Rear shock mount fix how to guide

[richo77]

Hey guys,

I had a quick search without success. Has anyone changed the rear shock mounts in their IRS sedan and can share their wisdom or give me the link to a relevant thread?

Thanks in advance
Richo

[BLACKAUXR8]

hi. I did this in my xr8 it is relativley easy if you have basic knowledge of how to use a spanner. Have you bought the parts yet?

[BLACKAUXR8]

THe parts you need are a factory ford part only so if you havnt got them yet you will have to go to ford to buy them i think they are about 100 bucks a side. All there is to it is: 1 take the wheel off 2. undo bottom of shock strut. 3. undo top of shock you can either undo the three bolts around the top of the strut whick are the bolts that hold in the mount or you can undo the centre bolt slide out spring and shock then undo the irs mount. The first will be a little safer as you wont have to worry about the spring launching out when you undo the shockie. Pm me if you get stuck and ill talk ya through it.

[blackers10]

yeah mate its EASY AS
i havnt changed mine yet but have ripped the rear end apart a few times

its a 2 piece unit at the top i dont know if ford gives you both halfs or not?
but its got a groove around the edge just tap it a few times/yank/bang/throw and it will fall apart lol

its about $90ea or so from any ford dealer

flip down back seat and pull carpet around strut tower away
4 bolts at the top around the shock etc
and undo the bottom
slide it all out
then go nuts

[BLACKAUXR8]

yeah ford give ya the whole thing. when there new it actually looks like 1 piece but when i pulled my old ones out it fell in half and the rubber mount was torn all the way around on both sides. The ford dealer told me apparently they tear if you do to many hoops. Haha!!

[Sledgehammer]

Some nice pics here would be great if anyone has them.

[crakrz]

I could be wrong, but don't nolathane have a replacement part for these now?

[richo77]

Thanks for the info, sounds straight forward enough.. have never done any work with suspension before I am a bit worried about a shockie launching itself thats all.

[blackers10]

is your car lowered richo77? if so dont worry about launching as it doesnt happen as the springs arnt compressed when the car is at full droop(jacked up)

but if its stock
if you remove the 4 nuts at the top but DO NOT remove the center one.. you wont lose a testicle
if you have spring clamps its a good idea to use them

[czechone]

What sort of things happen to indicate that the mounts need changing ? Bangs, creaks ?

The rear end of my XR8 has been starting to develop a fair few strange sounds over the last couple months - creaky old bed matress spring type sounds at slow speeds. The mounts look ok at a casual glance (from the top behind the rear seat) but can u see more damage/wear if you take them off ?

[blackers10]

they start poking thru
as tho they are going to push right the way thru
the best idea is to get a friend to bounce the car (i find standing on the door sill and moving your weight up and down will be sufficient)
the steel bush type thing the shock passes thru will move up and down

often it will make a clunking noise over bumpy roads as the car has to lift OFF the suspension then drop down again

[crakrz]

It sounds like the boot lid is not closed properly is probably the best description i can come up with.

[Engineer]

Hi All,

Yeah I have changed mine too. It sounds just like the boot is not closed properly as the previous poster decribed. Another way to test is to lift the car up and grab the shock with your hand and try and wiggle it side to side. if it moves you will hear it knock about. Thats when you know that they are stuffed. Mine were only 70K kms old and were ripped all the way through on both sides. And it was lady owner with kids!! Go figure

Cheers
Engineer

[richo77]

Hiya,

Well I replaced the right shock mount on the weekend, I wouldnt call it an easy job. I had a lot of difficulty removing the top nut on the shockie after the unit was out as I didnt have a vice at home so ended up taking it to my dads place and got it off with the help of a vice after a bit of swearing and carrying on. There must be a special tool to remove that locknut??

Now that its finally in and all back together i'm happy once again with my car. It definately did sound like the bootlid wasnt closed properly - great description there. Glad to have done it after putting up with the noise for well over a year.

Parts from Ford was $173.55 for both sides, havent put in the LH one yet as everything sounds ok on that side. Now that its all together again, the car is pulling to the left, do I need to get an alignment done or is this something unrelated??

Cheers
Richo

[blackers10]

id do the other one and see if it corrects the problem
as the car may be sagging slightly to the left being that you havnt changed it (it may be slightly buggered)

to undo a shocky top nut..
you hold the flat bit at the TOP (above the nut) with a pair of multi grips/vice grips/pliers/shifter

and undo the nut

[richo77]

Originally Posted by blackers10

id do the other one and see if it corrects the problem
as the car may be sagging slightly to the left being that you havnt changed it (it may be slightly buggered)

to undo a shocky top nut..
you hold the flat bit at the TOP (above the nut) with a pair of multi grips/vice grips/pliers/shifter

and undo the nut

Yep tried all those tools to no avail, nothing wanted to budge the b*stard of a thing so had to use a vice

[blackers10]

bummer mate!

[GSN]

Just a quick question, would these be covered under warranty or not? Mine is making the clunking noise that sounds like the boot isnt shut so I presume it the shock mount problem.