New shocks on the baby

[baronbors]

Wife finally shamed me into replacing the front shocks on the GT. Got the regular Monroes at Auto Zone. Took more time taking the old shocks off than I thought. Sprayed the bolts with WD40 and every type of penetrating oil I hadover two days with no luck. Tried heating the bolts at the base which made me kinda nervous that close to the gas line. Finally gave up and put the super wrench on them and snapped them in two. Pounded out the two parts of the bolt and popped the old shock out. I swear, from the looks of them, they must have been originals. Putting the new shocks in were lots of fun. Trying to compress the shock by hand while inserting it into postition took a cople of tries but finally made it . Bolted everything in place and took a drive . It now feels like a sports car instead of a sports cow. Now I will be doing the backs next week and I want to confirm that the suspension has to be lifted so that the springs don't fall out. Is it OK to raise it in place on the differential or should I put the jack under the spring on each side as I change the shocks?

[BQS4]

Tom;
You'll need to dis-assemble part of the package tray area for the rear shocks, as the tops are hidden. But, I would go in and take the tops of both rear shocks loose first, then jack up the rear of the car and support it at the rear jack points, then use the jack to slowly lower the rea end back down to get the top of the rear shocks clear. Then unbolt the lower end of the rear shocks. the re-assembly is the reverse.

[Willy_g77]

my shocks make a grinding sound while they are cold.. they really do it while braking...and when i pull it in the garage it makes a real bad grinding sound.. so im pretty sure they need replacing... i've never replaced shocks before.. so what do i have to do? where do i jack the car up? i need an idoits guide on replacing them.... please help!

[baronbors]

I never replaced shocks either- but have now! Check out this thread:
Opel Community Forums > Technical Forum > Group 3 - Suspension and Steering
Replacing front and rear shocks

[rangerrick]

Replacing the rear shocks doesn't require jacking up the rear of the car, but you will have to remove the rear spare tire and shelf to access the nuts on the top of the shock. Good time to inspect those fuel vapor lines if you haven't already done so, and wiring to your tali lights ect...

I did jack up the front, just to remove the tire assembly and have room.
You can easily lower or extend shocks by hand to fit into place. It's really no big deal! and not worth paying someone the labor!!!

Rick

[kwilford]

Moderators Note: moved to the Suspension Forum. The "GT" Forum is ONLY for threads SPECIFIC to the GT, and NOT otherwise covered by a Technical Heading. PLEASE!