Best way to remove front shocks?

[kodiakisland]

So, you are correct, there is enough play that you can get the strut out with the LCA dropped without pulling the front axle or messing with the axle nut.

BUT

That play is there because the CV is extending and angling, and very high odds of it getting overextended, and the weight pops the clip, and you don’t know it until a few days later when your boot blows out.

It’s highly recommended to remove the axle from the wheel hub, and that nut (and a few licks of a dead blow) are all it takes. You don’t have to remove the CV entirely, just pop it out of the wheel hub. Or you can play the lottery and probably end up just replacing the entire CV anyway.

People keep saying that, but so far most of the reported CV separations came directly from the axle nut removal folks. I've pulled front coilovers 4 times doing the LCA route and have never come close to separating the CVs. The CV remains fully supported while the LCA is removed and one would almost have to purposefully pull the spindle far enough to the side to separate the CV, instead of the axle nut folks just letting the CV hang there and separate itself. I'll keep doing the LCA route.

I'm glad the axle nut route worked for you, but it hasn't for quite a few.

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[Ramz2012]

People keep saying that, but so far most of the reported CV separations came directly from the axle nut removal folks. I've pulled front coilovers 4 times doing the LCA route and have never come close to separating the CVs. The CV remains fully supported while the LCA is removed and one would almost have to purposefully pull the spindle far enough to the side to separate the CV, instead of the axle nut folks just letting the CV hang there and separate itself. I'll keep doing the LCA route.

I'm glad the axle nut route worked for you, but it hasn't for quite a few.

People keep saying that, but so far most of the reported CV separations came directly from the axle nut removal folks. I've pulled front coilovers 4 times doing the LCA route and have never come close to separating the CVs. The CV remains fully supported while the LCA is removed and one would almost have to purposefully pull the spindle far enough to the side to separate the CV, instead of the axle nut folks just letting the CV hang there and separate itself. I'll keep doing the LCA route.

I'm glad the axle nut route worked for you, but it hasn't for quite a few.

 

[Ramz2012]

[/QUOTE
I agree with kodiakisland, wouldn’t the UCA keep it from drooping to dangerous level. The CV does droop but can be held up with a floor jack. What am I missing? I’m planning on using this method but this now has me scratching my head thinking twice about it. ]

 

[PWillette]

With other vehicles I've always used free loaner spring compressors from auto parts stores to remove springs/struts. Why is no one using those in this case? Is it because the compressors tools will not fit in the tight space of the Bronco? I'm talking about something like these shown in the photo below:

With the LCAs loosened (not removed)this is what I used to get the new coil overs installed. As you say, it's a pretty tight space...they just need to be positioned just right. Worked fine for me.

 

[Trza]

I did it pretty much that way on a BaseSquatch to install a 1" leveling kit...... And because I did it that way, I now have (2) new(er) cv axles. The shaft popped out, drove 30 feet or so and heard a ton of crunching going on.

On the flip side, we did a 2" level lift on brother in laws Big Bend, did NOT remove axle nut, just pushed down on lower control arm and no issues.

I've since done a level lift on my son's Big Bend, and we removed axle nuts and pushed axle through. Honestly, I wouldn't do it any other way.

q

That's the thing, I guess. If I roll the dice and do not remove the axle

I guess I’m in the minority. I separate upper ball joint, tie rod end, sway bar link, pull speed sensor and brake caliper, loosen axle nut and pop it loose in knuckle. Coilover is out in forty minutes. If you aren’t going to reuse the original shock, cutting the studs off does make it easier. I’m just a shade tree mechanic, so the first one was a bitch, then much easier. I put the joince bumper on upside down on one and had to remove and fix. While in the process of installing Bilstein 6112’s, I discovered a pinhole in the outer driver’s side cv boot, so I installed a new half shaft also.

Edit - the 35mm axle nut is nothing to be afraid of. New ones are $10 a pair on-line. I just ran it out w/ my Makita impact gun. I did buy a 250 ft-lb torque wrench and ball joint separator tool on Amazon.

How are the 6112's?

Did you do all 4 corners? I'm just looking to get the front end up an inch for a leveled look, and I noticed that I could use the 6112's and put it on circlip #2 for an inch of lift and forget about the spacer level.

