Many may already be aware of this, but for those who aren't..........I am in the middle of replacing both rear shocks and from "experimenting" on my donor car and now actually doing it on my regular driver, I have found in both cases, that the biggest problem is removing the long bolt that runs through the lower shock mount. This has been covered before and my tuppence worth is this.

Before you go pulling everything apart, removing A Frame etc. try to remove, or at least free up these bolts first! Just jack up and support the car, remove the relevant wheel and have a look see. The problem lies in the fact that the bolt seems to sometimes seize up inside the lower shock bush. Not helped by the deteriorating rubber inside the shock mount. Having a trolley jack under the wheel hub carrier is no harm as it can help to remove tension off the lower shock mount.

I got mine to move by rotating it, back and forth after loosening the nut. Then I brought the nut back along the thread, until the threaded section was just inside the top of the nut. Then I fitted a socket with a short extension over the nut and hammered on it.

The bolt moved enough to allow some penetration of wd40. Eventually it went in enough to remove the nut and use a drift to tap it through totally.

This sounds straightforward, but took a while!

My point is, if you find that the bolt isn't moving, then you can just tighten it back up for the moment and get back on the road, as opposed to re-installing the A Frame, refitting brake calipers etc. etc.

Removing this bolt can often be the most difficult part of the whole job.

Anyway, tomorrow I will finish the job, woo hoo! I also changed the diff fluid while I was down there! I also intend to clean out all the muck that has accumulated inside the wheel arches!