Had one of my KYB shocks pop, and spill oil all over the driveway, wheel hub, etc. Figured I'll just get a new pair of shocks, and take care of both sides in one shot. Ended up buying APX brand (eBay link), and also purchased a set of strut boots (link).

First, I don't have a spring compression tool, but after thinking about it for a while, I figured it's doable with just a pair of jack stands and a floor jack.

First, jacked up the car, placed stands under the car, took the wheel off, placed the floor jack under the spring bed (lower control arm), and jacked it up to a point where the car itself starts lifting up... This way you compress the shock as much as possible with the spring still on. This will give you more "wiggle" room when taking the shock out.


Next, unbolt the top, and SLOWLY (!!!) lower the floor jack. I went a bit lower the the picture below, but not by much. Had to take the bottom shock mount bolt out to remove the shock...


You pretty much have to remove the sway bar link to get to the lower shock mount bolt...



Now you can wiggle the shock out, move it to the side a bit, and drop it at an angle, and that pull it up through the upper control arm...


New (APX in gray) and old (KYB white) shocks side by side...


Here is the new shock boot. It fits snugly in the upper boot "dish"...


Now reverse steps to mount the new shock. Having a floor jack under the lower control arm is very helpful as you can adjust the hight of the shock as you wish. Also helps with taking off and putting back on the sway bat link.

Finished product...




Hope this helps.

 

FYI...
The job took me about 1hr per side, all with hand tools. I DELIBERATELY took my time with this, double and triple-checking my moves. A spring at tension is nothing to be playing around with... BE CAREFUL...
Also, I took the car for a drive, and so far I can say I like these shocks better than KYB's, as I though KYB's were a bit too stiff to begin with... The APX's are a bit softer, and that's the way I like it in the VDP...

 

Thanks for the pics , I will add this to FAQs if this is already not covered
Happy safe driving

 

Nice post and are you still enjoying the ride/handling of the shocks... but I will advise anyone changing strut//shocks to take a few minutes and rent the free spring compression tool from your local parts house....

 

FYI torque specs are:

Lower Shock Bolt: 43-57 Nm
Top Shock Nut: 30-40 Nm
Sway Bar Bolt: 41-54 Nm

 

A regular spring compressor will not fit on the front springs.