outside. Now, that might seem pretty easy
> to get at to you all, but let me tell you that the exhaust heat shield as
> well as the pipes are blocking 90% of the access to this bolthead. To top
> it all off i'm doing this in my driveway laying on my back under the truck
> and have a spring perch looking me in the eyes. If there wasn't that tab
on
> the nut, i would have been able to go at it from the oustide with my
impact
> and been done. thought about flipping the nut, but there's nothing for
the
> tab to hold onto on the inside...
>
> When everything was said and done i took it for a drive and immediately
> noticed a difference. The difference became very apparent on the bumpy
roads
> on my way to work. I'm very pleased with these shocks! I'd recommend
them
> to anyone.
>
> --
> - Josh
> Lowered 2000 Dakota CC 3.9L
>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:46:36 EST