I'm not looking to raise the rear at all, so wondering if it would be OK to switch the fronts to 6112's on circlip #2 and leave the stock rear Bilsteins on (Badlands non-sas)?

Anyone do this or is this frowned upon to have mismatching struts?

 

[contented]

q

That's the thing, I guess. If I roll the dice and do not remove the axle


How are the 6112's?

Did you do all 4 corners? I'm just looking to get the front end up an inch for a leveled look, and I noticed that I could use the 6112's and put it on circlip #2 for an inch of lift and forget about the spacer level.

I'm not looking to raise the rear at all, so wondering if it would be OK to switch the fronts to 6112's on circlip #2 and leave the stock rear Bilsteins on (Badlands non-sas)?

Anyone do this or is this frowned upon to have mismatching struts?

I like them, but I’m certainly no expert. They rode somewhat stiff initially, but are softening up a bit. Installed them on all four corners. OEM Bilsteins were 1.9 in. diameter. 6112 - 2.6 in. Quite a difference. My rears were covered by the upcoming recall and both were leaking. With a 2,100 mile trip to Moab this summer, I didn’t want to chance having a problem so I replaced all four.

After I started down the 6112 path, all I wanted was to regain lost lift due to added weight or .75 in. Nothing more. Set the front clip at 1, back at 3 as per the directions. That gave me an increase of .75” in front (perfect) and almost 1.5 in. at the back. Way too much rake. Off came the rears and reset clips at position 1 yielding .75 in. Now have 1 in. rear to front rake. Or said another way 38.75 in to the front flare. 39.75 to the rear flare, same as several Wildtracks and Sas packages I measured at the dealer.

Personally, I wouldn’t mix and match front to rear.

 

[JL8jeff]

I removed the front coilovers by unbolting the lower control arms. Mark the cam positions front and rear on each side and jack the truck up, take the wheels off, drop it onto jackstands under the frame and put the jack under the control arm and remove the bolts/cams. Lower the jack slowly so you can pull the stock coilover out (make sure you leave one of the top 3 nuts on the coilover so it stays up while you get the lower studs out of the lower control arm). I did it myself (almost 59 and with a bad shoulder and I weigh a whopping 137 lbs) so most people should be able to do it. I went with the 4WP/ProComp adjustable coilovers and ended up around 2" up front and 1" in the rear and got rid of most of the rake.

The truck drives great with the ProComps and still fits in the garage! The nice thing with these coilovers is you can jack it up on the frame and adjust the coilovers with the spanner wrench in seconds vs removing the shock to change settings.

Stock suspension on 37's.

4WP/ProComp coilovers on 37's.

 

[Trza]

I removed the front coilovers by unbolting the lower control arms. Mark the cam positions front and rear on each side and jack the truck up, take the wheels off, drop it onto jackstands under the frame and put the jack under the control arm and remove the bolts/cams. Lower the jack slowly so you can pull the stock coilover out (make sure you leave one of the top 3 nuts on the coilover so it stays up while you get the lower studs out of the lower control arm). I did it myself (almost 59 and with a bad shoulder and I weigh a whopping 137 lbs) so most people should be able to do it. I went with the 4WP/ProComp adjustable coilovers and ended up around 2" up front and 1" in the rear and got rid of most of the rake.

The truck drives great with the ProComps and still fits in the garage! The nice thing with these coilovers is you can jack it up on the frame and adjust the coilovers with the spanner wrench in seconds vs removing the shock to change settings.

Stock suspension on 37's.

4WP/ProComp coilovers on 37's.

Looks great!

I am leaning towards removing the lower control arms as well. Thanks for the info!

 

[TLO]

I separate the tie rods and UCAs from the knuckles and let them drop. That's it. No need to touch the CVs or LCAs.

A real risk of having the CV joint pull apart if you leave the shaft in the knuckle.

 

[orion]

With other vehicles I've always used free loaner spring compressors from auto parts stores to remove springs/struts. Why is no one using those in this case? Is it because the compressors tools will not fit in the tight space of the Bronco? I'm talking about something like these shown in the photo below:

These things give me the heebie jeebies.

