replacing front shocks and upper links ('94 Q45), shock question?

[artandscience]

On the advice of several in this forum, I replaced my upper linksmyself over the weekend. I also took apart the MAF assembly and cleaned it and the interior of my throttle body housing. Also took the time to R&R the fan blade. Lots of fun.

R&R of the link is made _much_ easier by removing the shock first. I just couldn't see an easy way to remove the upper link's securing bolt without removing the shock first.

In the process, I checked my rears too and figured out that I need to replace the RR shock. Is the Tokico in any way inferior or will it work well with an otherwise stock (no T, A) suspension? I have Yokohama AVS Db s2 tires (which, btw, have worn far far better than my Conti Extreme Contacts on the front). 10,000 miles and the Contis are shot.

Next month is new shocks and plugs.

[elwesso]

The tokicos are the brand of the OEM shocks, so their just as good

[artandscience]

Yeah, my local service advisor claimed that they would be the same just not last as long.

However, I had one stock shock go out at 2 months, and the other at 3 years (easy driving really, maybe 25k miles).

So I'm leaning toward using the Tokico right now.

[elwesso]

The tokico blues should last at worst 50-60k with stock springs and about half that with the eibach springs..

[911/Q45]

Upper links should swap easily with the strut in place. It is easier with the bolt oriented in one direction than the other.

[artandscience]

NOT.

No way to get my breaker bar on the nut securing the upper link top boltwithout removing the shock. I'm not going to try and do that with a handwrench.

It was 10 minutes max to remove the shock and it made a world of difference in how easy it was. I would recommend it to everyone. Why not take the extra time and do it right -- there is no value in being macho in a garage. Who ya gonna impress?

[911/Q45]

Did you try putting a combo wrench on the nut and the breaker bar on the bolt head? I didn't feel too macho when I did it, just a little sweaty and greasy.

[DAEDALUS]

Did you have the wheel off and the suspension fully dropped? Sorry, never heard of anyone pulling the strut to do the links. Which way were the bolt heads facing?

[Q45tech]

On a lift with wheels off and air tools and proper wrenches takes 4-5-10 minutes to swap per side. Taking wheels off is the hard part.

[artandscience]

Top bolt head faced to the front of the car so the bolt couldn't be pulledwithout removing the shock. Bottom bolt faced to the rear so it was easy.

I think the shop manual has both bolt heads facing to the rear, making the job a lot easier.

S.