Rear shock change

[vilant]

So I got my car inspected, and the mechanic told me I needed new rear shocks. Got 2 new Bilsteins delivered for $403. Thought I post the removal, for anybody that might be considering it. Was pretty easy. 1st I followed Cliff's Solutions to lift the Z onto 4 car jack stands w/ a couple of differences. First, I took the acrylic roof off and put the fiberglass one on. I feel the fiber is a little more structurally sound (maybe not, I'm no expert). I have 2 hydraulic jacks, so I used both (1 by each wheel) to jack up one side. It's slow and tedious, and probably not necessary, but I felt more comfotable doing it that way.
Lifted it without a hitch and removed the rear tire. Supported the knuckle with a hydraulic jack while it was on the stands

Remove lower support nut (18mm)first, then remove 2 upper support bolts (13mm). Pull shock off lower support and carefully pull down on the shock to get the actuator out. Warning: Do not let the shock hang from the actuator unsupported. Pull the retaining pin out of the retainer cup, and gently work the actuator off the shock.

Remove the retainer cup from the old shock. There's a 18mm nut inside the cup.


Take notice of how far the adjustable gear protrudes past the cup.

I used a pair of channel locks and socket wrench to remove nut.

Attach retaining cup to new shock the same way you took it off. Make sure the new shock adjustable gear(not sure of technical name lol) protrudes the same distance from the cup as the old one (believe it is 5mm, but I don't own a metric tape measure).

While supporting the shock, gently work the actuator back onto the retaining cup and reinstall retaining clip. Remember the actuator has a plastic gear, so don't force anything. Carefully slide the assembly back into upper support well, then slide bottom of the shock onto the lower support arm. I couldn't compress the shock and slide at the same time, so I used this to persuade it.

Just kidding. I used a rubber mallot and gently tapped the shock back onto the the lower arm. Retighten lower nut(61ft/lbs), then the 2 upper support bolts(22 ft/lbs). Replace tire and repeat process on the other side.

The shock I took off on the passenger side was completely shot, the driver side actually wasn't that bad. Oh well, anyway not sure if this is already in Solutions or not, hopefully it's helpful to someone like me. Actually had more images, but I could only post 6. While I had it up on the stands I changed the oil too. I think He-Man screwed the drain plug in. Busted my knuckles getting it off. Cheers.