 

[gbub]

They can be scary if the are holding an uncontained spring but with something like a strut which is contained they are not as scary if you keep you you fingers and other parts of your body away from the spring.

 

[GI_Jo_Nathan]

These things give me the heebie jeebies.

I don't mind these because the pins positively lock in the top and bottom coil. Although they are very snug on the Bronco coils. But also I only use them outside of the vehicle so I can control how straight everything is.

 

[Brian_B]

Glad I never really had to use the spring compressors.

It's like hooking up the battery terminal - it always sparks a bit and I won't lie, even after (or maybe especially after) working around electricity every day, that 12V spark makes me jump every single time.

 

[Trza]

Just wanted to give an update.

I installed the Zone 1" level on my Non SAS Badlands last night. Removing the Lower Control Arms is the way to go. After wasting time trying to do the upper ball joint, tie rod end, sway bar, and axle nut method, it was clear that removing the Sway bar and LCA was going to be easier.

The Badlands come with the sway bar disconnect, it's a pretty heavy unit due to the motor. Once all of thr skid plates are removed:

Remove the 2, 18mm nuts and 2, 18mm bolts (4 total). You have to remove the wiring harness clips to free up some slack to move the sway bar far enough (towards the rear) to give enough room to slide the LCA bolt out. Support the bar on 2 jackstands. Remove the sway bar end links on both sides. Make sure to use a 6mm hex to hold the sway bar end links end in place so that you don't twist up the boot.

Make sure to mark your camber adjuster thingys with a marker, front and rear on each side of the arms.

Then remove 2 of the 15mm nuts on the top shock mount. Leave the 3rd hand tight.

Remove the lower shock nuts. I can't remember, I think 19mm. Make sure to support the assembly with jacks so that you don't put any stress on the CV axle. But really, the tie rod end and upper ball joint are still attached so it's not really going anywhere. I did this for extra precaution.

Now tackle the lower control arm nut and bolt. Make sure to loosen from the nut side. These are in tight, roughly 220ish ft/lbs, so I used a wrench (15/16ths) and used my my foot to break it loose. Once you remove the lower control arm, remove the last upper strut nut and the lower shock just slides right out.

I used a ball joint removal kit to remove the stamped lower shock studs. An air hammer didn't work for me. Or maybe the one I have isn't strong enough. Instead, just put a 24 mm socket over the top of the stud, clamp it with the ball joint removal tool, and use a impact wrench and it will pop right out.

Now, just put your spacers on the strut (top and bottom) and put it back in the Bronco. Tighten the top strut bolts, use the supplied lower strut nut and bolts from Zone (this will make removing the strut so much easier in the future since the stamped studs have been removed). Tighten the new lower strut nut and bolt. Now comes the hard part...

You have to line up the LCA bolt and alignment washers. I used 2 long screwdrivers to line up the holes, then slid the bolts back in, line up to your marked lines then tighten. Keep in mind, it's best to torque the LCA to spec with weight on the vehicle. I tightened them down with a couple good turns then tightened to spec later.

Now just put the Sway bar back in place, tighten the end links and you are done. Almost...remember to tighten those LCA nuts to spec now that the vehicle is on the ground.

Now get an alignment. Mine felt stock but I'm still booked for an alignment anyways.

This was the easiest way to get the shock out and not have to remove the axle nut. Hope this helps anyone with the sway bar disconnect.

 

[Ramble_Offroad]

Hey guys, good thread. Sounds like the LCA method is the way to go versus fussing with pushing the axle out.

I’ll be pulling out my Fox 2.5’s and replacing them with a set of Eibach ProTruck 2.0 w/ HD springs. (Long story, obliterated one of my Fox shocks at 12K feet. Too much preload is my only guess.)

I had a local shop install my Fox kit but this time around I’ll be doing it all myself with help from a buddy. Luckily my buddy is wildly more knowledgeable/ mechanically experienced than I, so that should help.

My truck is a badlands, but supporting the swaybar assembly looks easy enough.

Considering that the Fox front shocks have bolts versus the OEM studs, I’m thinking that this would only make it easier to pull the front shocks out. Any reason why I should follow Eibach’s instructions versus dropping the swaybar & LCA?

cheers,
Lars

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