Hey Guys, I know this has been covered before but not in detail. There are threads about what to change but not how to change the front shocks and springs on a vl. If anyone can post a guide on how to change the front shocks and springs, im sure it will save people alot of money. If there is a guide to changing them without taking the balljoints out i.e removing with the control arm, someone please post one. Cheers

First thing would be to un-do the big nut holding the strut top while there is weight down on the car. Wheels, brakes, sway bar, radius rod, tie rod off. Then un-do control arms bolts at cross member, un-do 3 strut bolts and the whole lot should pull out. Once the strut is out, undo the strut top nut completely and pull the strut top off (if standard springs you may need spring compressors to pull the springs down so the strut top doesnt launch off and take you frikken head off). pull spring off and replace. If doing shocks, get some stilsons and undo the big nut at the top of the tube that holds it down and then change the shocks... Put it all back together and ya done... That should be about it. All off the top of my head, so I might have missed something.

Thanks Hingo. If theres a more detailed guide it would be even better. Hingo's is quite good though. Ive also read that you can just drop the strut down and change the shocks/springs while its on the car, but the problem im having is i can only drop the strut a few cm's. Is there anything else that needs to be done to drop the strut more? Do you need to compress the springs and then the strut will lower?

Hopefully I have no need to re-do my front end for a while now, but if i do ill do up a proper tech article...

That would be great Hingo. Anyone else know how to drop the front strut lower and change the shock/spring while its on the car, as mine only drops a few cm's. Cheers

take the swaybar etc off, imo its easier to drop the whole strut WITH the control arm, did onee side like this and took me half the time of the other side, i had no choice as i was replacing the whole strut and the balljoint wouldnt come off so i just got a new control arm for $20 and slapped it on with the new strut if u take off the swaybar it should be able to drop alot further down

yeh i took off the swaybar but it was still didnt drop much. i might just take the whole strut out with the control arm attached. I tried undoing the control arm nut from the k-frame but it was quite bouncy, is this normal?

You can do it while its still in the car. BUT the easiet way is the undo the sway bar links, take the brake caliper off and remove the brake line from the strut body, undo the radius rod nut (on the K-frame), remove the lower control arm bolt (through the K-frame), then undo the three bearing plate nuts (on the top of the strut tower). This will drop the strut well out of the wheel arch (once its freed from the K-frame), and all you have to do is pull the radius rod out of the K-frame. You should have this: Then just get a pair of spring compressors, bolt them either side of spring, squash that bad boy good, then undo the nut in the centre of the bearing plate. Take off the bearign plate, rubber thingy, spring, and dust cover. Get a gland nut tool (or a big f*ck off pair of adjustable pliers), undo the gland nut (large nut that secures shock inside strut body), and remove the strut. Installation is the reversal.

Thanks 5spdvl ur a legend and everyone else. With the nut for the centre bearing, it turns the whole shock, so i will have to use grips to hold it right?

yeah its a pain in the asss. hence why i said to do it first before lifting the wheels off the ground... it might still spin if you have access to a rattle gun you'll be right then... Otherwise i had to clamp my shock tube into a press and undo it with a rattle gun once the strut was out. vice grips wouldnt hold it well enough... And no you wont damage the tube...

Hey guys, im having trouble getting the big nut off that secures the shock inside the strut body. anyone know the easiest way to get it off? Ive tried using a screwdriver and hammer to hit in the grooves and also vice grips but wont budge.

Need to get your self a pair of stilsons.They have a big grip, big enough to hold onto the whole nut. Otherwise use a vice or a g-clamp or something that is big enough that can clamp down over it... Give it a spray with WD-40 too... And then watch for water pouring out of it after ya open it up.

I bought a massive pair of multigrips for that nut (called a gland nut). Lay the strut on the ground, bite on, and give it heaps (a second pair of hands helps too). Also, contrary to my previous post (with picture), I'd like to point out that you wil need to to remove the radius rod from the lower control arm (30mm socket, very tight) if you're to have any luck getting it back into the K frame.

sorry to dig an old thread, but can someone confirm the nut holding the spring down is 22mm? or 7/8? my passenger side nut came off quite easily using a wheel brace, but I think I've rounded the drivers side one Plan is to buy a 22mm (if that's the correct size) deep socket and do it properly.. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Yeah, 22mm from memory. Should be a good fit. Just remember that most of the time when undoing that nut, the shaft of the shock absorber will turn with it, so you won't be undoing it at all. Need to keep that shaft from turning whilst undoing the nut.

I love diging up old threads Yes you can change your spring / shocker while the strut is in. but you will need to be farmiliar withe the assmebely as you will be doing most of this "blind". You will not get the strut mount past your fender while it is complete, the bareing cap must be removed while still under the apron, shocker shaft then pushed down enough to get the spring off. Now you can drop your strut down and undo the big nut holding the shocker in to the strut. As 5Spdvl says, best to remove the whole thing, but remember to remove the radius rod from the controll arm as installation on the k-frame end is a pain in the ass. To remove the nut holding the strut to top baring cap use a hand impact driver with a 22mm socket To remove the nut sholding the shocker in to the strut use a monkey grip adjustable wrench Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Another hijack, Who knows a decent place to buy Koni shcoks - front set? I'm not after anything fancy, just a straight swap over for stock as a rock VL, never been modified as far as front suspension goes. Been ringing around and most places sell them for approx $500 Kan it be possible to get them cheaper somewhere. I wouldn't think ebay has decent members who might have them. Cheers

i have changed the front springs and shocks by just taking the caliper off. then compressing the spring and undoing the strut bolts.the shock nut is all ways a bitch tho

Sorry for digging this ancient relic up. Is there a certain way the factory top strut bearing plates need to go when re-installing the strut? I thought maybe the 4th hole where it mounts had to line up with the hole in the strut mount, but I noticed that wasn't the case when removing the passenger side. (Could have been in there wrong?) I mean, the strut top doesn't appear to be circular and can go in 3 different ways. Thanks in advance.

usually put them back in the same position u took them out, but if you cant remember how it went you may need to get a wheel alignment cos im pretty sure they affect the caster angles.