Just tried to remove the front shocks on my 86. Looked like it would be a snap. Soaked everything down with WD40. Then tried using vice grips on the top shaft while removing nut with an open end. Could not get either side to budge. Don't want to mes up the threads and wonder how to get the nut all the way off once it gets near the top. Searched on the net for a tool to hold the shaft on the top. There are lots of GM shock holding tools but they all appeared to be socket wrenches and have to come down from the top.

The inside of the wheel well has a plate which covers the top of the shock's upper connection. It that looks like you have to remove an anwful lot of stuff to get it off. I had read an earlier post which indicated you should be able to change all 4(!) shocks in 1 - 2 hours and cannot believe that it can be all that difficult. Am I missing something?

 

If you are replacing the shocks, who cares if you booger up the thrreads. If you are trying to take them off without the booger part, waiting a day or so and letting the spray soak in may go a long way. Good luck!

 

If I "booger" the threads up at the top I still have to get the nut off.

Is a Vice grip really the way everyone else holds the shaft to remove the nut. It seemed pretty crude at the time.........

 

:cheers: Removing "the plate" isn't all tha difficult...Might as well get used to it since it makes changing the spark plugs easier also.

Some choucks hahe a rectangular head at the top of the shaft which can be held with an open end wrench

Some newer shocks, I am only familiar with Billstein, have a provision in the top of the shaft to accept an allen head wrench. This is pretty nice

Good luck

:seeya

:steering:

 

Sometimes I just take a socket and a long bar and bust the stud off by wiggly back and forth. You don't have to worry about any nuts or threads! :smash:

 

Looked like removing "the plate" also included removing the bottom connection to the hinge holding the hood. I have replaced plugs and while the Vette's not my favorite car to change plugs on (my old flathead Ford V8 was a lot nicer), it wasn't necessary to remove any plates or shrouds.

Frankly, a better solution, if there isn't a good way to hold the shaft from the side (I'm still hoping to hear from one of the forum guys who can change all 4 shocks in an hour to tell me how), would be to drill a socket sized hole in the plate/shroud thingy. I could then use some sort of grommet to plug the hole again. The Gabriels have the same GM type top as the current Bilsteins.

 

:cheers: I regularly change (every 25000 miles) all four shocks in about an hour, and I already told you how :D

:seeya

:steering:

 

I thought that you may be able to hold the rod with your vise grips ( I only needed a cresent wrench) until the nut came most of the way up. Then take your vise grips and grab under the nut on the threads to get the nut the rest of the way off. Heck, I like the idea of breaking the darn things off. Cut em, break em, smash em, or torch em. Just get in there and start breaking things until they come out. lol It took me over an hour, but I was kinda screwing around with other stuff too.

 

Follow what jack said. I'm unfamiliar with the early C4, but most late-C4 shocks have some flats at the top of the shock so you can hold the piston with a small crescent wrench. On other cars you use an allen wrench.

Don't use vise-grips, that's too ghetto.

 

Sounds like the very early C4's are different in this respect than the latest ones.
The late C4's have front shocks that are VERY easy to remove and replace.
Looks like the early ones need the ol' Vise-Grips....

Larry
code5coupe
:seeya

 

I just went through this. I had the "feeling" my shocks were bad. Were they ever. Each side took nearly an hour to remove. The top bolt was a real PIA to get off. I ended up taking an air chisel to the shaft. That made quick work of each shock.

Do yourself a favor: When installing the new shocks, put some anti-seize on the shock threads. That way, when it comes time to replace, they'll be a lot easier to remove.

 

With the exception of jackdaroofer (see above), it appears no one has an elegant way to hold the shaft to get the top nut off. Jack, I'll take another look at that plate thing and see how many things I'll have to pull off to get it off. When I looked earelier it didn't look like a great idea. Didn't you have to remove the bracket that holds your hood open to get it off?

I did try a crescent wrench but was hoping to get the shocks off without removing the tires. My crescent wrench was too long and the tire prevented me from using it. I guess I may try buying a smaller crescent. I used to have one.....somewhere.

