Changing Rear Shocks on a 2002 Grand Caravan
I PROMISE the auto repair spurt is almost over. _Promise!_
This morning I finished the suspension work on my sweetie's van by changing the rear shocks. The old ones were OEM and rusting to absolute nothingness.
I backed the van up on ramps, and access was pretty good. I was able to use an impact wrench for the bottom bolts and a breaker bar on the top one. You don't have to remove the wheels to do this project, but you do need ramps or jack stands so you can move around underneath the car. Each shock is mounted at the top with one bolt to the chassis of the van. The other end is held with a nut and bolt to the front of the rear axle. An 18mm wrench fits both bolts, and you also need another 18mm wrench or socket to hold the nut.
The hardest part of installing the new shocks is compressing them to the correct length. A tapered punch helps to line up the bolt hole if it's being fidgety.
With all the suspension work done, I took the van off to Firestone for an alignment. It drives a lot better now. I'm slightly annoyed because the Camber? The
This morning I finished the suspension work on my sweetie's van by changing the rear shocks. The old ones were OEM and rusting to absolute nothingness.
I backed the van up on ramps, and access was pretty good. I was able to use an impact wrench for the bottom bolts and a breaker bar on the top one. You don't have to remove the wheels to do this project, but you do need ramps or jack stands so you can move around underneath the car. Each shock is mounted at the top with one bolt to the chassis of the van. The other end is held with a nut and bolt to the front of the rear axle. An 18mm wrench fits both bolts, and you also need another 18mm wrench or socket to hold the nut.
The hardest part of installing the new shocks is compressing them to the correct length. A tapered punch helps to line up the bolt hole if it's being fidgety.
With all the suspension work done, I took the van off to Firestone for an alignment. It drives a lot better now. I'm slightly annoyed because the Camber? The
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