Rear strut installation... Any tips?

[sfeather11]

Hey all, so I finally got around to installing my 1" lift blocks (strut spacers) in the rear today.This is the 2nd time I've had the rear struts out now, and both times when re-installing it has been a major PITA (Pain In The A..) getting the lower shock hole lined back up with the lower control arm to get the bolt back in. My buddy and I had to use some creative jacking (gay pun intended ) and Pure F'ing Magic to finally get the holes to line up. Anyone ever have the same problem or have an easier way to re-install the lower part of the strut??

Peace

[hocrest]

The couple of times I've done it, I've done what the FSM's instruct. Use the stock screw jack between the lower arm and the rear subframe. Slowly use the jack to push the lower arm down until the holes line up.

[sfeather11]

Wow the FSM actually states that?? That is exactly what we did, but thought we figured that out on own own! We actually were not able to get the suspension all the way down without the jack slipping off the control arm, so we tried again, but only went 3/4 of the way. We then used a hydraulic jack to lift the shock/spring up the rest of the way until the holes lined up...

[hocrest]

baja rear.JPG (78.42 KiB) Viewed 12337 times

Here is a clip, they even show using a transmission jack to push up on the bottom of the rear shock, while your using the stock flat tire jack to push down on the arm.

I think I ended up positioning it slightly different that what they have in the picture when I added my 1" blocks??

[sfeather11]

Nice! Not exactly what we did, but very close...

I sent you (hocrest) a pm...

Peace!

[rglass1040]

I found it is best to install it before removing the strut. makes the job even easier.