As far as breaking the shaft, I can't imagine how you would be able to do that without buggering up something else. Hopefully the shafts are pretty strong!

I will absolutely use some anti seize on the new shocks! I'm amazed that in all the posts I read prior to deciding to buy the shocks that no one even mentioned what a pain in the a!@#$ it is to get the top nut off early C4's. Every job I tackle on this car makes me think that the Vette designers were truly laughing as they designed the car. I can hear them as they cackled[/img] Report this to a moderator DoInsert(' :lolg: ');
[/img] Report this to a moderator DoInsert(' :lolg: '); "watch the stupid backyard mechanics try and get this part off".

 

I put on some Edelbrocks yesterday and had no problem removing any of the parts. I did remove all the wheels tho and my car is a 92 not an 86. :auto:

 

I work at a shop and the easiest way to remove them if you don't have air tools is the good ole fashioned smoke wrench (torch).

Takes about 20 minutes in a shop with air tools and a torch.

If you're doing it at home and don't have a torch, spray a buttload of WD-40 or some other kind of penetrating oil. Let it soak in, and then attack it.

You will need to remove the plastic shroud on the wheelwell. This isn't hard. At least on my 88, its like 3 or 4 10mm bolts. Remove them, take the shroud off and you'll have a much easier time.

But, the smoke wrench is the fastest. Just make sure to have a cup of water for when the rubber catches on fire. :smash: :reddevil

 

BWAR, drill the nut with a very small bit. Use one small enough to be able to drill two holes on the same section of the nut. Try very hard not to penetrate into the shaft of the shock, but if you do you can redress the threads.

Once your two holes are drilled, you can hit it with a chisel and it will split, enabling you to remove the nut easily.

Best of luck,

:cheers: :flag

 

When I did mine I used vise grips to hold the top and had to use the car as another set of hands so it wouldn't spin. Heated up the nut with a simple propane torch you can get at home depot or wal-mart. Once it was heated things came apart fairly easy.

I forget if it was the Vette or my truck but I think one of them I even sazalled thru the piston so it could be pulled thru the mounting plate. No need to worry about getting the nut off that way :lol:

 

Thanks everyone for their suggestions. Last night I was able to get one shock replaced. I went back to the old vice grips solution. After a lot of struggling and just a little profanity the top nut came off.

The other side wasn't as cooperative. I've now pretty well buggered up the flats on the top of the shaft and even using the vice grips it spins. I went to Sears and bought a $15 "Nut Splitter" and hope to find some time to try it tonight. I think I'll pass on the propane ....knowing me I'll burn something up. I thought about drilling or grinding but have always wondered if those nut splitters work and now found a reason to add one to my toolbox. The package says it's returnable if for any reason I'm unsatisfied so how can I go wrong.

As far as all the suggestions to remove the plate/shroud thing.... I don't know what year your Vettes are, but my 86 has a whole lot more than 4 bolts. and other stuff that needs to come off with it. Clearly not something I would ever want to do just to change spark plugs!

If I don't get to it tonight I may not have a chance until next week. Once I've tried the Craftsman nut splitter I'll add my experiences to this thread.

 

I hope the nut splitter works. I had the same problem on my 90. I destroyed the flats on the top, rounded off the threads and had to cut the shaft under the nut with a hack saw. It took a while but they did finally come off. I feel you pain. :banghead: :banghead:

 

Actually now that you say this,
that is exactly what I had to do on one side.
I messed the threads up with vise grips at the top but was able to move the nut enough to get the sawzall in there to cut the piston rod

 

Success......FINALLY! The Sears Nut buster did the job. The nut split much easier than I expected it would. Once split, it was reasonably easy to unscrew. No Torches or Sawz-all required. I didn't remove the !&%^#!ing plate/shroud thing, didn't remove the wheel or even jack the car.

Took a ride and the Gabriel shocks are great! Went over the local RR tracks and not one filling fell from my teeth......unlike before. Pulled into my driveway and didn't even scrape bottom. Next I'm gonna replace the rears. Stay tuned.......

Thanks for all the moral support.