How do you replace rear shocks on a 1988 town car?

Answer 1

On my 1989 Town Car Sig Ed I replaced front and rear shock absorbers. The trick to the rear ones was to place jack stand under the frame just in front of rear tire right before the frame starts to veer off around the tire well. Then remove the rear tire (do one side at a time). Okay now get a light and look up under the tire well you'll see the top nut of the shock absorber with just enough clearance to get your wrench on to it. Now the fun part. You will most likely be turning the the shaft of the shock absorber as you turn the top nut. By the way with that small clearance you'll be making only very small turns on the nut and repositioning the wrench a lot. So back to the fun part. To prevent turning the shaft of the shock with each turn of the nut you'll probably have the best luck by placing a locking vice grip around the shaft very, very tightly or it will not make a good hold on the shaft and just slip with each turn. Now on my shock absorber the shinny shaft of the shock was concealed under a plastic dust tube. Darn. But with a hack saw blade (blade only - no handle) I was able to make small cuts as I hand turned the plastic dust tube and also a needle nose pliers to mangle the plastic enough to get the vice grips around the shaft - get that vice grip tight enough so that the teeth will leave a mark on the shaft. You won't be needing that dust tube or shaft anyway and my Monroe shocks did not come with a plastic dust shield - it was all metal concealing the shock unless you fully expanded the shock only then could you see the shinny shaft. So just start removing the top nut until is off and you will be able to compress the shock by hand enough to pull the top shaft out of its rubber and metal washers. Try to keep those rubber and metal washers just in cast your new shocks don't come with them - make note of how they are orientated at the least. By the way don't worry that your suspension will fall apart with the removal of the shock. You could and probably should place something under the suspension for added safety before removing the top and bottom nuts of the shock. Now remove the nut holding the bottom of the shock absorber. This part for me was easier to do by socket wrench with a very long bar as this nut will most likely be very tight and rusted on. I also used some oil and wire brush to clean the exposed threads. I also made sure the car was very safely locked into position with the parking brake and tire chocks and the remaining three tires and also put the tire I had removed next to the jack stand flat on the floor and under the frame just in case of an accidental movement of the car as I was under trunk with by big ass breaker bar and socket doing all sorts of jerking with the tools until the nut came off. After the nut is removed you should be able to lower the shock through the suspension and depending how high you jacked up the car you may have to compress the shock by hand so that it will slip out the bottom. Now clean up the shaft and threads where the bottom of the shock is attached. Also try to clean up around where the top hole for the shock goes. Follow the instructions to install the new shock. Basically just exercise the air from the new one and slide it in from the bottom (you may have to hand compress it a few times until you're able to get it into place). Hopefully your new shocks came with the upper rubber and metal washers. Be sure to orientate them like the old ones (one metal & rubber on bottom with the raised circular part facing up and one rubber on the top side with the raised circular part facing down and one metal washer to go on top of that. I used a magnetic tool to help placing the metal washer and top nut into the confined space. Start tightening the nut in what ever means works for you. Just make sure the rubber washers are centered in hole before you start to compress them as you tighten the nut. There are usually certain torques required but without specialty tools you will want to tighten the top nut until the rubber washers start to squish and get bigger in diameter than the metal washer. Use your best judgment here or take the car to a mechanic after you get it all back together or better yet have a friend who is a mechanic stop by to check your work. By the way I had no problem with the shaft on the shock turning as I tightened the top nut - I just held the metal tube with one hand while tightening the top nut. Again put the bottom of the shock on the shaft (my new shock came with a metal spacer to put on before or after the shock) and torque it down to spec. Put your tire back on and do the other side. This was one of the best things I ever did to the twenty some year old car. I can drive over the rail road tracks now with barely any vertical bounce. By the way, while you working back there you might as well check the level of lube in the gear thing in the center of the rear axle and inspect the brake lines where they attach to the back of the tire mounting hubs for leaks. May as well look at the gas lines too. By the way, I'm not a mechanic and have never done anything other than a couple of oil changes in my life. But when I saw this awesome car for sale I could resist from buying it. Here are a few of the things I had to figure out how to do on my own. Remove the upper and lower manifolds to replace gaskets. Install new radiator, water pump, and all the rubber hoses that antifreeze goes through. Replace almost all vacuum tubing. New alternator. New power steering. New fan clutch. New battery. Have the Transmission flushed. New spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor. Leak in air conditioner fitting. A/C recharge and leak test. Complete antifreeze system flush and leak test. New belts. Fix cruise control. Replace about twenty dash and interior light bulbs. Replace a couple of exterior running lamps. New stereo system complete with new amp, speakers, power antenna and all related wiring. Installed some awesome blue neon lights under the dash and front seats. Fix the automatic trunk opener. Install remote starter. And lots of cleaning and an oil change every 3 months. Now it basically runs and looks new again. Not bad for a car with over 170,000 miles and about 20 years old. I'm about 45 years old and don't like to get grease under my finger nails but I had lots of fun getting this car back in shape and love to drive around town knowing that I did this all myself.