Shock absorber replacement nightmare
I was humbled today by a normally simple maintenance job on my 1994 33’ Holiday Rambler. So far I haven’t even been able to remove nut #1 on the front passenger side shock absorber. I’ve done nearly a...
Forum Discussion
I have a 94 F53. There is no rust/corrosion on any of the underside fasteners.
Even so, when I replaced the front and rear shocks 2 years ago I had to use my 3/4 inch impact wrench to get those bolts off. If you think the front bolts are hard to move wait till you get to the top-rear mounts. I tried my 3/4 inch sockets with a breaker bar and length of pipe but the space is tight enough both front and rear that I just couldn't get enough pipe length to get leverage. I finally gave up on the hand-tools.
It still took a while using my 3/4 impact wrench to get the nuts off. The shock nuts on my F53 are 'crush' nuts: slightly egg-shaped. The nuts won't break loose and then spin off: I needed the full power of the impact wrench all the way. Because they are crush nuts they are as hard to get back on as they are to get off.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Even so, when I replaced the front and rear shocks 2 years ago I had to use my 3/4 inch impact wrench to get those bolts off. If you think the front bolts are hard to move wait till you get to the top-rear mounts. I tried my 3/4 inch sockets with a breaker bar and length of pipe but the space is tight enough both front and rear that I just couldn't get enough pipe length to get leverage. I finally gave up on the hand-tools.
It still took a while using my 3/4 impact wrench to get the nuts off. The shock nuts on my F53 are 'crush' nuts: slightly egg-shaped. The nuts won't break loose and then spin off: I needed the full power of the impact wrench all the way. Because they are crush nuts they are as hard to get back on as they are to get off.
Just my 2 cents worth.
