Replacing shocks on paseo

[FirebirdNYC]

anyone has any under body pics of there paseo? . im going to attempt in replacing shocks on my aunts paseo. preferably the rear end. Im not into these kind of cars , i own a thirdgen fbody myself. So obviously its not the same .

[thoughthard]

Maybe this will help. Not a Paseo, but they are mostly identical suspension-wise.

http://www.angelfire.com/md3/ventana...ptutorial.html

Maybe consider replacing the accordian dust boots while you are at it.

[FirebirdNYC]

ah man see i figured id need a spring compressor. I can rent out from autozone but the one i last rented was the type that had two rods. That one sucked for my car , which spring compressor do you guys recommend? is it a tight fit back there?. thanks for the respond . Rwd is so much easier

[thoughthard]

I used those spring compressors from Autozone when I replaced the rear shocks on a 97 Pontiac Sunfire. Worked fine. Should work fine for the Paseo springs since they should be alot easier to compress than your Firebird ones.

[thoughthard]

PB Blaster is your friend also.

[FirebirdNYC]

Yep !. I use pb all the time. Its like "pass me my ratchet, and the PB" . Well im going to take alook at my aunts car this week sometime. I want to make sure i dont run into any trouble. I guess i can give that compressor another shot. this forum is helpfull, dont tell that to my thirdgen buddies though

[Tercel GTS]

Want a cool trick? It's not considered safe, but hey, you trust a GM product anyways right? j/k As you may have already realized the rear shock mounts are hidden by the back seat. After you get access, use an air gun and zap the center nuts off, leave the mount in place. This must be done on both sides at same time to allow enough travel. Now jack the rear of the car up until the springs max out an relieve the pressure. These aren't really long nor really tight springs, and they are in an area where they won't just fly out of the car. After the springs relax then remove the lower nut/bolt that attaches them to axle. Now remove the mounts. Reassemble outside the car with a compressor and reinstall as a unit.
I can put them back together myself without a compressor but it's far less safe than the disassrmbly.

[FirebirdNYC]

hm i get what you are trying to say. i know its possible to reinstall the shock without a compressor but im scared once u put the jack under the control arm and jack her up the spring might not sit properly. Or worst the car will not stay on the stands and it will probably lift off the stands, happened to my car , thats when i gave up on the front springs.

[Strete]

Well good luck with it...but make sure you give your rear strut tower mounts a good looking at...because these cars seem to have problems with them....they fray and disintegrate over time...

Sounds weird, but I know of 3 other people who are suffering now, and mine were absolute dust when i replaced my springs...i had to get new ....

[Paseo15psi]

My back ones are shot again after changing them a few years back. I think I'm gonna order the harder TRD ones.

[Walka]

its really easy man...really jsut rent that took...unbolt two bolts pull and put the other in....oh

your gonna have trouble if you dont have an air gun...what you do is you get a wrench for that top bolt and since you are replacing the shocks you dont need to care about them....so get vice grips and get under the car part where the silver pole going into the strut is and grip it as hard as it car....i mean tight and hold it as someone else easily unbolts the top bolt...id say first time 1 hour job...even if ya dont know what your doin