Step One: Jack up the vehicle, secure with jack stands and remove the wheels.

Step Two: Hold red arrow (top of shock) with vice grips or small wrench. Loosen nut (yellow arrow).

This picture shows the wrench on the nut. Place this first before clamping on vice grips. Spray threads with loosener as this helps the process.

Here are the vice grips attached. We switched to channel lock pliers  holding the spindle after nut was loose. 

Step Three: Remove two lower shock mount bolts. After bolts are removed slide shock out from the bottom. 

You may have to hold the shock spindle (pin) from turning. Here pliers are used for this as the vice grips noted before were not adequate.

This shows the pliers on the shock spindle (pin) only as a demonstration of what is being grabbed in the picture opposite.

Step Four: Install new shock. Place on to the spindle, in this order, washer then bushing on bottom, then on top is bushing then washer and finally the nut on top. Hand tighten this nut initially and be sure to use the new nut provided with the new shocks so that threads match.

Here is an image of the order of assemble of the front shock.

Here is the bottom of the new shock with bolts loosely started using bolts that you removed as new ones are not provided. Retighten all hardware to ensure the shock is firmly mounted in place. Top nut is torqued to 90 in-lb. Lower bolt is 150 in-lb.

Here is the old shock. Rubber hardware distorted and cracked.

Distorted and cracked rubber hardware.

If you have a wrench of this size (6mm) it fit this shock on the top of the spindle as well and was useful for removing and tightening.

Again, here we see where the channel lock pliers need to grab the spindle (pin) of the shock to hold the shock from spinning as it is loosened or tightened.

Tools needed. Time for this job is approximately 30 mins per shock. 

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