How do you change the shocks on a 2006 Ford Fusion?

Answer 1

US-model:

Front: Under the hood, crack loose the center 'spindle' bolt BUT DO NOT REMOVE ENTIRELY. You want to make sure the spindle isn't spinning, just the bolt. You want to do this while it's still under pressure. Then jack up the car, remove the tire. Disconnect the brake line mount (10mm bolt) and the bolts on top and bottom of the fork. Drop the fork out of the way, being mindful of the possible tension on the sway bar. It may be necessary to disconnect the sway bar too.

Once the fork is shifted down, remove the three bolts on the top and drop the shock absorber out. Use a coil spring compressor to compress the spring and spin off that nut we loosened earlier. Keep track of all part orientations.

Rear:

Jack up car, remove tire. Disconnect the lower shock bolt and compress the shock and push it out of your way. Zip-tie it to something if necessary. Remove the upper control arm (Shaped like a wide C) (not fun. Upper 15mm bolt takes forever to spin out, and one time a lower bolt sheared off on me). Again, be careful of stored tension. When you disconnect that upper control arm the entire assembly will want to rotate towards you. The upper shock mounting bracket is three bolts, kind of a pain to get to.

Check Ford Fusion Club forums for pictures and a more detailed walkthrough